After reading the responses to Jack's misguided unfeeling review that he felt some misguided need to post on this board (I thought it interesting that he only signed on the day he posted the surly nasty comments)I feel like there are many kindred spirits out there and that we circled around Jack, giving each other a group hug in our respecitve states (of mind) without even knowing each other in most cases--we have all felt the music and the magic and the generous sprirt that Arlo gives us every time we spend time in his presence. Abe is a superior musician--as is Gordon Titcomb (who happened to be at the gig where poor misguided Jack didn't understand what he saw)
So if Jack happens back to the board, which is highly unlikely-- I think I figured it out--Arlo saw him in the audience, remembered that he had seen him twenty years prior, and thought he must have liked what he saw so he came back to see it again--Arlo is very sharp like that you know! He must have played a repeat performance just for Jack! Okay, Okay, I know Arlo doesn't have a plan, but in this case, for Jack, he made an exception.

If Arlo wouldn't have gone to the ice cream parlor across the street from the Second Fret in Phily 35 years or so ago and if he wouldn't have had those 15 hot fudge sundaes then he wouldn't have been left alone by all all his friends who went into the park and got busted and he wouldn't have written the Ring Around a Rosy Rag but Jackstraw would be a happier man 'cause Arlo would be slimmer.
So to you Jackstraw "Blow your toes and touch your nose...." <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/laugh.gif" width=15 height=15>

As the one who started this topic, I must admit the replys are great. While I agree that you cannot please everyone, and that there are folks like Jackstraw that could depress a laughing hyena, I felt that Arlo's performance in Seattle was heart felt and genuine. Certainly, I have heard some of these stories in past concerts but they are and will always be amusing and enjoyable, no different than a good old story that your grandfather may have told you many times, you still enjoy and laugh each time you hear it. The idea that Arlo is only in it for the money is the most outrageous thing I have heard. I am originally from New England and can tell you that the work he does and the money it takes to help all the people and causes that the Guthrie Foundation helps is well known and greatly appreciated. For two hours it was a pleasure to entertained by a old fashioned storyteller. With all the serious things going on in the world right now, we need folks like Arlo more than ever to, at least for a little while, forget all of the problems and spend an enjoyable evening with an old friend.

...well, that's an interesting post from Jackstraw....maybe it's my mood but i didn't get the impression it was posted with malice.....more a sadness at something lost......

...it's kind of surprising, maybe because there hasn't been much controversial discussion on this site about Arlo or Abe....people just don't post it....maybe there isn't enough "room" for it.....maybe it 's inspiring though....

....he reminded me of getting back in touch with Arlo after a few years of not seeing him...this was back in .. like 1980 or something ...(it wasn't 'til last year that I remembered the very first time seeing him live was at the Nov 15th march on Washington in 1969....older than dirt, eh?.<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>.....then after a few years of seeing him around....a few of not, i saw him again, loved him again....
....there were 4 concerts that weekend at the Paramount in Boston...was at every one...dragging all kinds of friends and strangers with me....like i still do....and by the 3rd concert realized i was hearing some of the same old stories.....i was briefly disappointed....and went back for the 4th concert and kept on going every since....

...i still laugh, sigh when he starts Alice's but enjoy how other folks love it.....don't even want to debate his musical talent....he's got alot of it .....at least in my ears....

..the point of all this being.....everyone isn't for everyone....Jackstraw, your last paragraph grabbed me...disappointed at losing a hero.....well you have lost something then, and if that's what you're looking for you may need to find it elsewhere, or maybe think about what that means for you...your choice, of course....your life....

after all of this, the quickest, most truthful way to say it is that Arlo (and family, now) touch my soul.....and that's unique and special....
.now that won't be true for everyone....but i'll continue to bring folks along.... some have found the same as me, others have found the music...others, well they go their way....so it is....
...i'm feeling really lucky right now....

Hello my dear friends!

I've been waiting to be able to talk about something for a long time and now thanks to Jackstraw910 I am able to do it. It fits perfectly with what I wrote in the RBR just recently.

Jackstraw910 didn't come to to the concert to see or hear me, he went to impress upon his partner that failure to live up to his (Jack's) expectations would have consequences. Jack's letter is all about Jack - not the show.

But something happened that Jackstraw910 didn't intend. Something did get to him. I've see it happen hundreds of times. There is an energy, a consciousness that fills every room and every hall we play. It's called Shakti. It is the life force of the mother of all things. Those who went with me to Costa Rica or Rhinebeck, NY know what I'm talking about. Shakti is one word for it, there are others - substitute your own with whatever you are comfortable with. It is spirit and has lots of names in different cultures.

Shakti is like a fire that burns away the illusions, the falseness of I, me and mine. She peels away the layers of everything that is not the true self. And Jack felt the sting of her fire as much if not more than anyone else. As the fire heats up within you the years of anger, selfishness, pain and suffering smolder and rise up as smoke through the body. She is always present at every concert, at every meeting, at every meditation we do together. She is constantly there burning and healing, nurturing the soul.

What you feel is up to you, but the cause is the same. Jack saw the smoke rising, the images as they passed through his consciousness on the way out - gone forever. He could not tell the difference between the image and the real thing - so he wrote his note.

What is burned in the fire of love cannot return. His feeling of sadness and emptiness is the expression of feeling the loss of what he assumed was a part of him, but was in fact simply the baggage of his life that he has been carrying around for a long time. It was never him. And he can never take it back fully. Like in illness, he vomited up the smoke of his bitterness and anger. He may never come to another show we do or he may. It doesn't matter.

My wonderful guru, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, has taught me so much. I'm so thrilled that I can share some of it with you from time to time. Our life is one of love and healing. That's what we do. It doesn't matter what songs we play, or who is in the band, or how much we weigh. It doesn't matter what stories we tell or how many times we've told them before - It's not about that. It's about love. It's about faith. It's about being who you are and sharing our lives with humor, compassion and kindness. And it doesn't matter if you get it or not. If you jump into my river, you're going to get wet!

Someone give Jackstraw a towel.

Love as always,
adg

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by adg:


If you jump into my river, you're going to get wet!

Someone give Jackstraw a towel.

Love as always,
adg<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I suppose though it's up to the jumper if they dive into the deep end or the shallow end of the river.Jackstraw appears to have chosen the shallow water, and that's fine if it's where one's expectations happen to be, or if you choose to be a slave to expectations in the first place.
In the shallow water, we can talk about expanding waistlines and such, in the deep water we can talk about expanding minds, hearts and consciousness.Even though I may not be a strong swimmer, I'll choose the deep water.

I won't waste any electrons defending the musical abilties of Arlo or Abe, because they are both top notch musicians. Besides, that would mean a trip to the kiddy pool and the shallow water again.

Arlo explained what happens at his shows better than anyone else could. I'm sorry for Jackstraw or anyone else who doesn't feel it, because when you do it's a beautiful gift and it's what keeps us going year after year. The music is also wonderful, but you can hear that on the CDs. Now I know that it's Shakti, which I always just called "that thing Arlo does." Everyone always knew what that meant. As more Guthries have joined the show the feeling has only grown, if anything.

As far as musicianship..well, I just know what I like and I think they're all wonderful, but I live among some schooled, unbiased and very critical musician types who have nothing but respect for Arlo's musical abiliities as well as for Abe's.

adg, thank you. I now have reason to thank Jackstraw as well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jackstraw...yo, yo, yo!
I have been "in the house" with Arlo, Abe and assorted family, friends and others. In my corner of the planet I try to do good and I am changing the world in some small way. Arlo, his "schtick," his immediate and extended families and so much of what he has created collectively constitute a significant portion of my own inspiration. I apologize if I sound like Jesse Jackson here but Arlo got my attention way back when as a fellow revolutionary, but he has touched my life more recently and far more deeply as a kindred evolutionary.

As for your characterization of the Sixties, have you been reading those Nixon/Haldeman/Ehlichman/Liddy memoirs again?

Warm regards,

Jim Pollard
Lowell, MA
USA

Just to clarify my earlier post, of course when I wrote it, I was standing in the shallow water gazing over at and wading towards the deeper water. That is part of the human journey that never ends.The water can always get deeper, but shallow is finite.
So, I don't pretend to be in the deepest water, or even in deep water at all. The deep water is my destination, not my location. Jump on in Jackstraw, the water's fine! Am I making any sense here, or does this sound like I'm just sharing some weird part of my personal mid-life crisis? <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

There are words I am unsure how to pronounce-shakti being one of them-yet I long to understand them more fully. I embrace the words and touch the music. Arlo said it so much better than I, yet the feelings, the spirit, and the energy are always there. I ask if skakti is similar to shinkiko and the energy of Ki. I never know enough and long to learn more...and somewhere along the way as I learn to love the questions, I may grow into understanding, as Rilke said.
All of this because Jack missed the boat.

for me, it was never which song or which story, it was always the feeling. i didn't have a name for it, i just felt it, so thanks for the name and the explanation, arlo. my advise to jack is to try it again, with your heart open and no expectations. trust me...when you feel it, it feels great!

Hey Jack...

Why don't you spend the next 30 years doing something equal to making several hundred people smile everyday, and then get back to us...

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by RegFaith on Feb 02, 2003 ---</FONT></center>

I feel sorry for Jackstraw. He don't get it. He don't feel it. And he's mean enough to feel it necessary to come on here and spew his negativity on all of us. Yuck. This is where I come to avoid that kind of energy. I am grateful for Arlo and for his fans and friends here. Try it sometime, Jack, it feels good.

Hey Jack. Interesting take on the Guthrie phenomenon. Didn't anyone ever tell you NOT to meet your hero's? (idols)

They usually turn out to be, the slobbish nose picking snobs, that we ourselves are. According to your philosophy, I'm gonna have to lose at LEAST 25 lbs. in body fat before my next show??? (please don't laugh) & don't talk about me when I'm gone....<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/wink.gif" width=15 height=15>

Sounds like Mantra Baby!