[.ca] Alice's Restaurant

From Amazon.co.uk:
Seminal 1960s folk-rock document which, like Don Maclean's American Pie, is now known almost exclusively for its title track: an epic 18-minute narrative, anecdotal in style, based on the singer's own experiences during 1966, when he'd been barred from the US Army due to his criminal record (something to do with the unlawful dumping of garbage). By turns hysterically funny and savagely satirical, it inspired a film, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Guthrie, and its various political barbs can still draw blood today. But the album also contains two magnificent examples of Guthrie's talents as a songwriter, rather than a commentator: both "Chillin' of the Evening" and the gorgeous, sweeping "Highway in the Wind" are more lyrical, evocative and beautiful than virtually anything he would write subsequently. Vocally and instrumentally, his style seems poised equally between two great influences--his father (folk legend Woodie Guthrie) and Bob Dylan, Guthrie's heir and successor; his vision, however, was all his own. --Andrew McGuire

When I used to listen to this as a kid...who knew?:
Who knew how prophetic this would be? When I tired to join the Army, I passed every test they gave me with flying colors, including getting an 89 on the ASVAB overall, with ALL of my line scores above 120. But when it came time to explain why I spent a few days in jail for a very minor (and humorous) offense, all of a sudden, I wasnt moral enough to join the Army burn women, children, houses, and villages after commiting my special crime. The state had wiped my record clean but apparently, Uncle Sam doesnt trust my states judgement all to well. This album is gorgeously funny, and has always been a favorite of mine, from the first time I heard it over twenty years ago.

Turkey Day Tradition:
This is a Thanksgiving must at our house. My children are 20 and 16 and they have heard it every Thanksgiving since they were in diapers. We look forward to it each year and we laugh and sing along. Try it !

Sorrow and Hilarity:
Written with moving candour, the songs on this album give glimpses of a character at once despairing and unconquered that must excite sympathy, or at least pity. Arlo sings of homelessness, travelling our "Highway in the Wind", when sometimes we feel like going and sometimes we'd like to stay; of transience, as all changes with time, "Going Home" to death; of restlessness as desires motivate "Now and Then"; and of the need for companionship to "Keep me from the Chillin' of the Evening" in all of this emptiness where the raging winds that blow inside us make it impossible to "keep believing". "Motorcycle Song", "Ring-Around-the-Rosy Rag", and the brilliant "Alice's Restaurant" demonstrate how humor, which can convey delight, can also be the final expression of despair. You may have the comfort of seeing in this album another who thinks as you do, but you will certainly find a beautiful lament for the world's emptiness and a defiant humor that struggles to relieve it. And "Alice's Restaurant" is halarious.

Damn Good!:
I looooove Arlo guthrie. I love him so much, that I even named my dog after him! He is a great musician, his lyrics are humorous, and he is as funny as hell. I recommend seeing him in person, out of all the shows i have ever been to (a lot) his is on the top of my list. Not only is he a fabulous musician, but he is the best story teller i have ever heard. If you like this cd, you will love the movie that goes along with it!

8 x 10s:
I've never listened to the entire CD. So hunt me down and kill me. There is only one relevant song, and that is Alice's Restaurant Massacree. I was 3 when this song came out, my pop was a captain in the US Army, and I remember none of it. What I do remember is, years later, when I was like 6 or 7, my pop still in the US Army, playing this LP over and over again, him and my mom laughing like coked-up hyenas. Laughing. Fast forward 30 plus years. How is it possible not to laugh like a coked-up hyena when you listen to Arlo. The LP represents a time, a feeling, and a belief. We'd be better today to subscribe to just a bit of that optimism. Well, ...er....

• Alice's Restaurant Massacree
• Chilling of the Evening
• Ring-Around-a-Rosy Rag
• Now and Then
• I'm Going Home
• Motorcycle Song
• Highway in the Wind