The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 226

DailyHerald Saturday, March 30,1996 SECTION 4 Carlinnot afraid to go over the line BY DOUGLAS J. ROWE Associated Press NEW YORK To hear George Carlin talk, it sounds like he's going by the book. Yeah, the book titled and Nothingness." Sartre aside, Carlin matter-of-fact- ly discusses how his "being" feeds on the world staggering, as he sees it, toward its end. And he begins with topical humor. "Which I don't do.

And never have," he says. "I don't do anything about Clinton or those kind of people." Instead, he likes to focus on topics that "have a certain timeliness." So on his ninth HBO special that airs at 9 p.m. today, Carlin opens with nine minutes on abortion, then he segues into the sanctity of life, capital punishment and prison farms. "I don't like wasting the effort it takes to write good material to throw something away six months or six weeks or six DAYS later," says Carlin, who thinks topical humor can sound strained. And what exactly does he believe in? Not much.

"I don't believe in this species. I don't believe in this culture or this nation. I have no religion. I'm not a joiner. I don't believe in groups," he says.

But, he adds, "I think individuals are wonderful. I have great respect for every person I meet. Each one shows me some new part of the universe. But as soon they get into groups, they begin to lose their beauty; they surrender it for the sake of the groups. "So I root for the end of civilization.

I root for the end of everything and I enjoy watching it decline. So now that I have that freedom I only discovered this five years ago and now that I have that distance, that emotional distance from the process, I really am free to see it from a different angle." To longtime fans, the 58-year-old Carlin may sound like he's naturally progressing from his early 1970s transformation, when he grew the ponytail and beard and turned to George Carlin anti-Establishment routines about drugs and dirty words. His "Seven Words You Can Never Use on Television" got him arrested in Milwaukee in 1972 and led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling upholding an FCC ban on "offensive" material during hours children might be listening. It also may seem like a natural progression from a decade earlier. Carlin then teamed with Jack Burns drew the interest and encouragement of Lenny Bruce, a mentor who Carlin remembers as "the immortal enemy of cant and hypocrisy and pseudoliberalism, which is just another form of hypocrisy." In between, Carlin had a buttoned- down stand-up persona that got him on shows like Ed Sullivan's.

And through it all he's managed to keep a foothold in the mainstream. Two of his comedy albums have won Grammys (1972's "FM AM" and 1992's "Jammin' in New and several others have been nominated. He served as host of the first "Saturday Night Live," subbed on "The Tonight Show" when Johnny Carson was host, and appeared in the movies "Outrageous Fortune," "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "The Prince of Tides." In 1991, he even joined the cast of the PBS children's show "Shining Time See CARLIN on Page 3 A song lives in his heart Life is good for Arlo Guthrie. He's hitting the road and keeping his music alive BY MARY CAMPBELL Associated Press NEW YORK Thirty years after he was arrested for illegally dumping garbage on Thanksgiving Day, Arlp Guthrie is back on the road again, singing songs from his first recording of new music in a decade. "My life is wonderful," says Guthrie, whose brush with the law, in November 1965, kept him out of the military and inspired the 1967 antiwar ballad "Alice's Restaurant," a classic of the Vietnam era.

Now a grandfather with his own record company, Guthrie dedicated his new album, "Mystic Journey," to his Hindu guru, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, whom he accompanies on visits to hospitals, hospices, backyards and street corners. The most important task of a folk singer, he says, "is to encourage people to make their own music. Music is a wonderful thing to do with friends and with kids and for kids." "It doesn't have to be some polished-up thing. When you sing together you add a little piece of yourself into the world and the world gives you something to do, too." When he's not making music, Guthrie does community service and makes records under his own Rising Son label. The son of the late Woody Guthrie, Arlo now makes music with his own children; one of the songs of "Mystic Journey" was co-written by his son, Abe, a keyboardist.

And his brother and sister and their children joined him for "Woody's 20 Grow Big Songs," a re-recording of Woody Guthrie's songs for children. Woody Guthrie died in 1967 at Back on the road at the age of 48, folk singer Arlo Guthrie says he's a happy man. age 55 of Huntington's disease, a degenerative disorder that is inherited. At 48, Arlo has no symptoms, and is well past the peak age, 35, for diagnosis. If Huntington's is not in his genes, his children, Abe, Cathy, Annie and Sarah, and grandchildren, Krishna and Mo, aren't in danger.

Folk music was more political in his father's day, says Arlo, who notes that Woody Guthrie once taped a note to his guitar that read, "This machine fights Fascists." Today's folk singers are more apt to write about personal things, he says, Few record stores have folk sections, he says, and many artists have switched to writing country music. "We have spread into the world of people making a living," he says. Guthrie has also branched out, making an album of old cowboy songs, "Son of the Wind." He also made a record of Pete Seeger THE SCOOP Who: Arlo Guthrie Where: Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace Chicago When: 9 p.m. today Tickets: $20.

Call (312) 478-4408 singing with his grandson. While most of the recordings Woody Guthrie made have been released, he left a lot of lyrics. Arlo hopes to write music for them some day. "The world would not have been better off without Woody," he says. "For 40 years he was able to sing and write and travel and talk to people.

I think he made a difference. It is nice to know a person can make a difference, even dealing with a life-threatening illness." His buoyant assessment of the state of the world conies in sharp contrast to the cynical tone of "Alice's Restaurant." "I'm very impressed with the way the world has turned out," he says. "I see a tremendous courage and willingness on the part of young people to make this world a better place." Like his father, Arlo spends much of his time on the road. He takes occasional weeks off and gets back to wife Jackie and home in Western Massachusetts, where his record company is housed in the former church that once was Alice's restaurant. All in all, he says, he's content.

"I've been married 26 years, have kids and grandkids, friends out here on the roads of America. I can't ask for more than this. I feel assured at this point in my life I will be happy as an old man and that's what I'm looking forward to." SPORT UTTLHIES. 1990 Jeep Cherokee Laredo White, $12,900 1991 Ford F-150 XLT I White, 59,900 U992FordAerostarXL I Green, $12,900 1. 1993 Toyota 4 Runner I Grey, $20,900 11993 Suzuki Sidekick I Grey, $10,900 1993 Mercury Villager GS I Green, $13,900 1 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser I Green, $39,500 11995 Mercury Villager Green, $17,900 1 1996 Ford Explorer XLT Maroon, $24,900 i 1985 Lincoln Town Car I SUver, $2,900 11986 Ford Escort Wagon I White, $1,900 1 1986 Lincoln Mark VH I Silver, $4,900 11987 Dodge Carvan I Maroon, $3,900 CARS UNDER $10,000 1976 Buick Electra Ltd I Yellow, 57,900 11988 Lincoln Town Car Exec Blue, $8,900 11989 Ford Taurus 1989 Lincoln Continental Sig Blue, $7,900 i 1989 Plym.

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