As this Thanksgiving holiday draws to a close, my mind wanders back — not to Pilgrims and Native Americans, or even the Civil War, which is when the Thanksgiving holiday officially began, but instead, my own personal guidepost — Arlo Guthrie’s very famous song, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.”
The song, and its creation are summarized in this excellent Smithsonian article, which says in part:
“Guthrie’s beloved musical ode to garbage, small town policing, and military conscription, celebrates many anniversaries. The song – its full name is “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” – has its conception on Thanksgiving Day, 1965, when Guthrie, then 18, and friend Rick Robbins, 19, were clearing out the Stockbridge, Massachusetts, home of Alice and Ray Brock.”
Guthrie almost immediately began to work the episode into a song, and tinkered with it for a couple of years in coffee house and clubs. Its more or less final incarnation was first broadcast on New York City’s WBAI-FM radio station in February of 1967.
The next stop was the 1967 Newport Folk Festival. After performing “Alice” to a handful of people at a Saturday afternoon workshop at the July fest, Guthrie repeated it for a Sunday afternoon audience of 3,500. Their reception was overwhelming, so producers added Guthrie to the evening finale, this time before an audience of about 9,500.
And after all that rambling by me, the main reason this is a personal milestone is that I was in the audience that night, reporting on the festival for the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram. It was indeed a magical event. Guthrie’s delivery was clever and whimsical, as his drawn-out pauses between verses added to the surprise of the song itself, while running on for about 20 minutes. The audience loved it.
So here it is again. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Blues Roadhouse 