Image via WikipediaHow many of you remember "Alice's Restaurant"? I heard it on my drive home tonight and was taken immediately to my grandmother's living room sometime in the 70's where I heard it first on my TRANSISTOR RADIO.
Does your local radion station play it annually around Thanksgiving?
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree" (commonly referred to simply as "Alice's Restaurant") is one of singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie's most prominent works, a musical monologue based on a true story that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, and which inspired a 1969 movie of the same name.
The song lasts 18 minutes and 34 seconds, occupying the entire A-side of Guthrie's 1967 debut record album, also titled Alice's Restaurant (Warner Reprise Records). It is notable as a satirical, first-person account of 1960s counterculture, in addition to being a hit song in its own right. The final part of the song is an encouragement for the listeners to sing along, to resist the draft, and to end war.
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10 comments:
I love it-my dad introduced me to his stuff. :)
My local classic rock station still plays this song every thanksgiving (or when they need a smoke break).
I can still remember hearing this song for the first time, because it was the first song I'd heard that was like listening to someone tell a story.
I used to own this album. Haven't thought about it in years, but sit & listened to it again on YouTube. Then started listening to Rod McKuen...I think I need to get back to reality & 2008, before I get kicked off of your Classic Rock blog! Happy, peaceful Thanksgiving.
Your lucky to have a dad that understands the priority of teaching his kids about important music! My dad influenced me in that way too :)
Hey Mark, LOL about the smoke break....you could get into all sorts of trouble during 18 plus minutes!
Sherry! You made my day by leaving this comment. Reality is over-rated, lets not go there today.
When I was a in my adolescence I use to listen to a station in my hometown called WTAC which introduced my to songs like Alice's restaurant.
In the last 5 years, I think I've heard that song once. My local rock station barely knows there's any music outside of Floyd, Zeppelin, and Skynyrd. There's another station(we play everything that rocks!) that's been on the air less than a year, but after a promising start, it's become pretty much a clone of the other station, but with less talk.
So, to answer your question; no.
Brings back memories, thanks.
Very cool. I remember when I lived in the S.F. Bay Area, I used to ride my bike into the coastal mountains above Woodside, CA, and at the corner of Hwy. 84 and Skyline Blvd., there is (or at least was) a place called Alice's restaurant. I never took the opportunity to go there, but wonder if there is a connection other than the name...
I used to listen to it every year on the radio. The radio in Baltimore sucks, and has for years, so I wouldn't be surprised in no one played it anymore. I just get out the record and play it myself these days. It's a Thanksgiving tradition! (And a great song)
I love this song. The first time I heard it was when a friend of mine sang it to me. The recorded version is much better. Love your site... Come and pay me a visit at Rock n Roll View.
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