Arlo Guthrie is Recognized at 14th Annual ASCAP Foundation Awards in New York City
The ASCAP Foundation honored vocalist/recording star/songwriter Arlo Guthrie with The ASCAP Foundation Champion Award in recognition of his commitment to music in the service of humanity. The accolade was presented during the Foundation's 14th Annual Awards Ceremony, held December 9, 2009 at the Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in New York City. The invitation-only event, hosted by ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman, also honored a wide variety of Scholarship and Award recipients, all of whom benefit from programs of The ASCAP Foundation.
Arlo Guthrie has a long and distinguished record as a social activist and humanitarian. Like his famed father, legendary troubadour Woody Guthrie, Arlo has always sung and written songs that promote peace and human dignity for all people. His hit recording of Steve Goodman's "City of New Orleans" in 1972 raised American awareness of the disappearing passenger trains. In recent years, his work and leadership role at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, has helped the victims of Huntington's Disease and their families as well as support for people with AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Arlo Guthrie and his family boarded the Amtrak train known as "The City of New Orleans" and performed a series of concerts up and down the length of the train's route to raise money for the storm's victims.
Brooklyn-born Arlo Guthrie emerged at the tail-end of the Folk Revival in the late 1960s and remains one of the genre's most enduring artists. He is a prolific recording artist who has featured blues, Irish fiddle tunes, Ragtime, country, bluegrass, cowboy songs and African folk music on his albums, as well as his original songs. He was a featured performer at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and starred in the Arthur Penn-directed film, Alice's Restaurant, which was based on an Arlo Guthrie story-song.
To celebrate the award to Guthrie, rising folk stars Devon Sproule (the recipient of the 2009 ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award) and Paul Curreri performed Guthrie's song, "Days Are Short."
Great to see old friends and acquaintances. Arlo is one of the funniest man on the planet. NB
Nenad Bach and Paul Williams, Oscar and Grammy winner
