 [Larger view] | Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant
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 A Timeless Classic! | |
| I heard *Alice's Restaurant* for the first time on the radio in 1967 and I almost drove off the road- it caught my attention both for what the lyrics were saying and the fact that it was long (18:22 min.) and kept going and going and...
I pulled over on a cul-de-sac in Ocean Beach, California facing the beautiful Pacific Ocean to listen without distraction. WOW! Mind you, I was on my way back to the Navy base farther south to board a war ship and leave for a second tour in Vietnam. "To be or not to be?", that is, leave or stay? Duty to the Navy won the decision, so instead of bailing, I did the next best thing and went to a music store, picked-up the album and returned to my ship so I could share it with my fellow shipmates. They would just love these lyrics before going back to war: "...and maybe, just maybe...", as the lyrics toward the end say, "...if 50 people come in and sing a bar of Alice's Restaurant, it may cause a movement: The Alice's Restaurant Massacre Movement." ...and the war would end, hopefully. Alice's Restaurant is my most loaned out, never returned or ripped-off album and I now have this CD with a pit bull posted next to it- just kidding. This is an all-time favorite classic from the wild `60's with a timeless message and it is well worth sharing with generations to come. There was another war protest song playing at the same time by the group, "Country Joe and The Fish"- with a song titled, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag". Very different from Guthrie's style, but potent. | |
 It's no Thanksgiving without it | |
| I have read about the tradional radio plays. How about 24 hours straight, with no commercials? Nearly 80 back-to-back. Yes, you CAN get enough of it for one day. Great title song with splendid word pictures. | |
| Family Tradition | |
| Since I was born, every Thanksgiving at noon a local radio station has played Alice's Restaurant. I think this is the most solid traditio in my family. The song is hysterical. My mom has always loved it and whenever I tell people in my generation, like my fiance, that they must listen to it, they look at me like I am insane. But it is a classic song that has enhanced my life. When I went to buy the song for my mom I found this CD, which also had the Motorcyle Song, that my mom used to sing when I was really little and I had never heard the actual thing. So if your kids have never heard this, tell them it is great and make them listen to it, they will at least laugh. And in a time when the draft may come back, they may need to hear his brief experience in a funny way... |
