If you go to the movie's website at http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/, you'll see a reference to Arlo performing the song at Woodstock AND a quote from Arlo about the history of the song. There's also a good Pete Seeger quote. Kind of nice to see. I was going to see the movie anyway but I guess now we all have to....

Thanks for the information. I hadn't heard about this movie yet (over here they always are a few weeks later) but it sure sounds very interesting.

Thanks for the info. We saw this movie on Sat. We went at matinee times so we could afford it. It was really good. It wasn't as much about John Newton tho. It was more about Willliam Wilberforce the preacher in England who helped abolish slavery & how he did it. John Newton was his preacher. It didn't tell the John Newton slave ship story but it did show how the song affected William Wilberforce & helped him get slavery abolished over there. John Newton was in it as William Wilberforces preacher who he went for advice to. If you love period pieces you'll like it. It's also historical & good for kids to see the history of it. We enjoyed it. I highly recommend it. Another good one we saw recently was the Last Sin Eater...

Lots of performers have done Amazing Grace.The latest that I have gotten is by The Blind Boys Of Alabama. Its really great and worth a listen its on the Realworld cd

The versions I like best are the ones that involve the rest of us singing along, a la Pete Seeger, Arlo, Joan Baez. That is when it works the best.

I've heard the Blind Boys do it to the tune of House Of The Rising Son. That sounds so neat. Hints to Arlo to try doing it that way.

I've heard the Blind Boys of Alabama do their version, and while it is quite good, I really like the melody of the original song and prefer to hear it that way. Sometimes those old hymns just get it right on target, and "Amazing Grace" is one I don't like see stretched too far from its roots. I've you've ever heard Jean Ritchie do it in the "call and response" style, well, it doesn't get more rootsy than that.

I saw her do that one that Amazing Grace prorgam on the history of the song that was on PBS a few yrs back. They showed her doing it at the family gravesite in KY on decoration day. In hillbilly areas of KY like she & Mike are from they celebrate Memorial day as Decoration day & they go to the gravesites of their dead relatives & visit getting together with other relatives. I did that with Mike once. in KY. When I saw that I told Mike come & see these folks celebrating Decoration day on here. I later saw in the credits it was Jean Ritchie. Wow. With some hymns they are sung to more than 1 tune like Away In a Manger for example. I did read somewhere once where Amazing Grace could also be sung to the tune of the Gilliagans Island theme song. Anyway it was my grandmas favorite song...