Page 37 - the NOISE April 2014

ARLO GUTHRIE:
JUST A HALF MILE FROM THE RAILROAD TRACK
INTERVIEW BY MIKE WILLIAMS
Arlo Guthrie, is an American folk music icon, best known for his revolutionary songs of last century, “Alice’s Restau- rant Massacree,” “City of New Orleans,” and the “The Motor- cycle Song (the Significance of the Pickle)” among them. His legacy, along with his talented family, is coming to Flagstaff’s Orpheum Theater April 4. While making his way west from Massachusetts on his latest tour of the country, Mr. Guthrie made himself available to an array of lingering questions.
Several years back, this writer had the pleasure of speaking with Richie Havens on his last tour. Over the course of what would become one of my personal favorite interviews, we natu- rally discussed Woodstock 1969. One of the things that sticks out the most was his memory of being flown in by helicopter and seeing the endless sea of people, who to him looked like a gigan- tic painting composed entirely of differently colored dots. Can you describe how you felt while arriving to the concert and see- ing the crowd? And did you get a chance to participate in the immediate melee that annihilated the weekend’s entire supply of wine?
I can’t remember if Richie and I were on the same chopper or not, but I do recall that there was a door left open so we could see pretty far off in the distance, and there was people as far as the eye could see in all directions. At that time it was the largest gathering of humans in recorded history. I was just happy to be in there somewhere. There wasn’t any wine I knew about, but there was 127 cases of champagne back- stage. That was gone by the first evening. I don’t remember how many cases I was personally responsible for.
Speaking of things found at Woodstock, Washington and Col- orado recently legalized marijuana. Having seen only footage from the concert, the idea of smoking seed-filled brick weed out of aluminum foil in the 60’s seems like a wildly far cry from tak- ing dabs out of multi-chambered diffuser bongs and vaporizing hash oil in futuristic-looking, portable robot pens. What are your thoughts on the state of the marijuana now versus then and are you still enjoying the reefer these days?
I have always been opposed to the War On Drugs, if for no other reason that it promotes a Big Brother climate in government and creates criminals out of people who would otherwise be considered normal. I have other reasons to sup- port decriminalization but I don’t want to write a book in the middle of an interview. It’s enough to say that sending people to prison for smoking weed — whether they enjoy it in multi- chambered vaporizing gizmos or grazing through fields — is as plain wrong headed as was Prohibition a hundred years ago.
In an interview with the New York Times from 2009, it was revealed you had become a registered Republican a few years back because, “We had enough good Democrats. We needed a few more good Republicans.” Can you expand and update us on your current thoughts on the party? Also, in your blog on November 23, 2011, you expressed your support for the Occupy Movement on the basis that you felt government, healthcare, schools, and interest in the public good had been usurped by privatization. How do you rectify any political allegiance at all while both parties remain wildly pro-corporate and pro-privati- zation? Also, do you have any thoughts on the downfall of the
Occupy Movement?
When my old friend, Pete Seeger stood before Congress and declared that his personal opinions, choice of friends or political parties was his own business and to question his patriotism because of his associations was un-American, he stood for everyone who believes that free means free. I enjoy visiting other people’s parties, churches, temples and houses. Sometimes I even learn something of value. Joining a party is not an endorsement, it’s an education. I have a passion about America, as do others and I’m happy to share that with anyone regardless as to which political party they are associated with.
Privatization is an idea whose time has come — and gone. The idea that your private property is yours has recently been put to the test (again) with the Supreme Court deciding that your property can be taken from you and given to a large cor- poration using imminent domain. I would be philosophically okay with the idea that imminent domain were only used in rare occurrences when you could only lose your property to the general public. But the idea that taking your property so that someone can build a giant box of stores, or a pipe-line is plainly privatization gone wild — not a good idea. The power of giant multinational corporations has gone beyond the ability of any court, political party or any nation to put a stop to the savagery of legally stealing anything of inter- est. This theft of individual wealth and property has become the norm so that the rich get richer and the average guy gets screwed. Thanks to the Occupy Movement for putting some of these transgressions in the spotlight of public scrutiny. I’m with them.
The specific era of Baby Boomers who grew up in the ‘50s and then self-actualized into independent, progressive human beings in the ‘60s is an intriguing part of the counterculture to me. It includes yourself, my mother, more amazing bands than I should name in the interest of brevity, and, not mention, favorite author Hunter S. Thompson.
It also, most importantly, represented the trailblazers of the hippie movement who sprouted in opposition of a conservative standard of existence versus the next few years of younger folks who were able to simply tap into a very established concept of what counterculture and “hippie” was.
As you and your contemporaries were creating this move- ment, was there any concrete idea of what a “hippie” ought to be or was everyone just winging it to the best they could? How did the counterculture move into a regimented subculture with standards of dress, specific causes, and stereotypes all its own?
Civil Rights, stock-piling nuclear weapons, environmental concerns, individual freedoms, the sexual revolution, wom- en’s rights, the wars in Southeast Asia — the protest move- ments of the ‘60s were fully engaged in confronting mind- less conformity of traditional values. There was never to my knowledge a majority of people interested in these things, but there was a critical mass, there were enough to bring needed conversations to the streets. That was the best part of the counterculture.
There wasn’t a Hippie culture except in news media, maga- zines and TV. It was more just young people all over the world trying to figure out who they were as individuals and as groups without the divisions of governments, religions, and
PHOTO BY JANET BEGLEY
culture. It was “Back To Nature” more than a culture of its own. It was a way of overcoming the barriers of all the above to reach out and make new friends with people we were led to believe were enemies. In that sense it was the beginnings of a spiritual awakening on a scale that went beyond borders, race, sexual identity, all the usual suspects. It was somewhat successful although tempered by experience and as such it continues around the world even now.
Who’s getting played heavily in the tour bus this trip?
Video games.
Is there a band or song that makes it into your regular listen- ing circulation that you’re utterly embarrassed to be caught rocking out to?
No.
You’ve spent the majority of your life performing music all over the world. What are some of the craziest things that have wound up on stage and where did they happen?
That fact that I’m still onstage is crazy enough, and I don’t know how it happened.
Have you had any terrible Spinal Tap moments, such as get- ting lost backstage, a backdrop of Stonehenge being comically undersized, or your pod not opening?
Yes. Nigel Tufnel (lead guitarist of Spinal Tap), was in my band in high school, although we called him “Chris” back then.
While researching for this interview, I found out that your daughter Annie identifies strongly with the folk-punk scene, which is near and dear to myself as well, and I was wondering if she’s turned you onto any contemporary acts that really stick out as a proper legacy to a genre that your father, along with Johnny Cash, are credited as pioneering?
She’s smart enough not to have done that.
Lastly, within the last decade, there’s been a resurgence of young, itinerant, folk singer/songwriters who directly trace the lineage of their influences back to your father and other De- pression-era musicians, as well as more contemporary artists like Billy Bragg, all the while maintaining a distinctly punk-rock edge. What are your thoughts on the roving bands of traveling buskers who said ‘no’ to work, school, and society in general in favor of hitting the rails and highways with whatever instrument they can carry? Did you spend much time hitchhiking or train riding during your youth as well? And do you have any advice for the road-bound free spirit?
My father did what he did because he had no other choic- es, not because it was a good idea. I learned from him that “it is better to fail at being yourself than to succeed at being
somebody else.”
| Mike Williams is an ol’ time contributor to this magazine and enjoys the rift between celebrity and reality. mike@thenoise.us
INTERVIEW
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • APRIL 2014 • 37