Folk Legend Arlo Guthrie Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Alice's Restaurant

Port Washington was graced with folk royalty on Tues, May 10th, when Arlo Guthrie and his band brought “The Alice’s Restaurant 50th Anniversary Tour” to a completely sold out Landmark on Main Street. Arlo, as you must know, is the son of legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie, and is father to yet another generation of musicians – two of whom appeared with Arlo at this performance.

Arlo’s daughter, Sarah Lee Guthrie, was the surprise opening act. Backed by her father’s band, including brother, Abe Guthrie, on keyboards, Sarah Lee was charming in the same folksy way as her dad – interspersing her songs with personal stories about growing up Guthrie. With a clear shining voice and an obvious comfort with the guitar (and keyboard – which she played on one song), Sarah Lee was a standout – even if you didn’t know her last name was Guthrie. She covered a few songs by her father’s friends, including Donovan and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, as well as a great rendition of Phil Ochs’ “When I’m Gone.”

But it was Sarah Lee’s original songs, and those using the words of her famous grandfather, that were the highlights for me. Especially beautiful was “Circle of Souls” written after her mother, Arlo’s wife, passed away not long ago. Another standout was her original song, “Seven Sisters,” featuring tight harmonies from her brother, Abe. A particularly gutsy move was to perform Woody Guthrie’s “I’ve Got to Know” acapella – she pulled it off stunningly. My favorite, though, was the song from her children’s record of the same name – “Go Wagaloo” – which utilized Woody Guthrie’s lyrics set to her original music. The song, which included stamping and clapping, was a cheerful audience sing-along, leaving everyone smiling.

After an intermission, the lights dimmed and a video screen appeared showing an animated Claymation-type music video of “The Motorcycle Song.” As the video played, Arlo and his band filed onstage and began playing along with the “unidentified flying pickle” in the video. Throughout the rest of the evening, the light and video show added another dimension to the stunning performances.

What can I say about Arlo Guthrie? He is a fabulous musician – 6-string guitars, 12-string guitars, keyboards, harmonicas – he plays them all with ease. He is a wonderful natural storyteller. While I don’t have the space to recount his stories here, I will say that without fail, they were funny, often self-deprecating, and always entertaining. Going to an Arlo Guthrie concert felt like sitting and catching up with an old friend. In a strange way, Arlo is an old friend (at least for those of us of a certain age). After all, I’ve been listening to “Alice’s Restaurant” as a Thanksgiving tradition for literally as long as I can remember.

The first half of his performance was an interesting mix that included a fabulous cover of Lead Belly’s “Pigmeat,” “Me and My Goose” (a kid’s song about eating your pet), and a great bluesy version of “St. James Infirmary.” But the absolute highlight of the first set was the song he performed at Woodstock – “Coming Into Los Angeles” – a rocking number that just blew my socks off. Arlo’s son, Abe, provided some incredible keyboard work on that song.

Besides Abe Guthrie on keyboards, Arlo’s band includes Terry Hall on drums, Bobby Sweet on guitar and fiddle and Darren Todd on bass. All the musicians were top notch professionals.

The final half of the performance began with the much awaited performance of “The Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” telling the true story of Arlo’s Thanksgiving arrest for littering, and how it eventually disqualified him from the Vietnam draft. Arlo only performs “Alice’s Restaurant” on ten-year anniversaries, so we are very fortunate to have been able to witness it live. It was worth the ten-year wait. Scenes from the movie of the same name played on a screen behind the performers.

The rest of the set just flew by. Highlights included “City of New Orleans,” and his closing song, Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” (which must have been heard throughout Port Washington because the audience was singing along so enthusiastically). The encore was from one of the last set of lyrics that Woody wrote, set to music by Arlo – “My Peace.” The lyrics – “My peace, my peace, is all I’ve got that I can give to you…” seemed a fitting way for Arlo to send us back into the world.

In sum: If Arlo Guthrie is playing anywhere near you, don’t miss him. He puts on a spectacular and extremely satisfying show. [To get a taste, check out some of Arlo's YouTube videos, such as this one.]

To see the upcoming schedule of events at Landmark on Main Street, visit its website.