Search - Arlo Guthrie :: Washington Country

Humming in the country

Midwestern Man | 06/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My uncle Curtis loves this album. He actually has it on a record and not on a cd, but he is always telling my sister to buy it for him on cd for Christmas. My uncle Curtis is sort of lost in another time and place and he doesn't understand the music of today at all. He always yells at my sister for listening to Limp Bizcuit. He's like: come on Caitlyn I don't have the patience for this stuff. So on Sunday when we sleep over at his house and he makes us breakfast at 11:00 in his blue bathrobe we listen to Arlo Gutherie. He cooks us scrambled eggs and his kitchen is pitch black because he has tin foil covering the windows. He also has a lamp that hangs down too low from the ceiling and sometimes he is dancing around the room with his frying pan and he slams his head into this lamp. He did it the other day and he just stood there with this look on his face like he just swallowed a lemon. My sister put ice cubes in a paper towel and put it on his head for him but it didn't help. He doesn't make sense. My mom tells him he needs to stop smoking and stop drinking, but he says that he started that in the 70's and he can't stop. In fact, he says that Arlo Gutherie is one of his biggest inspirations. He says that Arlo lives in a church and drives a mini-bus. But even though my uncle Curist is always getting in trouble I still think he is really cool. I feel bad for him because he is the black sheep of the family and they always forget to invite him to the family gatherings, like weddings. But when my older sister Megan got married he got into a little trouble at the wedding. It was sort of like the Wedding Singer. My uncle didn't like the music they were playing at the wedding so he went out to his van and brought in a box of these old records that he had. He somehow forced the DJ to play "Everybody Must Get S&@!$%" by Bob Dylan. It was really embarrassing and my uncle sat in an empty room next to the kitchen for most of the night with a watermelon stain on his tie. He had too much champagne and demanded later in the evening when everyone was dancing to hear "Gloria" at full volume. The DJ didn't have that one, so my uncle was like "here...I have it." The DJ put on the old record reluctantly and it just skipped all the way through the song and my uncle danced around the square with my 8 year old cousin who looked totally horrified through the whole thing. I thought it was funny, but not the rest of the family. Then my uncle gave the bride and groom some advise which I later heard he told Damon not to ever try and hit him up for money because he thought Megan was marrying too young and should have finished school first. And then after the wedding he forgot that he left his records at the school and he almost got arrested trying to "find an easy way in through the back door." He was telling the security guard that he was a teacher and was just picking up some supplies. But of course the guard was smart enough to know better. But he got his records back and he is happy because Arlo Gutherie is his favorite singer and even though his record is completely trashed he will still play it over and over again. He keeps promising that one day he is going to move to the country and have a "great big porch" and a barbeque. My uncle Lester was like "we'll never be that lucky." But uncle Curtis is a swell old guy and he cracks me up when we listen to records because he plays along with a kazoo and he can't even hum in tune. The cat jumped up on the kitchen table and then he jumped over to the counter and almost landed on the stove. The sound of the kazoo make the cat go wild. And we start laughing and my uncle gets all serious and says "don't let the cat go out the door- he'll never come back." Ho-hum, that's life in our family, I suppose."

Good ole' music.

Midwestern Man | 06/10/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my favorites. In fact Arlo was even kind enough to sign my copy of it last April. There's nothing like listening to the first tracks, Introduction and Fencepost Blues. Its just like a Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat. It's very moving. The album shows a wide variety of what Arlo does. From the very reflective and beautiful Gabriel's Mothers's Highway Ballad #16 Blues and If You Would Just Drop By, to the up-beat I Want To Be Around and I Could Be Singing, its just a great CD. Not to mention the title track, Washington County, another brilliant instrumental that fans have come to expect from Arlo."

A Country/Folk/Rock Classic

Midwestern Man | Glenn, MI USA | 11/14/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If your familiarity of Arlo begins and ends with "Alice's Restaurant," drop a dime and check this out.Splendid musicianship, timeless lyrics and Arlo's expressive voice take you to the woods and backroads of America. Having passed through Arlo's stomping grounds in rural upstate Massachusetts, I can see how his surroundings inform his music. I consider this a wonderful "autumn" album. Warm and welcoming, like coming home.If your taste leans toward the "Oh, Brother..." sound and musicians like Gillian Welch, as well as Wilco and Billy Bragg's dabblings with the music of Arlo's father, Woody Guthrie, you'll probably enjoy this. Pair it up with Arlo's "Hobo's Lullaby" and you've got a great two-fer."