Look to my other entries for detail about Arlo.
I had only heard, comparatively, little of Arlo’s work before, so every new album of his is quite a treat. (Though I actually heard this specific album for the first time quite a few years ago)
This album can be read a number of ways, at least to my ears:
- In some ways it is a tribute to the 1960s political folk movement and also a call to return to that radicalism in the increasingly conservative 1970s.
- It is also a tribute to the
- It is also perhaps something more cynical. Side 1 is all 60s politics and “hard” folk songs. Whilst Side 2 is more singer songwriter, soft rock and ‘commercial’ material. Which is exactly how the folk movement evolved (as epitomized by Dylan). I don’t know if this was intentional but you definitely can read that into this album.
Whatever the philosophy it sounds a lot like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan (circa Dylan’s “Desire”, also from 1976 – I don’t know which came out first). But like I’ve said before when talking about Arlo: Bob was emulating Arlo’s dad, Woody. So, Arlo probably isn’t aping Bob but just applying genetics, at least vocally. Though, it is also fair to say, that Dylan’s influence cannot be underestimated.
Even with the twin influences of Woody and Bob, Arlo is a slave to neither and has his own voice and sensibilities. The same cannot be said for a multitude of others influenced by Dylan or Guthrie.
I’m not sure what the “south of the border” sleeve (the south west cowboy gear) and album title had to do with anything though perhaps Arlo is trying to repair some of the damage done to the American image in Latin America. Hence, the ode to south of the
All the songs except Walking Song,
Tracks (best in italics)
- Guabi, Guabi – a traditional African tune (a Zulu children’s song apparently) done by other folkies like Jim Kweskin and Ramblin Jack. .A weird way to kick of an album, though I’m not sure where you would put in a song like this. What makes it work is that you fully expect Arlo to do something like this. It also harkens back to the Pete Seeger records of the 1960s when he would include folk songs of other lands on his albums, though Arlo, here, doesn’t do them straight or in a traditional manner. Catchy.
- Darkest Hour – Very Bob Dylan but very Arlo also. Regardless, this is a great song in the (what has come to be regarded as the) Dylan modern folk tradition
- Massachusetts – a ode to Arlo’s home state, and in it’s own way as romantically epic as songs of the high mountains, open plains and other American beauties.
- Victor Jara – A early 60s Dylan-esque song about left wing Chilean folk singer Victor Jara who was tortured (his hands were broken (he was a guitar player)) and murdered by the right wing Pinochet resume after they overthrew the democratically elected Salvador Allende government in1973. A popular subject for folk singers of the American left criticising American imperialism (or at least American support of multinational corporations) and it’s support of right wing domestic regimes. Jara has a great body of work, his last being a poem written whilst in detention, which was subsequently, and memorably, read to minimal music by Pete Seeger. Here, Arlo has put to music Adrian Mitchell’s poem about Jara. Beautiful, moving and potent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%ADctor_Jara
- Patriot’s Dream – a stirring song about the radicalism of yesterday, and without any cynicism, a call to “rekindle the patriot’s dream”. Some nice references to Phil Ochs.
Living now here but for fortune
Placed by fate’s mysterious schemes
Who’d believe that we’re the ones asked
To try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams
Arise sweet destiny, time runs short
All of your patience has heard their retort
Hear us now for alone we can’t seem
To try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams
Can you hear the words being whispered
All along the American stream
Tyrants freed the just are imprisoned
Try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams
Ah but perhaps too much is being asked of too few
You and your children with nothing to do
Hear us now for alone we can’t seem
To try to rekindle the patriot’s dreams
- Grocery Blues – a humorous Vaudeville tune … with some contemporary topical lyrics …listen hard – it’s funny.
- Walking Song – a contemporary up tempo soft rock song with a gentle Calypso meets Fleetwood Mac feel.
- My Love – a love song – sweet but insightful. Much like Dylan when he tackled the same subject matter.
- Ocean Crossing – another love song, and another one which has some bite.
- Connection – a funky, soulful and credible reading of the Jagger – Richard Rolling Stones track. Weird, but fun.
And …
Excellent …. both a varied and a focused album. I’m keeping it.
Chart Action
US
Singles
—
Album
The Billboard 200 #133
Singles
Album
—
Sounds
Guabi, Guabi
Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXnn9ihSqes
Darkest Hour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjZBSbFG0xU
Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHi8dcdAwqI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNc0VCfKuck
Victor Jara
Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBv49PrR_nY
Patriot’s Dream
Live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIEaso4Ty1M
Grocery Blues
Live on the Great Muppet Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-MkurOtcVU
My Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXFXmLv6JU
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xygetiXxI0w
Ocean Crossing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SpXlXWFUdI
Connection
live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wEVmz_vLmk
Others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0a6iWHSWbA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi4F7hpR7z4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujzKk_4WBsE&feature=related
Arlo doing Elvis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vQMlg7KQ_k&feature=related
Christy Moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUoRItNLg1I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq2Xy15UOmM&feature=related
Review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/amigo-r96278
Bio
http://allmusic.com/artist/arlo-guthrie-p1994/biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlo_guthrie
Website
Trivia
- “American folksinger Phil Ochs, who met and performed with Jara during a tour of South America, organized a benefit concert in his memory in
