what Frank is listening to #225 – ARLO GUTHRIE – Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys – (Reprise) – 1973
This is Arlo's 6th album …
Arlo was a strange cat – the son of the greatest of all folk singers, Woody Guthrie, and a Jewish mum (the second of Woody's three wives, and one he was always close to apparently) he was brought up on the East Coast on country and folk music of the "west" and mid west as practiced by his father and as interpretated and developed by Bob Dylan.
Maybe it was inevitable that he would go into music but it must be hard for a kid to live up to his father's legacy especially when those who set the benchmark in the musical style you love, Bob Dylan, also worshipped at the feet of your father.
Is musical talent transmitted through DNA?
I don't know but I will take a sociological approach and say no. Simply (very), sociology would suggest you are the result of your upbringing …. socialisation is everything. Surely, having Woody as a father, being exposed to his views and musical influences (even if he was away), knowing him as a person, hearing his music, hearing the music of those who were influenced by him, hanging out with his mates etc means some his musical makeup would become part of yours. Accordingly, it's not hard to understand that you may end up in the same musical field as your father.
Arlo did.
Interestingly, Arlo didn't really release anything until after Woody died in 1967.
It is however a testament to Arlo that he had enough talent (and smarts) to get himself out from under his father's shadow despite the fact he never really had any chart success (but then again neither did his father).
Arlo loves folk, western folk, country folk, traditional folk, country folk, Americana and political protest songs. His love of regional music and his taste is partly what makes his albums so endearing.
He does write his own songs but like Johnny Cash, amongst others, he is just as happy singing someone else's songs and his albums are usually quite heavy on the interpretation of other peoples songs, ummm so he does a lot of, errr "covers". This is his real strength.Guthrie doesn't have the best voice* but he is a good interpreter. Perhaps it's not as direct or threatening as his fathers (different eras) but it is just as evocative. Also, because he is smart, he has broad and liberal tastes so the songs he covers can be 100 year old traditionals or contemporary songs from the pen of a current singer songwriter. It is to Arlo's credit that his albums, which draw from many styles and eras are understandably quite broad but still maintain a mood or theme. I suspect that Arlo chooses his covers (and writes his own songs) according to how they act together to enhance the album's mood or theme.
Whether the album works depends on whether all the various ingredients he has thought to mesh together work well or not. But, even when the albums fail they are interesting.
On this LP he also has good musos including : Doug Dillard – banjo, Clarence White – guitar, Ry Cooder – guitar, Chuck Rainey – bass, Jesse Ed Davis – guitar, Gene Parsons – drums, Jim Keltner – drums, Grady Martin – guitar, Gib Guilbeau – fiddle, Thurl Ravenscroft – background vocals,Mike Utley – organ, Jim Gordon – piano, Leland Sklar – bass as well as Buck Owens' Buckaroos on some tracks
If you don't know who these guys are – google them – most are bonba fide legends in the same style of music.
This album is no different to the other Arlo LPs (that I have) in that he follows the same format – some originals, some well chosen traditional numbers, some well chosen covers (with usually a Woody Guthrie or a Bob Dylan thrown in) and a track or two right out of left field.
Tracks (best in italics)
- Farrell O'Gara – (Traditional) – a Irish traditional instrumental – all fiddles and no Arlo! Still, a perfect and apt way to start a country themed album.
- Gypsy Davy – (Woody Guthrie) – a beautiful song and a strong one about a woman running out on her family. What is so impressive about the writing is it's matter of factness, with no moralising. Arlo, not content on a straight cover gives this a Caribbean feel and it works ….
- This Troubled Mind of Mine – (Ernest Tubb, Johnny Tyler) – a bouncy country song much in the style of a 40s honky tonk …which of course it was as it was done by its author Ernest Tubb.
- Week on the Rag – (Arlo Guthrie) – another instrumental and this one is right out of the Scott Joplin songbook ….Arlo is on piano
- Miss the Mississippi and You – (Bill Halley) – originally done by country singer Jimmie Rodgers in the 30s here it sounds like it could have been a song by Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael or 30s era Bing Crosby…strangely evocative.
Roaming the wide world over
Always along and blue, so blue
Nothing seems to cheer me under heaven's dome
Miss the Mississippi and you
Always along and blue, so blue
Nothing seems to cheer me under heaven's dome
Miss the Mississippi and you
Memories are bringing happy days of yore
Miss the Mississippi and you
Mocking birds are singing 'round the cabin door
Miss the Mississippi and you
Miss the Mississippi and you
Mocking birds are singing 'round the cabin door
Miss the Mississippi and you
Roamin the wide world over
Always alone and blue
Longing form my homeland, muddy water shore
Miss the Mississippi and you
Always alone and blue
Longing form my homeland, muddy water shore
Miss the Mississippi and you
- Lovesick Blues – (Irving Mills, Cliff Friend) – the magnificent Hank Williams song. Really well done by Arlo …impressive.
- Uncle Jeff – (Arlo Guthrie) – This could be John Denver with his grandmothers feather bed. This is a fun hoedown...with some witty lines and some familial in jokes.
- Gates of Eden –(Bob Dylan) – a cover of Dylan's ambiguous song from his magnificent 1965 LP "Bringing It All Back Home" done in a Dylanesque way. What it's all about … I leave to you …http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_Eden_(song)
- Last Train – (Arlo Guthrie) – a country gospel type number with a moral point. Ry Cooder on guitar.
Maybe you ain't walked on any highway
You've just been flyin' in the air
But if you're on that last train to glory
You'll know you've paid your fare
You've just been flyin' in the air
But if you're on that last train to glory
You'll know you've paid your fare
- Cowboy Song – (Arlo Guthrie) – an excellent melancholy country song
- Sailor's Bonnett – (Traditional) – another instrumental Celtic hoedown
- Cooper's Lament – (Arlo Guthrie) – a vaguely left themed song with a country soul vibe akin to Delaney & Bonnie.
- Ramblin' 'Round – (Woody Guthrie) – Woody's powerful song told from the point of view of the homeless man. Perfect …and no doubt as relevant in 1973 as it was in the 30s.
And…
My LP is quite old and has the odd clicks and pops etc but even so I can tell this album has a lot going on in the mastered sound. I suspect the CD (or new vinyl) would be something quite superior.
A very good album and one I suspect will grow on me even more. I'm keeping it.
Chart Action
US
Singles
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Album
Singles
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Album
#87
England
Singles
Singles
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Album
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Sounds
Gypsy Davy
recent live
Woody:
attached
This Troubled Mind On Mine
Week On The Rag
recent live
Lovesick Blues
Uncle Jeff
Gates Of Eden
Last Train
live
Cowboy Sound
attached
attached
Cooper's Lament
Ramblin' Round
live
Woody
Others
Review
Bio
Website
Trivia
- Interestingly Arlo is also known for his leftist politics of the 1960s – 80s. He was consistently anti-war, anti-Nixon, pro drugs. He supported George McGovern's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, sand songs for Chilean activist (and legend) Victor Jara, and often performs with friend and radical Pete Seeger.. He is currently a registered Republican!Apparently, he told the New York Times Magazine that he is a Republican because, "We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans. We needed a loyal opposition."Despite this position in formal politics it is clear from his music and his stances that he is a libertarian. Libitertarians can cross both sides of politics and generally do not consider there to be a line with a left or a right but a cross with personal freedom and state interference. Despite this there is are left and right libertarian movements. Basically I like to think of it as anarchism for grown-ups. So if you are bored with formal politics and want and think all the major parties are a pack of cunts then I encourage you to read into this area …. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism . OK enough of this politics. I'm still not sure why mainstream republicans would allow a Libertarian into their party.
- Also Arlo's mid 70s visual persona (cowboy clothes, moustache) doesn't seem all that different to Dylan's recent image persona ….then again Dylan at the time also had that look
* people seem to complain that his voice isn't that great – OK, it's not Roy Orbison …its not a "pop" voice, but it's not that bad and it is evocative. And that is more than enough.
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