Customer Reviews

Running Down the Road

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I originally purchased this recording on vinyl and eventually repurchased it on CD. The songs range from highly original folk-rock compositions like Running Down The Road and Coming Into Los Angeles, to moving ballads like Oh, In The Morning. Two highlights are Arlo's rendition of Oklahoma Hills, composed by his father, and the ethereal Living In The Country. The remaining songs are also excellent in their own right and feature some superb instrumental accompaniment by Pete Seeger and a young Ry Cooder. My personal favorite is My Front Pages, which has a strong Dylan influence. This is one of those recordings which grows on you slowly but which leaves a lasting impression. I've had it for more than 18 years and I still enjoy hearing it.

I originally purchased this recording on vinyl and eventually repurchased it on CD. The songs range from highly original folk-rock compositions like Running Down The Road and Coming Into Los Angeles, to moving ballads like Oh, In The Morning. Two highlights are Arlo's rendition of Oklahoma Hills, composed by his father, and the ethereal Living In The Country. The remaining songs are also excellent in their own right and feature some superb instrumental accompaniment by Pete Seeger and a young Ry Cooder. My personal favorite is My Front Pages, which has a strong Dylan influence. This is one of those recordings which grows on you slowly but which leaves a lasting impression. I've had it for more than 18 years and I still enjoy hearing it.

While COMING INTO LOS ANGELES is probably the best-known song on this album, you'll appreciate the more soulful OH, IN THE MORNING and the bouncy MY CREOLE BELLE. This album is worth owning just for OKLAHOMA HILLS and Arlo's rendition of STEALIN'.

Those of you who remember Arlo Guthrie from "Alice's Restaurant" on may have forgotten that he was still a teenager when he started making records -- a smart-assed, bad-teenage-attitude teenager who knew he was quickly becoming a household name. Like all kids, he mellowed in his 20s but here, on "Running Down the Road," Arlo is still Arlo the Kid, and his spunky attitude shines on the best songs here and helps along the lesser tunes.

If you need any proof that Arlo was once a teenager, listen to the false start on "My Creole Belle." You can hear him bawling out some session musician who probably had more experience playing music than Arlo had years on him. It's really funny, then when you hear another musician say, "Let's do it! While we're happy!"

This album also has the studio version of the other early Arlo "classic": "Coming Into Los Angeles," a cocky song about smuggling dope in the swingin' 60s. You couldn't get away with that song now, could you?

Arlo's connection to Pete Seeger begins to form itself here, with Arlo doing Seeger's "Going to the Country," and doing it quite well, thank you.

This CD probably won't be the one you play most often but it's one you will enjoy every time you do play it. And I recommend it for that very reason.

This album's always been a personal favorite because it was the first time Arlo Guthrie made an album without the buffer of "stand-up comedy," for lack of a better way of putting it. Funny as ALICE'S RESTAURANT and much of ARLO were, I tended to file them away with my Smothers Brothers and Bill Cosby albums after a few listens. Not so with RUNNING DOWN THE ROAD, where Arlo the musician takes center stage.

From the opening C&W take on Woody Guthrie's "Oklahoma Hills" to the paranoid rock of the title song at the end, Arlo sings, plays and struts his stuff with charm and assurance. Gus Cannon's "Stealin'" is a picker's feast, with ensemble singing on the chorus that foreshadows WORKINGMAN'S DEAD and AMERICAN BEAUTY. "Oh, In The Morning" is a quiet little jewel of a tune, just Arlo and piano paying homage to life. And though "Coming Into Los Angeles" sure sounds dated now, it's exhuberent all the same, with some great country picking from Clarence White.

This CD isn't Arlo at his best, but it has Arlo the singer muscling out Arlo the comedian for the first time, as well as some songs that still sound terrific after all these years.

When Arlo is good ("Oklahoma Hills", "My Creole Belle", "Running Down The Road", "Stealin'", "Coming Into Los Angeles"), he's very, very good. His lesser efforts (everything else on the CD, unfortunately) are first-rate soporifics.

I had the album for many years. It was always one of my favorites. Needless to say, the album took quite a beating having been played "constantly". I'm happy that it's still in print. It sounds as good as ever.

This is one of the best records from Arlo. The quality of the cd is great. It's a pleasure buy any cd by Amazon.