Arlo Guthrie

y the time of his seventh album (in as many years), Arlo Guthrie had gone from his talking blues comic troubadour beginnings to this set of near-standard sounding originals. To his own material Guthrie adds a few covers for flavour (two by his father Woody, and Jimmy Rogers' "When The Cactus Is In Bloom"). Guthrie smartly used the success he found with ALICE'S RESTAURANT and the film that succeeded it to secure studio budgets which afforded room to explore a number of musical directions. He also hired a number of fine players and arrangers (Nick De Caro's orchestrations are a real treat on this album). Guthrie's writing shows that he both learned from the traditions that preceded him (including growing up under the long shadow of his father), and found a way to make his own mark in the process. This album has the nostalgia-soaked feel of a Friday night stroll on the promenade, circa 1910--but it also manages to sound contemporary.|