Travel for Pennies

This summer many will be traveling to the Big Apple, and staying in the top New York hotels, to enjoy some of the many activities, festivals and shows that the city has to offer. Many of them, as in the River to River Festival are offered free of charge. One of the performers is non other than the legendary son of Brooklyn, Arlo Guthrie. Arlo is the son of Woody Guthrie, a well loved singer-song writer, and Marjorie Guthrie who had been a dancer in the, also legendary, Martha Graham Dance Company. He was born on Coney Island, in 1947 and grew up in a world surrounded by the arts, musicians and dancers, such as Leadbelly, Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry to name just a few. It is said that the man was born with a harmonica in one hand and a guitar in the other. When he was just thirteen years old, he performed for the first time on stage and quickly became a pivotal player in the folk music explosion of the 1960s. He became a regular performer at the Gaslight, the Bitter End and Gerdes Folk City. He experienced the changes in the music scene, going from the ballad singers such as Mississippi John Hurt to the songs and lyrics of Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Jim Croce.

In 1967, a film staring Guthrie, and one that told a story of his life, accompanied by his music secured his fame. The film was called “Alice’s Restaurant“. This became such an anthem during the 60′s for social activism and a higher level of consciousness, that in subsequent years, he has been known to leave it off his set list, depending on the current state of the world, and the wars that the United States is involved in at any given time. While he has never had a ‘hit’ per se, due to the length of his songs or the controversial nature of some of the lyrics, he has become a legend in the US as well as throughout Asia, Africa and Australia. He plays a variety of instruments and is a prolific and intense story-teller through his music. Guthrie will be performing in New York, at the festival this summer, and it is well worth the price of admission…wait, it’s free…this is a man who those that love music of any genre, should not miss the opportunity to see live.

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