Clips & Pix: Arlo Guthrie/Alice’s Restaurant Massacree

I can’t believe it’s taken me more than four years to dedicate a post to one of the most hilarious songs I can think of: Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, better known as Alice’s Restaurant, by folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie. And what better time to do so than on the eve of Thanksgiving.

Alice’s Restaurant, the title track of Guthrie’s debut album from October 1967, is a largely spoken satirical protest song against the Vietnam War draft. It’s based on a true though exaggerated story that started on Thanksgiving 1965 when Guthrie and his friend Ray Brock were arrested by the local police of Stockbridge, Mass. for illegally dumping trash. Guthrie’s resulting criminal record from the incident later contributed to his rejection by the draft board.

At 18 minutes and 34 seconds, Alice’s Restaurant can easily compete with some Pink Floyd tunes, except it’s much more upbeat. Because of its length, the track is rarely heard on the radio, except on Thanksgiving when many stations play it in its entirety. This includes Q104.3, the New York classic rock station I mentioned in a recent previous post, which trigged this piece.

Perhaps not surprisingly given Guthrie’s cinematic story-telling, Alice’s Restaurant also inspired a 1969 comedy film with the same name, starring Guthrie as himself. It was directed by Arthur Penn who among others is known as director of the 1967 classic biographical crime picture Bonnie and Clyde.

Commenting on what became his signature tune, Guthrie said, “I never expected it to be so popular,” as quoted by Songfacts. “An 18-minute song doesn’t get airplay. You can’t expect that. So the fact that it became a hit was absurd on the face of it. It wasn’t part of the calculation.” Well, whether intentional or not, I’m sure it helped Guthrie pay some bills.

Last but not least, to all folks who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving and be safe!

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; YouTube