Last Sunday, October 15th, the wife of a good
friend passed away, and I didn’t know about it until today. Some good friend I
am!
She lost her battle with cancer and has gone on to a better,
more fulfilling plane of existence. I never had the opportunity to meet her or
for that matter my good friend of close to 45 years. I am as saddened by the
loss of her gentle spirit as much as I would be any friend.
Like I say, I never met Arlo Guthrie or his wife Jackie but
my life is the better for having him in it. I knew about his dad before I had
heard of him and I suppose most of us have been singing songs written by Woody all of
our lives. When “Alice ’s Restaurant”
came out in the theatres in 1969 I found a new friend. The movie became one of
those moments in my life that just seems to resonate and make me better for
experiencing it. I guess it was love at first sight and sound.
I have followed his career as best I could, getting his
albums and whenever he was on the TV, I would be sure to see him. He believed in
all of the causes that I did, the only difference is that he actually did
something to improve the world. I still will listen to his music whenever I
need a lift of spirits and Arlo is the yard stick that I use to measure other
performers by. Like most married men, he couldn’t be the person that he was
without the support and love of his wife. I don’t know how you can carry on
after watching the person that gave you 43 years of love and companionship move on.
Luckily, he has the support of his family and a belief in how the world and existence
works which will give him strength.
I saw Arlo perform at Massey Hall on November 12, 1976 and I can say that
it was a high point in my concert
going career. Since then, there have been opportunities, but I have either been
too broke, too far away or just plain didn’t know he was doing a concert close
by. Arlo continues to bring joy to me with his music and through him I have
started to listen to his daughter Sarah Lee, who is continuing the Guthrie family
tradition of good music and protest songs.
Here is a link to Arlos website and you can read for
yourself how Arlo is dealing with the passing of his partner in this life and
the next.
Jackie Guthrie
No comments:
Post a Comment