(Hi guys, I'm new here and this is my first post)

This is a part of Arlo's history that should not be forgotten. It is truly unique, absolutely true and funny as hell! I was only one little link in the coffeehouse circuit, a 17yr old kid from the sticks. They only gave me the job because I was a folksinger myself and knew some other folksingers... so, I went to the back of my copies of Broadside and Sing Out and wrote to all those talent agents (Levinthal?) to see if we could get anybody cool in our price range... which wasn't much. I know I can't be the only one who knows about this, including Arlo himself since it was all his idea... so... here we go:

When I was booking performers for the Cellar Coffeehouse @ Port Huron, MI in '66-'67, when Alice's Restaurant was just starting to circulate on underground radio, I got a big long letter from a 'Norman Greenbaum' singing the praises of Arlo Guthrie, the son of the great Woody. Later, after we established that he was out of our meager price range, Arlo wrote me and 'came clean' that HE was, in fact, 'Norman'! True!!!

Great story!

Thanks...that put a smile on my face! Arlo, you are awesome!

Guess he didn't want to sign the letter "Reuben Clamzo"; would have been a dead giveaway!

Reminds me of his story of doing a commercial spot for Power of Love where he was doing Dylan's voice promoting his own album as Bob Dylan. One of my favorite stories... So yeah, this is totally believable! LOL!

To Dave & Arlo & all:

I'm SO glad to finally off-load this true story of this cool and little-known bit of the history of Arlo Guthrie. I'm also so glad that it brings a smile and makes sense to you because, after all, it belongs to all of you and I've been carrying it around with me, unknown for 45yrs and, my health being what it is, it might have died with me and never been known at all, though I'm sure, Arlo, I'm not the only one you pulled this little self-promotional prank on. LoL!!! I've only been here two days but I can already sense that this is the family and now a small piece of your history has found its rightful place. I hope this is a blessed holiday season for you all!

Warmest Regards,

Pat Boland

http://www.angelfire.com/pq2/phenryboland/

Neat story@ Welcome to the site. Norman Greenbaum was a Jewish singer who had out a hit gospel song around 1969/70 called Spirit In The Sky. I wonder if Arlo knew the real Norman lol. The Video is below.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6TFW1F6oY0

Norman Always Knew... Oh wait, that's a different Norman.

And welcome home and to the site!

Thanks Cheryl, yes it does make one wonder, though it will always be a made-up name in my mind.

Thanks Dave!

BTW, anybody know how to get my uploaded pic to work as my avatar?

Use this link - you will probably have re-size your picture (maximum size is 90x90):

ucp.php?i=profile&mode=avatar

If you need help re-sizing an image, there's a free online tool you can use here:

http://www.resizeyourimage.com/

Thanks, it worked!