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From the lens The Alice's Restaurant Massacree by Arlo Guthrie.

  • flycatcher Apr 23, 2012 @ 11:29 am | delete
    This may very well be my favourite song of all time. Lines from it are quoted almost daily around here. :)
  • MaryStuart Mar 27, 2012 @ 11:04 pm | delete
    This song is a true folk classic and Arlo's delivery is priceless. The movie is also a hoot!
  • xanthoria24 Mar 26, 2012 @ 2:10 am | delete
    I love Arlo Guthrie and "Alice's Restaurant." I didn't know it actually happened. When I rented the movie from our grocery store when I was a teenager, they had it in the "action" section. I don't think anyone there had actually seen it.
  • _Joan_ Mar 26, 2012 @ 2:33 am | delete
    The movie included some added events that were invented by the writers, but the events in the song actually happened.
  • SeekerOfThings Jan 29, 2012 @ 10:15 pm | delete
    Just a great piece of American Music.
  • TrevorLedford Dec 19, 2011 @ 12:14 am | delete
    Love this song! Thanx for the lens. I mean. I meeeaaaaan... I love it ; )
  • RecordLady Dec 17, 2011 @ 8:51 am | delete
    Great read. My hubby has the lp in his record collection.
  • CountrySunshine Dec 11, 2011 @ 3:58 pm | delete
    Definitely a classic, and one I listen to every Thanksgiving! Great job with this lens!
  • Lynnwho Dec 9, 2011 @ 8:13 pm | delete
    What a wonderful job you did with this lens and a fabulous tribute to Arlo! You have no doubt been up to Great Barrington to the church and have participated in all the good that they do there at the Guthrie Center. Loving Arlo also..you can only imagine that the Alice's melody is running through my head all year round as it obviously is yours too! I'm in good company! Great Job Joan!
  • _Joan_ Dec 9, 2011 @ 9:01 pm | delete
    I haven't ever been there, I just love the song and the message behind it. It would be a fabulous field trip.
  • Tipi Dec 2, 2011 @ 5:51 pm | delete
    A wonderful tribute to the Alice's Restaurant Masacre!
  • JoshK47 Dec 2, 2011 @ 9:48 am | delete
    Definitely a classic - thanks for sharing this lens! :)
  • MareeT Dec 2, 2011 @ 1:24 am | delete
    Yes! I love this and our local radio station playes this EVERY Thanksgiving at noon. Just heard it last week! Classic in every way as well as your lens!
  • Northwestphotos Nov 28, 2011 @ 12:36 am | delete
    I was in high school when Alice's Restaurant album was released. What a gas! That's all that everybody talked. Those were the good ole days!
  • JJNW Nov 24, 2011 @ 1:28 pm | delete
    LOL...My husband ALWAYS plays this on Thanksgiving. Wacky and awesome!
  • hughgrissettsr Nov 18, 2011 @ 9:40 am | delete
    great lens! i was 16 in 1967 and i remember it well! i also love arlo's dad's music.
  • paulbarton Nov 9, 2011 @ 6:30 am | delete
    hi - I'd forgotten how much I liked this song - it became a bit of a cult thing - jumping up and down - thanks great lens
  • kdlovett Aug 21, 2011 @ 9:01 pm | delete
    My husband introduced me to this song. It always brings a smile to his face!
  • LikinTrikin Jun 6, 2011 @ 5:54 pm | delete
    Great lens....my husband made me listen to the entire song this past Thanksgiving, the first time I've ever heard it all the way through. :)
  • progressivist Jun 4, 2011 @ 12:35 pm | delete
    I own the LP of Alice's Restaurant, and remember seeing the movie when I was a child. In my 20s I used to perform the entire song at parties! This is a song whose message remains timely no matter how far in the past the events took place. Thank you for a great lens and a great trip down memory lane!
  • ---Chazz May 12, 2011 @ 6:02 am | delete
    My wife has been listening to Alice's Restaurant every thanksgiving since before I met her. It follows the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade at noon every year (even if we're visiting friends or relatives). The only time she ever missed the 12:00 ritual was when we took our son to see the parade in person. That year it got bumped to early evening. It has become a family tradition.
  • poddys Apr 7, 2011 @ 8:20 am | delete
    I saw the movie at high school in England in the early 70's and not knowing anything about it, I just didn't get it. many moons later Arlo Guthrie did an open air concert where I lived at the time in Indiana, and he was brilliant. Being older and wiser, as well as having lived in the USA for 15 years, I understand the song and the humor, and love it.

    Joan this is a brilliant lens, and did you know that if you become a fan of Arlo on Facebook he is one of those celebrities who is very active on there. I was hoping to send some blessings off today, and this is a well deserved candidate, so one is currently winging it's way over to you.
  • Mujjen Apr 3, 2011 @ 9:14 am | delete
    My first time to hear this, really great! I enjoyed it a lot.
  • PaulOnBooks Apr 1, 2011 @ 8:56 am | delete
    Revisited with wings: Angel Blessed
  • PaulOnBooks Mar 2, 2011 @ 5:55 pm | delete
    Saw Alice's Restaurant decades ago and have been singing it on and off ever since - it';s astonishing how chunks stay in your head. The army induction scene is on a par with Tom Paxton's Bayonet Rap.
  • CruiseReady Feb 20, 2011 @ 1:33 pm | delete
    Thanks for the memories!
  • 23squidoo Jan 24, 2011 @ 6:49 pm | delete
    Awesome lens about a great song! I'm always surprised at how many folks have never heard of this! Angel Blessings
  • praise Jan 23, 2011 @ 11:32 am | delete
    Great music, great film from a great time!! Thanks for this lens.
  • grannysage Jan 16, 2011 @ 4:17 pm | delete
    I love Arlo Guthrie and got to see him in person a few years ago. Yes, he still sings Alice's Restaurant, although I think there was a period when he refused to sing it. Can't really blame him. Thanks for featured my Ex-Hippie lens, that was a nice surprise. I am still of the opinion that today's music just doesn't live up to the oldies. Blessed by Granny FairyAngel.
  • DaveStone13 Dec 8, 2010 @ 11:15 am | delete
    I loved Alice's Restaurant. As a peace activist and draft resister, it was contemporary for me. Thanks for the very genuine walk down memory lane!

    One other thought?how come Arlo never had another Alice? He had some hits and even a few talking blues, but never a long, funny monologue like this one. Too bad.

    By the way, he was on a float in the Macy's parade this year, singing "This Land Is Your Land," his father's landmark.
  • kougar Dec 3, 2010 @ 2:07 pm | delete
    We listened to The Alice's Restaurant Massacree this Thanksgiving. This is one fun song and this great lens pays tribute to it. Thanks
  • Jodi_k Nov 22, 2010 @ 6:33 am | delete
    Love this song!
  • puzzlemaker Nov 8, 2010 @ 6:37 pm | delete
    Well that was weird - I've never ever heard of this song but think it's the strangest most unique spoken song I've listened to. It's quite funny and thanks for writing about it.
  • QuestForHozro Nov 5, 2010 @ 4:23 pm | delete
    My brother could do the whole thing (with enough beer anyway) for friends at parties.

    And yes, there a number of other great songs on the album!

    I don't want to eat a pickle. I just want to ride my motorcycle."
  • vallain Nov 5, 2010 @ 7:41 am | delete
    My college friends and I could sing/narrate whole passages of this. Loved it.
  • Margo_Arrowsmith Nov 5, 2010 @ 5:34 am | delete
    I love Alice's REstaurant!
  • KonaGirl Oct 2, 2010 @ 8:16 pm | delete
    My kids grew up in the early 70's and like you, every Thanksgiving we would play "Alice's Restaurant". Still today, they are now playing it on Thanksgiving for my grandchildren... and so the Thanksgiving tradition continues. JHF loves using "Implements of Destruction" as I do, but I also love the "Group W Bench"!
  • JHFSEO Sep 30, 2010 @ 10:34 am | delete
    If anything, Alice's Restaurant is underrated. A great piece of spoken word music, with one of the catchiest refrains ever, and a both a hilarious story and a brilliant sign o' the times. The YouTube animation accompaniment is brilliant and hilarious. Thanks to Alice's Restaurant, I use "Implements of Destruction" and "American Blind Justice" as often as possible in friendly conversation. Cheers!
  • TheWhistler Mar 13, 2010 @ 11:51 am | delete
    Well done. Always enjoyed "Alice's Restaurant." Remember seeing the movie in school was a big deal. Thank you for the lens.
  • mamakat Mar 11, 2010 @ 7:18 pm | delete
    Hey Joan,
    Awesome lens. I am 58 yo...I've heard about 'Alice's Restaurant' since I was a teen--guess I was about 16 when it came out....Okay....I was a teenager in IOWA!! So really didn't have much exposure to popular culture at that point in time. Do NOT recall ever hearing the actual song.

    I mentioned to my friend from California, he insists that "Alice's Restaurant" is located in California....and is still a popular restaurant. Guess he's full-o-crap about that, as well as many other stories he tries to tell us??????

    I enjoyed this very much! A lot of it even relates to today...as far as police control and political issues are involved..and other stuff like that!
  • OhMe Mar 11, 2010 @ 6:22 am | delete
    What a way to start my day! It has been years since I really listened to all of Alice's Restaurant so this was fun! Glad you got a purple star and now I will add to your other blessings.
  • eccles1 Mar 6, 2010 @ 11:44 pm | delete
    I love the movie and the music great job
  • aj2008 Feb 5, 2010 @ 5:43 am | delete
    Another lens where you have introduced me to something with which I was not at all familiar. I love the way you make lenses about things that you have a genuine interest in.

    Congrats on that Purple Star!
  • Treasures-By-Brenda Jan 19, 2010 @ 2:18 pm | delete
    Nicely done; I wasn't familiar with Alice's Restaurant...
  • LindaJM Dec 13, 2009 @ 10:06 am | delete
    One of my favorite songs... I found him on MySpace... 5* - great lens! Congratulations on your purple star!
  • _Joan_ Dec 13, 2009 @ 11:26 am | delete
    Thanks for the MySpace tip! I added it.
  • jptanabe Dec 10, 2009 @ 2:46 pm | delete
    Oh yes, the memories! Gotta listen again. Great job on this, well deserving of the Purple Star!
  • The_Health_Lady Dec 3, 2009 @ 8:58 pm | delete
    I listened to the album so much I wore it out. The movie is one of the few that took a story and gave it it's own life. I love both. Great job in bringing back the memories.
  • stargazer00 Dec 2, 2009 @ 11:49 am | delete
    Oh yes, this is a classic! Brings back memories.
  • Laniann Nov 30, 2009 @ 7:03 pm | delete
    Wonderful! Love the new drawings and enjoyed listening to Alice's Restaurant.
  • WhiteOak50 Nov 30, 2009 @ 10:03 am | delete
    Thank you so much for featuring my 1960's Music Lens!!
  • KimGiancaterino Nov 25, 2009 @ 9:22 pm | delete
    I'm glad you let me know about this lens. The song is a true gem of the sixties. What a classic cover, and your other photos are great too. Can you handle ANOTHER Squid Angel Blessing?
  • spirituality Nov 25, 2009 @ 4:14 am | delete
    Great lens, blessed by a squidangel :) Don't know the song, but have to love that cover :)
  • WhiteOak50 Nov 24, 2009 @ 5:53 am | delete
    Great Lens. Lensrolling it back over to Music of 1960's.
  • ElleDeeEsse Nov 24, 2009 @ 2:56 am | delete
    Nice lens. I didn't know it was such a big thing to play it at Thanksgiving!
  • mysticmama Nov 22, 2009 @ 8:12 pm | delete
    Delightful & Blessed!
  • Heather426 Nov 20, 2009 @ 11:24 pm | delete
    yes we love Alice's Restaurant. Love the lens too. Blessed.
  • kab Nov 20, 2009 @ 7:43 am | delete
    We have it playing during Thanksgiving dinner EVERY YEAR!
  • mbgphoto Nov 20, 2009 @ 7:26 am | delete
    Joan I love this lens! Very cool 5* and blessed!

by

_Joan_

who subjects her children to "Alice's Restaurant" every Thanksgiving. more »

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