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"I Ate Your Book"
Apr. 21st, 2007 11:15 pmYears ago, when I lived in upstate New York (Lake George), I happened to have a close friend in the Boston area. We agreed that I'd come over for Thanksgiving and spend time with her and her kids. So there I was, on Thanksgiving morning, driving on the interstate into Massachusetts, and what did I see?
An exit for Stockbridge, Massachusetts. On Thanksgiving.
I wouldn't have forgiven myself for not driving into Stockbridge, so I did, drove around, had a look, and then got back on the interstate and continued on. I didn't check to see if the dump was open.
For those of you under the age of about 40 years, it's entirely possible that the above is complete gibberish to you, but for those of you older than that, you've probably heard "Alice's Restaurant," a song particularly appropriate for our time.
So, when found out the local music venue was hosting the Guthrie Family Legacy Tour (and specifically Arlo Guthrie as the headliner), I simply had to go.
He's every bit as funny as you'd expect from the song, and he talked a bit about his family, and so on. They opened up with Oklahoma Hills, now the Oklahoma official state song. I hadn't realized Woody (Arlo's father) had written the song. Apparently Woody's cousin recorded it, and after Woody returned home from World War II, he heard it played in a bar. That would be freaky.
As it happens, Arlo's bought the church featured in "Alice's Restaurant," and has opened the Guthrie Center. When he started working there, a preacher came by to ask him if they were going to have services there again, and if so, what kind. Arlo, being quick on his feet, allowed as they might, but it would be a "Bring your own God church," and then allowed as how there were many to choose from.
Between songs, Arlo talked about getting searched at airports ("I'm still on the list for 40 years ago") and went on to talk about how they'd taken the new mandolin strings from one of his band members ("I didn't know terrorists only used new strings to strangle people."). He said, despite being on the list for forty years, "I'm nowhere near the threat I'd hoped to become."
There's also some archives, mostly of Woody's stuff, that's in the midst of being catalogued, including 3500 (!) songs, more than 99% of which were never recorded. In fact, Arlo had very few memories of his father, in part because his father suffered from Huntington's disease, and they didn't see him much after the disease started manifesting (given the mental illness side effects).
Someone had a wire recording of Woody, which they'd cleaned up, talking about how he'd met Arlo's mother, so it was very cool to hear that.
For a while Woody was in a sanitarium, and, after a few months, the German Psychiatrist called up the wife and said, "Mrs. Guthrie, your husband is seriously ill. He believes he's a famous folksinger. He thinks he's published a book."
While in the sanitarium, Woody did meet one other patient who recognized him, though. He told Woody that he liked the book.
"You read my book?"
"No. I ate your book."
An exit for Stockbridge, Massachusetts. On Thanksgiving.
I wouldn't have forgiven myself for not driving into Stockbridge, so I did, drove around, had a look, and then got back on the interstate and continued on. I didn't check to see if the dump was open.
For those of you under the age of about 40 years, it's entirely possible that the above is complete gibberish to you, but for those of you older than that, you've probably heard "Alice's Restaurant," a song particularly appropriate for our time.
So, when found out the local music venue was hosting the Guthrie Family Legacy Tour (and specifically Arlo Guthrie as the headliner), I simply had to go.
He's every bit as funny as you'd expect from the song, and he talked a bit about his family, and so on. They opened up with Oklahoma Hills, now the Oklahoma official state song. I hadn't realized Woody (Arlo's father) had written the song. Apparently Woody's cousin recorded it, and after Woody returned home from World War II, he heard it played in a bar. That would be freaky.
As it happens, Arlo's bought the church featured in "Alice's Restaurant," and has opened the Guthrie Center. When he started working there, a preacher came by to ask him if they were going to have services there again, and if so, what kind. Arlo, being quick on his feet, allowed as they might, but it would be a "Bring your own God church," and then allowed as how there were many to choose from.
Between songs, Arlo talked about getting searched at airports ("I'm still on the list for 40 years ago") and went on to talk about how they'd taken the new mandolin strings from one of his band members ("I didn't know terrorists only used new strings to strangle people."). He said, despite being on the list for forty years, "I'm nowhere near the threat I'd hoped to become."
There's also some archives, mostly of Woody's stuff, that's in the midst of being catalogued, including 3500 (!) songs, more than 99% of which were never recorded. In fact, Arlo had very few memories of his father, in part because his father suffered from Huntington's disease, and they didn't see him much after the disease started manifesting (given the mental illness side effects).
Someone had a wire recording of Woody, which they'd cleaned up, talking about how he'd met Arlo's mother, so it was very cool to hear that.
For a while Woody was in a sanitarium, and, after a few months, the German Psychiatrist called up the wife and said, "Mrs. Guthrie, your husband is seriously ill. He believes he's a famous folksinger. He thinks he's published a book."
While in the sanitarium, Woody did meet one other patient who recognized him, though. He told Woody that he liked the book.
"You read my book?"
"No. I ate your book."