Arlo Guthrie

But even that anthemic conclusion was salted with stories and comic anecdotes about the song's history - for instance how his mother, the Martha Graham dancer Marjorie, had heard it sung in China.

"I realised that when they sang 'from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,' they must have been going round the globe in the opposite direction," he quipped.

Now in his 65th year, the young man who startled audiences half a century ago by being very much an artist of his generation, rather than a sort of one-man tribute band to his dad, is still young. He is also a great entertainer.

Right at the end he taught the audience a song he'd made of his father's words, the deceptively simple Peace Song - "My peace, my peace is all I've got that I can give to you." But the crowd had been singing along ever since they recognised the opening chords of Steve Goodman's City Of New Orleans.

After the concert I heard a dedicated non-folkie exclaim: "I like rock and roll. I never thought I could be entertained for an evening with one guy and a solo acoustic guitar, and be left still wanting more."

It would be good if that revelation could extend beyond the aging age group who constituted the bulk of the audience. Music like this is for all times and for all generations.