"Celebrating Woody Guthrie's Birthday With Arlo and the Radical Version of 'This Land...'

John Nichols:

As it happens, his son, Arlo, a great songwriter and singer in his own right, will celebrate in Madison on the 14th. He will be at the historic Barrymore Theater, singing his own songs and some of his father’s.

Arlo Guthrie will support the labor struggle in Wisconsin as his father did so many times during the good fights that gave rise to the modern labor movement: by donating his entire fee to the We Are Wisconsin Worker’s Emergency Rights Fund — a network of religious leaders, community groups, labor union members, student groups and others who oppose the current state budget, which harms Wisconsin families.

There is something so very right—in a historic sense and a contemporary sense—about a Guthrie singing “This Land Is Your Land,” in all its glory, in Madison, Wisconsin, on the night of Woody’s 99th birthday. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Woody's birthday is on Bastille Day--perfect. My departed stepfather, Earl Robinson, wrote the music to "Joe Hill" and was friends with Woody and his family, so I feel a particular connection. I played volleyball with Arlo once on the beach in Venice, California but it was in the late sixties and my performance was impaired by a recreational substance. I have no comment on Arlo's performance.