Arlo Guthrie (b. 1947)
Arlo Guthrie was born in Coney Island, New York, the son of folk music icon Woody Guthrie. He grew up surrounded by folk music but preferred rock in his younger years. He learned to play guitar and made his first big splash with his 18-minute song commentary "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" at the Newport Folk Festival. The "Massacree" was published in Broadside in 1966. He later scored a radio hit with his rendition of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans."
The Best of Broadside: 83. Victor Jara
Chilean singer and songwriter Victor Jara was executed in 1973 in a Santiago football stadium where thousands of political prisoners were being held by soldiers of the Augusto Pinochet government. Jara was a strong enemy of fascism and one of the guiding forces of the Nueva Cancion (New Song) movement in South America. After the Chilean coup, all musicians associated with the Nueva Cancion movement were declared subversive, and many were arrested and tortured. The song comes from the poem "Victor Jara of Chile" written by Englishmen Adrian Mitchell, to which Arlo Guthrie added music.
Arlo Guthrie. Photo by Diana Davies.
Text extracted from the notes by Jeff Place accompanying The Best of Broadside.
Smithsonian Folkways recordings of Victor Jara include:
Vientos del Pueblo (MON61778)
Canto Libre (Volume 2) (MON71799)
El Derecho de Vivir (MON51788)