I've taken a few opportunities to check out some live music. Most recently, I had a chance to see Jimmy Webb perform at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington MA. Both Jimmy and the center have well known history, Jimmy as a songwriter of renown and the Center as a historical landmark.
For those of you who remember Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant", the Center is the former church where Alice lived. It was immortalized in the song's lyrics; "Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
Restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the Church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog."
The church has since been purchased by Arlo and turned into a performance space. It's open from Spring until Fall and is a well known stop on the folk circuit. The Guthrie Center was set up as a non-profit foundation.
My friend Mark Galeo and I quickly found out that the place has no a/c as we went on 7/19, in the midst of our heat wave. It was warm, but it could have been much worse. If you want to help the center raise funds for air conditioning, go here; guthrie center donations
A very worthy cause.
Jimmy Webb is an extraordinary songwriter. Not only did he pen some of Glen Campbell's biggest hits (Wichita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Where's the Playground Susie, Galveston) Jimmy also wrote some other songs you might know; Macarthur Park, Up, Up and Away, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, The Highwayman and many more.
Having the opportunity to see Jimmy perform many of these tunes while accompanying himself on piano was a real treat. I grew up on all of those songs. Many are still all time favorites.
Mark Galeo and Jimmy Webb
