The brotherhood of Woodstock performers

Big things happened for Arlo Guthrie in '69. That was the year he got married, bought his farm in western Massachusetts and starred in "Alice's Restaurant," a Hollywood movie based on his popular talkin' blues anthem. And 40 years ago this week, the folk singer also landed at Yasgur's Farm, facing a crowd of nearly half a million at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. He still hears about that one.

"There are a lot more young people these days who have heard of Woodstock and never heard of me," says Guthrie, now 62. "If somebody says, 'Well, who are ya?' And I say, 'I'm one of those guys that played Woodstock.' 'Oh, then there's a table for you, sir!' It still has some clout."

Guthrie has spent the decades since recording and touring, like many surviving Woodstock vets. They see one another now and then, on the road, at Woodstock anniversaries, a fraternity borne during three days of peace, music and mud.

"We're forged in steel for life," says singer-songwriter John Sebastian, 65, who now lives in Woodstock, N.Y., a 50-minute drive from the actual concert site. "Those three days, if you had friends and you were on that site, you'd just be brethren from then on." He continues to perform and record with a traditional jug band and in an acoustic duo with David Grisman.

For the acts lower down the bill, the festival was a defining moment and a big break, delivered worldwide in a 1970 Oscar-winning documentary. "Those people that were able to make that just a part of who they were instead of totally personify them seemed to find more happiness and success," says Holly George-Warren, co-author of "The Road to Woodstock," promoter Michael Lang's chronicle of the festival.

Some have disappeared into obscurity (Quill, the Keef Hartley Band). The last decade has also brought the deaths of such participants as Who bassist John Entwistle, Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden and Jimi Hendrix's drummer Mitch Mitchell.

For Guthrie, Woodstock was an epic gig, but also just one wild weekend in a career that regularly passes through esteemed venues. In the fall, he begins another tour with the Guthrie Family, as his children and grandchildren perform old and new songs, and celebrate the legacy of his father, folk music hero Woody Guthrie. Arlo Guthrie just released "Tales of '69," a recently unearthed recording of a wandering, wordy performance from just before Woodstock.