ARLO GUTHRIE
Power of Love
[Warner Brothers BSK 3558]

Arlo Guthrie’s appearance last month at the Agora magically turned the calendar back to 1969. Woodstock loomed large and sparkling on the horizon, like Oz at the end of the yellow brick road with Guthrie as its Wizard. One half-expected to see a yoga class going on in the pinball corner, naked bathers emerging from the rest rooms and a woman heavy with child giving birth as Guthrie cranked into “Coming into Los Angeles,” after which he would announce that Jenny and Bob are now the proud parents of twins who they have named “City of New Orleans.”

Although Guthrie has come a long way since the late ‘60s both lyrically and musically (the excellent, autobiographical first side of 1979’s Outlastin’ the Blues documents the changes), he is still (and inevitably) saddled with the folkie-Woodstock image. And while this is not necessarily bad, it’s not necessarily accurate, either, for both Blues and the new Power of Love demonstrate Guthrie’s ability to remain true to his roots yet to move with the times.

The album’s centerpiece is a cover of the title song, which was written by and first released on T-Bone Burnett’s 1980 debut, Truth Decay. A powerful affirmation of his conversion to Christianity, Guthrie’s version is faster and more rhythmically complex than Burnett’s, and if it reminds you of the Everly Brothers, it’s probably because Phil sings back-up vocals. The lyrics follow the biblical tradition of using paradox to make a point (the greatest must be least, a genuine leader must first be a servant), and provide a structure for Guthrie’s beliefs without becoming preachy:

The power of love can make a strong man weak
Can make a bigot meek
The power of love can make a miser give
Can make a dead man live
The power of love is the Name of Names
And burns away all the pain ... *

From that peak (“Power of Love” is the first song on side one) the album descends into various musical styles (reggae, sing-along, boogie, ballad) and starkly different lyrical locales (Oklahoma, Jamaica, Hawaii; love, despair, being on the road), never quite matching the tension and release of Blues. Though the songs are well done and such luminaries as Rickie Lee jones, Robben Ford and Russ and Leah Kunkel lend either hands or voices, there is a feeling that a central artistic direction is lacking, and that what could have been a worthy successor to Blues is merely another album of cover songs (Guthrie penned only two of the 10 songs) pumped out of the L.A. assembly line.

-Steve Hurlburt

*COPYRIGHT 1980 BLACK TENT MUSIC.