After seeing Arlo in concert here in Vancouver, B.C., I went and bought a CD called "The Best of Arlo Guthrie". I've been playing it a lot, recently. My favorite songs are "Alice's Restaurant" and "Darkest Hour". I think Arlo sang "Darkest Hour" at the concert I attended. It really is quite an experience to see music performed live. I was sitting in the second row at the Chan Centre, so I got a good view of the stage.
If people remember correctly, it was because of Arlo that I bought a CD player last year, so I could take out some CD's of Arlo and Woody from the library to see what their music was like.
I'd like to start a collection of Arlo Guthrie CD's but I don't know which ones to buy. Can anybody recommend an album. I read in an Arlo Guthrie biography at the library that these albums are very good: Hobo's Lullably, Amigo, and The Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys.

Hi caron... of course the obvious answer is to BUY 'EM ALL!
You'll find a lot of opinions out there about which is 'best', but I suspect most folks would not disagree with my suggestion.
You might want to focus on Alice's Restaurant (the original) and then perhaps Mystic Journey, to sort of bookend where Arlo has gone from-to in his music, and then fill in the middle with all the rest. Don't overlook albums that arlo has been a participant in as well, such as the ones with Pete Seger, and HARP (Holly Near, Arlo, Ronnie Gilbert, Pete) for example.
Click on the Discography button on the left hand panel of the home page here at Arlo.Net, and you can see for yourself that you're in for a good time.

p.s. my personal favorite is Hobo's Lullaby, and I just got the 'expanded' HARP CD recently to replace my old worn out tape...

Caron, I think Arnie's suggestion is excellent, and that Hobo's Lullaby would be a good third CD to get. If you click on "Get Stuff" (the gray button on the left, two down from "Discography"), you can buy many of the CDs from Arlo's own Rising Son Records. And some of his music is available online (for PC and Mac both) at http://www.apple.com/itunes, as discussed in the Arlonet Support/Technical forum under "iTunes Link." Happy listening!

I was inspired to buy Banjoman at the Arlo concert - it's the tribute album to Derroll Adams, someone I had never heard of. It contains Portland Town, which Arlo is perfoming. I have been listening to it almost nonstop - Arlo, Donovan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Dolly Parton, Hans Theessink and others play, as well as Derroll Adams. I was so moved by what Arlo said about him - his influence on music, his personality (he "did not work well with others"). I highly recommend it.

Sue

Get 'em all as they said. They're all great!

"The Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys' is one of my favorites but they are all good. "Precious Friend" with Pete is another one of my favorites. When you order them from the Get Stuff page they come quickly. The day always improves when there is an Arlo Guthrie CD in the mailbox. i also felt that way about getting The Rolling Blunder Review....

Get ready to feel good again then...

Hi AG! Miss ya! Does this mean a new RBR is coming out soon? I need to renew my membership to the church soon. Low on bread but eventually we'll get it renewed...

I recently dug out a copy of Woodys Library of Congress LPs that I got from my college radio station about 10 years ago. Its a little scratchy but pretty cool. I havent checked if it is on CD yet, if not I will be dubbing my LPs. I also found the Bound For Glory soundtrack with David Carradine in there. Im looking for the movie because it looks interesting. Surprisingly I dont remember any Arlo records at the station.

All the above suggestions are very good and I can not disagree with any...and yes, if you ask 12 different people, you are gonna get 12 different answers....says alot about ADG!! He appeals to a wide variety. AND...LOL....to throw MY 2 cents in....I have also thoroughly enjoyed his Song of the Wind...he has taken ageless and classic folk and western songs, given his superb interpretation of them and produced what I feel is amoung his finest. No particular current "social messages" but classics for all time...with their own messages just the same. Enjoy!!!

I would suggest anything he has written (or preformed) but I do agree I like the hobo's Lullaby. It's one of my favorites. Keep on keepin on

I agree about Son of the Wind...there's something about all those old traditional and cowboy songs...just gotta love 'em! But then. I grew up in the era where most of us were watching a lot of singing cowboy stuff on TV...I bet a lot of you, like me, were sitting in front of the tv on Saturday mornings watching Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. They'd be having some big shoot-out with the bad guys in the black hats, and then after it was all over, they'd pull out their D45 Martins that would conveniently appear out of nowhere (maybe that was what Dale had with her in the jeep??) and they'd all sing about it, in 5 part harmony.

Sue?...Was that you...sitting next to me back in those days????

Caron, each of Arlo's albums are different from the others in some way, & they're all good, so it's hard to recommend any one or two,

But I would say that before you buy any of Arlo's albums, make sure that you own all 40+ of Bob Dylan's albums.

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JUST KIDDING!!!

I think Arlo's best albums are the concert albums he did with Pete Seeger. I love the stories between the songs.

Of the studio albums, my favorite is Mystic Journey.