f riday,
r
november
the chevron
24, 1972
The return of
Woody’s
son Arlo Guthrie visited Toronto last Thursday long enough to give a concert at the O’Keefe Centre and, like his music itself, it was a gentle relief from the usual frenetic theatre-of-the-absurd happenings which rock concerts have become. First, O’Keefe itself is a much for more comfortable environ music than the echoing halls of the Gardens or our own Rock Palacecum-field house here at Waterloo, and even more favorable to musicians and listeners alike than crusty old Massey, where you have to worry about sitting behind a pillar. Arlo himself, while much more assured and mature than when he first came to attention by appearing staring out at you from an album cover, bib tucked onto otherwise nude chest and seated whimsically at a set but empty table. The album was called Alice’s Restaurant. and nobody knew what the hell it was, maybe a new rock album (psychedelics were pretty’ big then, yeah, it was probably another of those far-out coast groups!). I remember looking quizzically at the cover-l was a quizzical undergraduate then. and tended to take the whole thing In by means of quizzical looks-and then passing it up as another shuck for my Youth Movement money. A week later, at a party. a friend said we just had to hear something, and proceeded to
pull out the album with the seminude half-smiling, hairy kid on the cover. I groaned, exp,ectinganother Ina-Goda-da-Vida-which was all my generation needed at that point-but everyone quieted down while he put it on the stereo. For the next half hour, the workings of the party came to a complete halt, as we sat, spellbound and often literally rolling on the floor doubled up in laughter, as the now-famous story of the Al ice’s Restaurant Massacree unfolded in its own absurdly rational manner. Absurdly rational in terms of American society at that-and this-point. Arlo, we concluded, was a genius; he had succeeded in unraveling the ugly quirks and half-hidden inconsistencies of American society without writing a boring, loo-page thesis on the subject; he had personalized it to his own absurdly logical case and projected it into a half-real, halffiction talking blues piece which captured the imagination of a large part of an entire generation. It became, within months, the national anthem of the anti-war youth of America. It was only an extra bonus to discover that he was actually the real son of the real Woody Guthrie, a man we all held in reverence, but at a distance; Arlo was an extension of that legend we could feel and rndentify ourselves with. The story of how Arlo escaped being drafted Into the U.S. Army because of a littering- charge became a minor classic, and finally translated onto the screen by Arthur Penn, with the real Arlo playing the real ArIo- the first film about our generation that many of us could actually identify with, and actually seemed to present our viewpoints on anything instead of just stealing -our headlines. While I personally know of several people to whom Arlo’s “Alice’s Restaurant” means the beginning date of their eventual decision to fight the draft and the war In the U.S., it soon also became clear that Arlo personally was no militant radical. He was, like his father in many ways, a chronicleer of his times and a personalist-he had made his decision on whether to fight or not, and simply presented that story to others to make of it what they
would. ‘This disillusioned many of his early admirers-that he would choose to live quietly on his ranch writing music and visiting with his friends instead of actively joining the anti-war movement-but he went on to prove to others that he was not just a flash in the pan musically. On the mostly- neglected “other” side of the Alice’s Restaurant album is a fine‘ballad called “Goin Home,” which shows the other, introspective side of Arlo. In his own way, he is quite religious and quietly pacifistic. Since then, he has produced three more LP’s-“Runnin’ Down the Road”, “Washington County” and “Hobo’s Lullabye”-which is an unassuming output for an artist who has a market wjhich could be glutted for maximum profit (he quickly sold out O’Keefe when the concert was announced). But, he has chosen evidently not to exploit his audience in that manner, and even voiced some reservations Thursday about his last willingness to attempt a concert tour. He intimated pointedly that the purpose of the present tour was to please and profit his agent, not for his own ambition. His onstage mood is unhurried and his backup band was competent, but it was obvious he is a studio musician basically, since his albums are so much more precise and each instrument is more carefully woven into the He sang a wide arrangement. range of songs, from his earliest to his latest albums, and even included an extended modernized talking blues spin-off of “Alice’s which was Restaurant.” necessarily less compelling than the original, but entertaining. He drew polite and sincere applause for each number, especially “one of my old man’s” called “The 1913 relating a dark inMassacre”, cident in the American labour movement ‘(and included in his latest album, the first time he has taken on one of his father’s pieces). He returned for one encore, then thanked everyone for comIngrand it-was much easier to believe he meant it than at most concerts-and left the stage. All I can say is-and I admit the sentimentality of it all-it was good to check in with an old friend. -george
kaufman
15
Earnest< was a
,
_
smoothie I The prime attraction in the Blackfriars’ production of The Importance of Being Earnest is the characters in the play. All of the major characters are marked by a self-assurance which is comical either because of its absurdity or furniture in the nineteenth cenbecause of its cynicism. tury. The list of characters includes Costumes, too, are attractive as two bachelors, one serious and a concrete pieces of history, and bit dull and the other superficial they match the characters the and bright. Also there is an elderly actors portray. I admired the way high-society lady whose the tulle in Lady Bracknell’s hat philosophy of life is a conquivered when she was outraged catenation of second-hand thus exaggerating the absurdity of opinions, and two nubile girls her reactions. whose experience of life seems to Earnest is a smooth production. extend little beyond that of books Most of the’audience I was with (pulp novels) and private seemed to appreciate the tutoring. characters as presented. For my Some minor roles are marked by part, they were not too interesting this same self-assurance. For and so not enjoyable. example, there is a governess to --lynn bowers one of the young ladies whose grave concern for her _charge’s calm manifests itself in sometimes ridiculous advice. For instance, she warns her pupil of a chapter In a textbook on political economy about the stability of the rupee, that such an article would be too exciting for the young girl. Absurd as many of the opinions * * * *Sunday, Bloody Sundayseem to be, the characters who don’t let the title of this film put you off; it is probably the bestpresent them must be convincing years and as individuals rather than types if acted film of recent certainly the most humane and Earnest is to succeed as highsensitive motion picture to explore comedy. Otherwise, the human and sexual relationships sophistication expressed through the characters will become just a we have seen. John Schlesinger’s tight but feeling direction has a parody of worldly wisdom and few weaknesses, but are erased by manners and the attempt of the characters to find some working the totality of the film he relationships with, despite the produces; Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch turn in the pereccentricities of, their fellows (as of their careers. is done in high-comedy) it will be formances Laughter in the Dark-none of our just an empty exercise of wit. erstwhile critics confess to have It seems to me that the Blackseen this one, but even if it’s a friars’ production substituted easily recognizable types of loser, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” is worth the price of admission characters for convincing characters. Algernon, as played by a lone. 8 Russ Scott was a cynical jester; although his cynicism did not make him invulnerable to the (* ok * *a beautifully exceptional attractions of young girls, even film.) this side of his character was a stock response, i.e. a momentary speechlessness at the sight of Cecily. The worth of Mr. Scott’s representation of the character was in the skill with which he manages to reproduce the stock character, rocking on his feet and smiling like the character he is, at the brilliance of his wit. Trip no.1 Dec. 26-Jan. 1 All of the major roles have been (only a few places left) played in this stock manner. All Trip no.2 Dec. 31-Jan.6 are admirable as reproductions. $134 For this reason Earnest is a 0 All Accomodation comedy without the social bite 0 All Transportation that Wilde intended. If Mita Scott 0 All Lifts and Tows recognized Wilde’s black humor, 0 Two Meals per day she has not been successful in 0 New Year’s Eve Party getting it presented. 0 Complimentary Bar Sets, as is usual in Blackfriars’ 0 Nig_ht Out in Quebec City productions, are well-made. The 0 Over 50 miles of slopes garden scene is a marvel of light Three Boarding Points and air around and on ordered Call : Toronto 225-0151 plantings of flowers. The furniture London 45312381 for the indoor settings of the two K-W 745-3761 other scenes are attractive as For Information examples of the heaviness and ornateness that characterized and Reservations
Federation flicks
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SHI QUEBEC VP. STE. ANNE!
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