November 28, 2024
The Illustrated Version of “Alice’s Restaurant”: Watch Arlo Guthrie’s Thanksgiving Counterculture Classic

Alice’s Restau­rant. It’s now a Thank you­giv­ing clas­sic, and a few­factor of a tra­di­tion round right here. Document­ed in 1967, the 18+ minute coun­ter­cul­ture track recounts Arlo Guthrie’s actual stumble upon with the legislation, get started­ing on Thank you­giv­ing Day 1965. Because the lengthy track unfolds, we pay attention all about how a hip­pie-bat­ing police offi­cer, through the title of William “Obie” Oban­hein, arrest­ed Arlo for lit­ter­ing. (Cul­tur­al foot­be aware: Obie pre­vi­ous­ly posed for sev­er­al Nor­guy Rock­neatly paint­ings, includ­ing the well known paint­ing, “The Run­away,” that graced a 1958 cov­er of The Sat­ur­day Night Put up.) In honest­ly quick order, Arlo pleads responsible to a mis­de­meanor price, can pay a $25 wonderful, and cleans up the thrash. However the sto­ry isn’t over. No longer through a protracted shot.

Lat­er, when Arlo (son of Woody Guthrie) will get known as up for the draft, the puppy­ty crime iron­i­cal­ly turns into a foundation for dis­qual­i­fy­ing him from mil­i­tary ser­vice within the Viet­nam Conflict. Guthrie recounts this with some bit­ter­ness because the track builds right into a satir­i­cal protest towards the conflict: “I’m take a seat­tin’ right here at the Crew W bench ’purpose you need to understand if I’m ethical sufficient to enroll in the Military, burn girls, children, hous­es and vil­lages after bein’ a lit­ter­computer virus.” After which we’re again to the cheery cho­rus once more: “You’ll be able to get any­factor you need, at Alice’s Restau­rant.”

We now have fea­tured Guthrie’s clas­sic dur­ing previous years. However, for this Thank you­giv­ing, we provide the illus­trat­ed ver­sion. As a tragic put up script, Alice Brock, the personal­er of Alice’s Restau­rant–died final week on the age of 83.

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Relat­ed Con­tent:

The Sto­ry In the back of “Alice’s Restau­rant,” Arlo Guthrie’s Music That’s Now a Thank you­giv­ing Tra­di­tion

What Amer­i­cans Ate for Thank you­giv­ing 200 Years In the past: Watch Re-Cre­ations of Recipes from the 1820s

Learn 900+ Thank you­giv­ing Books Unfastened on the Inter­internet Archive

William S. Bur­roughs’ Scathing “Thank you­giv­ing Prayer,” Shot through Gus Van Sant

Mar­i­lyn Monroe’s Hand­writ­ten Turkey-and-Stuff­ing Recipe

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 13 Guidelines for What to Do with Your Left­over Thank you­giv­ing Turkey


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