Alice's Restaurant

Arlo Guthrie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KOA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,159 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #81 in Music > Folk > Traditional Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While the title track may seem, by now, a rather obvious and nostalgic relic, we'd do well to remember that an entire post-baby boom generation has likely never heard it. At 18 minutes, the song remains one of the most hysterical things ever recorded, and many of its politcal barbs can still sting. But the record also contained two far more lyrical pieces: "Chillin' of the Evening" and the gorgeous, sweeping "Highway in the Wind." Some will turn to this countercultural classic for side one's epic, but it's the exceptional songs on side two that will offer finer rewards. --Roy Francis Kasten

Product Description

How would you like to be the son of Woody Guthrie? But Arlo carved out a niche for himself with this, his debut album, which features that beloved 18-minute title cut and the lovely Chilling of the Evening .

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic! April 14, 2005

By Bugs

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Tradition November 19, 2004

By Lisa Dimone

Format:Audio CD

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...

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Both better and worse than the original April 6, 2000

By Bill Smythe

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

The 30th anniversary edition features all-new recordings of the same tunes that were on the 1967 version. The sound quality is better now (more bass, and all). At the risk of being accused of heresy, I shall also state that I prefer the newer version of Alice's Restaurant -- more solid performance, fewer glitches, etc. But with at least two other tunes, Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag and The Motorcycle Song, something is lacking now -- or is it just nostalgia? It's hard to judge whether you, the average listener, would prefer the 30th anniversary edition, or the 1967 original. For some reason, the four reviews that have so far appeared have shown up under both versions, even though each review may have been intended for only one.