I was on my way to work this morning and I was listening to the One Night CD and on came Rueben Clamzo. I hadn't listenedto that in quite a while!!! Well, I was laughing SO hard, I had to pull over to the side of the road. Has he sang that anywhere lately??? It was a GREAT way to start my day!! Thanks Arlo!!!

I think last time I heard Reuben Clamzo live in concert was a lot of years ago (8 or 9 years ago)...at a craft fair in Gaithersburg, MD...Xavier was the backup band, and I think Abe was teaching Xavier guys how to sing the chorus while Arlo was doing the introduction. It was a sunny, perfect day, and Arlo was wearing some fancy multicolored shoes he'd gotten at the craft fair.

Mike & I were there too! I remember him showing off those shoes in the show too. They were neat looking. Memories...

I remember seeing Arlo do "Reuben" one time in Sugarloaf, NY. He had Shenandoah with him, so it must have been around 14 years ago. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, and was feeling very punchy. I had seen him do "Reuben" before, and it was always funny, but that night I just totally lost it and started laughing hysterically, with tears falling down my cheeks. My friends sitting way on the other side of the theater knew it was me who was losing it. Arlo finally looked right in my directions and said "This is serious!", then went on with the story. I think he knew it was me, too.

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe it was Xavier who performed "Reuben" with Arlo that night, and I'm remembering Shenandoah from some other time. I really was tired.....

You know, someone just gave me a recording of sea chanties put together by the Library of Congress. It includes one particalar chanty called "Reuben Ranzo". It is obviously derived from "Reuben Clamzo", but no mention is made of that in the liner notes. You just can't trust the Library of Congress. Thank God there are people like Arlo out there, preserving our true musical heritage.

I've never seen Rueben Clamzo live. Or dead, for that matter.

If he doesn't appear at Carnegie this year, well then.....another year without him.