Arlo Guthrie in New Orleans
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 10:50 pm
Last night at Tipitina's night club (a New Orleans institution) was a GREAT concert fundraiser (and lucky me, I was there!) for the Tipitina Foundation, the foundation's purpose being to bring New Orleans musicians back home, and replenish their housing, instruments, and life essentials that were ruined by Hurricane Katrina.
Friday's concert was hastily added on because tonite's scheduled event, featuring Arlo and Willie Nelson, sold out in a matter of minutes.
Last nite's program was no second-best, though. In addition to Arlo, my man (and Valerie's) Ramblin' Jack Elliot was on stage, but to my great disappointment, he only did two numbers: his own "912 Green" about New Orleans and her own weirdness, and Dylan's "Don't Think Twice."
The show was nearly 4 hours, opening with several local greats, and including both backup and solo work showcasing the talents of Arlo's son Abe (or maybe Gabe? I was a little too drunk & happy) on keyboards, with his band Xavier, with his three gorgeous sisters doing beautiful harmonies. One, Mary, did some pretty amazing guitar work --both accoustic and electric--her own damn self, along with her husband. It was very much a family and friends affair. They rocked. There was everything musically I could hope for--bluegrass, slide, mandolins & a banjo, humor and storytelling.
The opener was a guy named Jack Nielsen, (I think) and another performer, who I wish I could remember his name, did a very funny bit called "Minnie Lou" about former Attorney General John Ashcroft's covering of the breast of the statue in the Justice Department.
The fundraiser was in fact the brainchild of Arlo's daughters, who started an email campaign when they heard that the famous train, The City of New Orleans, (about which Arlo recorded a hit back in the '70s) had resumed running to New Orleans. They got together a bunch of musicians who agreed to work for free, got sponsors to provide free instruments, and got Amtrak to let them ride the train, with concert stops along the way, finishing up in the Big Easy. The show was pulled together in just a few weeks. Also, an interesting tidbit, the idea really took off when Richard Pryor e-mailed Arlo and offered his help, a couple weeks before his death. Arlo commented that he'd been a fan but had never met Pryor, and was just blown away by his generosity.
The show was awesome and nostalgic and so full of good vibes I, of course, blubbered like a baby through it all.
The program mostly showcased the talents of the locals and the Guthrie kids (plus a girl threesome called "The Burn Sisters") with proud dad beaming on the sidelines and sitting in on a couple of numbers called "Shit...makes the flowers grow" and "Motherfucker" dedicated to Richard Pryor. ("Our CDs have parental advisories," Mary cracked.)
At some point it dawned on me that I was standing 5 feet away from Woody Guthrie's grandchildren, and that thought almost made me fall over.
Finally Arlo came out solo and it was pandemonium. He opened with "Mr. Tambourine Man," then rapped a little about Woodstock ("I don't remember too much about that. If I hadn't seen the movie, I wouldn't have known I was there") and then launched into "Comin' Into Los Angeles" then "City of New Orleans" by which time the packed house was all singing along. Then came his father's signature song, "This Land is Your Land" which he did a couple verses of, then broke off for one of his signature rambles.
This one was about Joseph in the Old Testament, whose jealous brothers sold him to the Pharoah, then after Joseph became the Pharoah's right-hand man and the land was suffering with drought and pestilence, the brothers had to seek out Joseph and beg for sustenance. I can't possibly tell it the way Arlo did, but he kept coming back to the brothers in the desert, trying to find their way to Joseph, and there's a guy in the desert (Arlo's invention, of course) who says, "He went thataway." Arlo finally reveals his point, that you might think one person can't accomplish much, but without that one guy who said, "He went thataway," Joseph's brothers would never have found him and brought him back home, there never would have been a Moses, a King David, or a Jesus, and history would have been different.
Amid much laughter, he resumed his song, then broke off again to remind us that it's a good thing we don't have heaven on earth, with everything perfect, never any suffering or misery, because then it would be awfully hard to make any kind of positive contribution. "But when it sucks, like what's happened here, you really don't have to do much to make things better."
Then we all finished up "This Land Is Your Land" with the whole audience singing and the whole entourage on the stage, and they came back for one encore, which Arlo introduced as one of Woody's previously unpublished songs, "My Peace," its lyrics found on a scrap of paper which he'd set to music himself. I can't even remember it now, it was so lovely and ethereal, like a gift too precious to hold. It was similar to, but departed a bit from, the litany in the Mass which says, My peace I give to you.
Oh, what a night. Rumor went around that Dylan might show up, but he definitely didn't last night. Maybe tonite, with Willie Nelson. It would be my luck to miss THAT. But still I'm grateful.
Friday's concert was hastily added on because tonite's scheduled event, featuring Arlo and Willie Nelson, sold out in a matter of minutes.
Last nite's program was no second-best, though. In addition to Arlo, my man (and Valerie's) Ramblin' Jack Elliot was on stage, but to my great disappointment, he only did two numbers: his own "912 Green" about New Orleans and her own weirdness, and Dylan's "Don't Think Twice."
The show was nearly 4 hours, opening with several local greats, and including both backup and solo work showcasing the talents of Arlo's son Abe (or maybe Gabe? I was a little too drunk & happy) on keyboards, with his band Xavier, with his three gorgeous sisters doing beautiful harmonies. One, Mary, did some pretty amazing guitar work --both accoustic and electric--her own damn self, along with her husband. It was very much a family and friends affair. They rocked. There was everything musically I could hope for--bluegrass, slide, mandolins & a banjo, humor and storytelling.
The opener was a guy named Jack Nielsen, (I think) and another performer, who I wish I could remember his name, did a very funny bit called "Minnie Lou" about former Attorney General John Ashcroft's covering of the breast of the statue in the Justice Department.
The fundraiser was in fact the brainchild of Arlo's daughters, who started an email campaign when they heard that the famous train, The City of New Orleans, (about which Arlo recorded a hit back in the '70s) had resumed running to New Orleans. They got together a bunch of musicians who agreed to work for free, got sponsors to provide free instruments, and got Amtrak to let them ride the train, with concert stops along the way, finishing up in the Big Easy. The show was pulled together in just a few weeks. Also, an interesting tidbit, the idea really took off when Richard Pryor e-mailed Arlo and offered his help, a couple weeks before his death. Arlo commented that he'd been a fan but had never met Pryor, and was just blown away by his generosity.
The show was awesome and nostalgic and so full of good vibes I, of course, blubbered like a baby through it all.
The program mostly showcased the talents of the locals and the Guthrie kids (plus a girl threesome called "The Burn Sisters") with proud dad beaming on the sidelines and sitting in on a couple of numbers called "Shit...makes the flowers grow" and "Motherfucker" dedicated to Richard Pryor. ("Our CDs have parental advisories," Mary cracked.)
At some point it dawned on me that I was standing 5 feet away from Woody Guthrie's grandchildren, and that thought almost made me fall over.
Finally Arlo came out solo and it was pandemonium. He opened with "Mr. Tambourine Man," then rapped a little about Woodstock ("I don't remember too much about that. If I hadn't seen the movie, I wouldn't have known I was there") and then launched into "Comin' Into Los Angeles" then "City of New Orleans" by which time the packed house was all singing along. Then came his father's signature song, "This Land is Your Land" which he did a couple verses of, then broke off for one of his signature rambles.
This one was about Joseph in the Old Testament, whose jealous brothers sold him to the Pharoah, then after Joseph became the Pharoah's right-hand man and the land was suffering with drought and pestilence, the brothers had to seek out Joseph and beg for sustenance. I can't possibly tell it the way Arlo did, but he kept coming back to the brothers in the desert, trying to find their way to Joseph, and there's a guy in the desert (Arlo's invention, of course) who says, "He went thataway." Arlo finally reveals his point, that you might think one person can't accomplish much, but without that one guy who said, "He went thataway," Joseph's brothers would never have found him and brought him back home, there never would have been a Moses, a King David, or a Jesus, and history would have been different.
Amid much laughter, he resumed his song, then broke off again to remind us that it's a good thing we don't have heaven on earth, with everything perfect, never any suffering or misery, because then it would be awfully hard to make any kind of positive contribution. "But when it sucks, like what's happened here, you really don't have to do much to make things better."
Then we all finished up "This Land Is Your Land" with the whole audience singing and the whole entourage on the stage, and they came back for one encore, which Arlo introduced as one of Woody's previously unpublished songs, "My Peace," its lyrics found on a scrap of paper which he'd set to music himself. I can't even remember it now, it was so lovely and ethereal, like a gift too precious to hold. It was similar to, but departed a bit from, the litany in the Mass which says, My peace I give to you.
Oh, what a night. Rumor went around that Dylan might show up, but he definitely didn't last night. Maybe tonite, with Willie Nelson. It would be my luck to miss THAT. But still I'm grateful.
] when he didn't.
. Poor guy... it seems he's trying to prevent New Orleans' turning into the next Gold Coast, with the original locals pushed out due to increased property 'values' ~ is that the sense you have, or am I off somewhere? [Well, 
.
. Difficult with the day and distance, but I'll find a way. This time, he's not going to be able to get away with saying he can't remember all of the lyrics to "Alice's Restaurant" by heart. Oh, yes, he does... 