Alice's Restaurant [Enhanced, Soundtrack]

Arlo Guthrie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 1998)
• Original Release Date: August 20, 1969
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Soundtrack
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B00000DCWF
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,301 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Traveling Music

2. Alice's Restaurant Massacree - Arlo Guthrie

3. The Let Down

4. Songs To Aging Children - Trigger Outlaw

5. Amazing Grace

6. Trip To The City

7. Crash Pad Improvs

8. You're A Fink - Al Schackman

9. Harps & Marriage

10. Opening Credits (Amazing Grace)

11. Travelin' Guitars

12. Cafe Harris Rag

13. Revival Meeting (Amazing Grace)

14. Alice's Restaurant Radio Jingle

15. Pastures Of Plenty - Pete Seeger

16. Car Song - Pete Seeger/Arlo Guthrie

17. Big City Garbage

18. Wedding Festivities

19. Farewell (Alice's Restaurant)

20. End Title (Amazing Grace)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There was a time when it seemed Arlo Guthrie's impact would outstrip that of his legendary dad, Woody Guthrie. For, in the waning days of the '60s, Woody was largely a cult figure, whereas his longhaired offspring had parlayed (largely by accident) a droll, drawn-out talking blues number called "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" into a hit album and acclaimed film. These days, Arlo is a respected journeyman folksinger while Woody, in death, has become a towering cultural icon. This soundtrack captures the son's shining moment. Taken from Arthur (Bonnie and Clyde) Penn's film adaptation of Arlo's tongue-in-cheek tune ("You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant"), this soundtrack presents an agreeable assortment of pleasures, including Arlo's title track, jaunty acoustic incidental music by credited soundtrack composer Gary Sherman, and a painfully earnest version of Joni Mitchell's "Songs to Aging Children" by someone named Tigger Outlaw. This deluxe-edition CD is fleshed out by 10 extra tracks, including Pete Seeger's versions of Woody's "Pastures of Plenty" and "Car Song," the latter with Arlo along for the ride. --Steven Stolder

From the Label

The hippie classic that forever established Arlo Guthrie on the counterculture map (in the Berkshires to be precise), director Arthur Penn's (Bonnie & Clyde) film was inspired by Arlo's song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," his talking blues recounting of various events that occurred around Thanksgiving 1965 in Stockbridge, MA, including his arrest for dumping trash which led to his rejection by the draft board (lucky guy). 1999 is the 30th anniversary of the film's release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

Bugs "Patrick" (Los Angeles, Ca.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alice's Restaurant (Audio CD)

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.

26 of 28 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 (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alice's Restaurant (30th Anniversary Edition) (Audio CD)

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.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Tradition, November 19, 2004

By 

Lisa M. Piquette "eosaurora" (Centereach, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alice's Restaurant (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...