Arlo Guthrie Announced His Retirement
It’s been a great 50+ years of being a working entertainer, but I reached the difficult decision that touring and stage shows are no longer possible. I've cancelled the upcoming shows, and am not accepting offers for new ones. That’s the short version. For the longer version continue reading…
As a folksinger, I never really thought much about getting older. It seemed to me that I could just continue year after year, decade after decade, singing and playing as I had done for most of my life. As the years went by, it got more difficult to keep touring, but I did it, mostly because I’d been doing it my entire life. It was the life I knew and loved.
In 2016 on April 1st, April Fools Day, I got really dizzy in the parking lot of the hotel, and started seeing as though I were looking through a kaleidoscope. That evening the show went on as though nothing had happened. I had no idea I’d just encountered a mini stroke until weeks later, when I was told about it. It didn’t appear to affect my performance, or my state of being. I continued touring for the next 4 years.
Then, on Thanksgiving Day 2019 (of all freaking days) it happened again. This time I was on my way to The Church / The Guthrie Center to help out with our annual Thanksgiving Dinner that we hold every year. I had pulled over to fuel up and realized I couldn’t continue to drive safely, as everything was spinning around, sort of like the old days, but without the help of illegal substances. I was taken to the hospital, and was under evaluation, when I broke out. I had an important gig at Carnegie Hall in New York - The end of an annual series I’d been doing for decades and it was Sold Out. I had to be there. It was imperative.
The next morning I left the hospital, took the family and headed for New York. And what a show it was! We wrapped up 50 years with a terrific evening with the entire family on stage. I really enjoyed it.
The following day I flew to my home in Sebastian, FL just as I had done for years, this time with the history of Carnegie Hall behind me. My girlfriend, Marti picked me up at the airport, and we settled into the routine of being on the river I loved. Two nights after arriving home, I awoke in the morning and was lurching from sIde to side. I knew something was wrong, and went to keep a doctors appointment we’d previously set up. The doc said “You need to go to the hospital - Now.”
So, Marti took me to the hospital nearby in Vero Beach. They kept me there for 3 days, running tests of all kinds, and essentially informed me that I’d suffered a stroke. This time was more serious, as I’d lost some ability to walk, and I wondered if if would be able to play music. I spent about a week in a rehab center to re-learn the basics, like walking. I went home after that, and began a regimen of playing guitar, walking… All the things I would need to continue touring and performing. During the entire time, Marti kept the family and close friends advised as to my progress, and took really great care of me. I needed all the help I could get. And she was there to see it done right.
By the the time our first shows began in 2020, I was at about at 80% and felt like I was improving. Then the pandemic hit. All the shows we had planned for 2020 were at first, postponed, then rescheduled and finally cancelled. My hopes for a gradual recovery onstage came to an abrupt end.
Meanwhile, I’d decided back in 2018 to move from the home in Florida. And just as I’d returned from our last gig in Tennessee, a buyer appeared, and we had a deal on the table to sell The CrabHouse. I wasn’t in any shape to go through the intricacies of selling a guitar pick, let alone a home with 30 years of stuff we’d collected. Marti ended up doing it all. She finalized the deal, and dealt with the stuff that either had to be sold, moved or thrown out. It was quite a lot. But, through garage sales, online markets, movers and friends, she’d pretty much emptied the CrabHouse of everything, and we moved into her place about a mile away.
We were there for a few weeks, before it was safe enough to return to The Farm in Massachusetts. That was in June 2020. Since then we’ve been holed up at The Farm trying to keep out of harms way, and also trying to provide some online entertainment for our friends who were, and continue to be, holed up wherever they are. My band and crew arranged a few short gigs that were filmed at The Church, but when I saw the play-back in the editing room I realized that it was not up to the standards I expected of myself, let alone the expectations that our friends and fans had come to enjoy.
A folksinger’s shelf life may be a lot longer than a dancer or an athlete, but at some point, unless you’re incredibly fortunate or just plain whacko (either one or both) it’s time to hang up the “Gone Fishing” sign. Going from town to town and doing stage shows, remaining on the road is no longer an option.
I don’t remember answering the question on the other side of that piece of paper when I was asked “Kid! Have you rehabilitated yourself?” But, the short answer is now clearly, “No!” In fact, I hope to be a thorn in the side of a new administration pretty soon. Tom Paine once wrote “To argue with a man who has renounced the use … of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead….” In other words, you cannot and should not argue with people who don’t care, or hold the caring of others in contempt. A healthy suspicion of authority, left, right or center has been the hallmark of my career since the beginning, and I will continue to poke fun at cultural, political, or personal absurdities as I see it. I’m actually looking forward to it.
I’m happy, healthy and good to go, even if I’m not going anywhere. I’ve taken back 6-9 months that I used to spend on the road, and enjoying myself with Marti, my family and friends. In short - Gone Fishing.
~From his FB page
= new reply since forum marked as read
Is one of the all time greatest singing stories of all time.
Enjoy your retirement, know we love you.
Always started the day with coffee, suitable (now legal) herbs, and Alice. Great times. 
Baby boomers take note: our time is getting shorter.
Take care of the important things while you still can.
Best of luck and health to Arlo Guthrie!
Enjoy your retirement, sir.
I was with family as well and we were on a schedule. I was about to run over just as a parade started up and he was on the other side of the long parade so I missed the chance.
I saw him play up at (my memory is getting a bit moldy) Plymouth College in NH back in the 80's. He was lobbying to get one of his songs adopted as the state song for Massachusetts and told us that as a result he had to clean up his act and make it a respectable show 
In any event it was a great show. He is a talented musician, entertainer, and story teller.
I wish him well with his health
"Coming into Los "'Angleeze," bringing in a couple of keys...
I think I still have that vinyl album some place.
Tom Paine once wrote “To argue with a man who has renounced the use … of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead….” Excellent! Keeping that in my files. May he have a long happy retirement. Bless him.
Dear Arlo Guthrie,
Don't know if you ever visit the DU forum, but thank you for the beautifully written explanation of your retirement. Please know how much your fans appreciate it and know that I am one of them. When I was a teenager, I used to crawl out the window of my bedroom and sit on the roof of our porch with my first guitar and try to play your songs. I loved them all, from the sweet and soothing "Going Home" to the wonderfully absurd "Story of Reuben Clamzo" ("Clamzo me boys, clamzo!" .
Once I got my driver's license, I ditched my guitar to pursue, you know, young person stuff. But when I finally settled down with my husband and bought a little house in the country, the urge to play guitar came back—big time—and so did the urge to listen to and play your music. Every couple of weeks, I play "Going Home" on my guitar and every Thanksgiving for the past 20 years, I have played my "Alice's Restaurant" CD and insisted that everyone in the house stop whatever they were doing and listen to you singing it in its entirety.
Thank you, Arlo, and bless you and your family!
about an hour from my home . . . I decided to get some friends together and make the trip . . .
At the time I owned a two-unit house and rented the second apartment to a family that included a 15-year-old kid . . . he'd often stop over and want to browse my rather extensive record collection, and I'd occasionally loan him an album or two to take home and listen to . . . one of his favorites was "Alice's Restaurant," which he played often enough to pretty much learn the whole song . . . when he heard that we were going to see Arlo in concert, he begged to be included . . . so I ordered an extra ticket and we took him along . . .
about 20 minutes into the trip, the kid asked "Do you think Arlo will sing 'Alice's Restaurant tonight?" . . . I'd recently heard an interview in which Arlo explained why he almost never did that song in concert anymore . . . I didn't want the kid to be disappointed at the show, so I told him that the chances of hearing "Alice's" that night were, unfortunately, not good . . .
about 10 minutes later, the kid announces that Arlo will indeed perform his signature song that evening! . . . and he repeated the prediction about every ten minutes until we arrived at the venue . . . I kept trying to dissuade him, but he kept insisting, so I finally just shrugged, told him not to be too disappointed, and let it go . . .
we had great aisle seats a few rows from the stage, and Pete and Arlo did their usual great job up until intermission . . . as they returned for the second half, my young friend was still sure that he was going to hear his favorite Arlo Guthrie number . . . me, not so much . . .
so the guys come back on stage, Pete sits down on the floor behind Arlo, who sits on a chair stage center and starts strumming the guitar part to "Alice's Restaurant" . . . says "I don't do this in concert very often anymore, but I kinda feel like it tonight" . . . I turned around to see the kid, who was in the row behind me, flashing me the biggest "I told you so!" shit-eatin' grin I've ever seen . . . needless to say, I felt like a dummy -- but a happy dummy seeing this kid's dream come true that night . . . and he never let me forget it . . . 
God Bless, Arlo . . . thanks for all the great music through the years, and especially for giving a young fan a thrill he always remember as "the night Arlo played 'Alice's Restaurant' FOR ME!" . . .
My parents introduced me to his music when I was a kid, and it's been close to my heart ever since.
I saw him perform a number of years ago. Got to hear the entirety of "Alice's Restaurant" live. I've had a pretty good existence
