recently i was bemoaning the fact that i lost my CD of Alice's Restaurant, which is important for me to play every year. why?
'cause it was MY era.
'cause it was set in rural Massachusetts where i lived as a kid.
'cause we were a VW family, with my brother owning a VW microbus.
'cause my brother actually got stopped (arrested? i forget) by the real Office Obie.
'cause i find it so damned funny and it exactly fits my sense of humor.
last year, not being able to find the CD after looking everywhere, i hunted the radio stations and found one in Los Angeles that played Alice's Restaurant all day long, about 7 replayings. i was in heaven. and i actually didn't delete their all-too-frequent emailers on purpose, so when Thanksgiving came round again, i could hear it. so those of you in LA should google "100.7 KSLX & Alice Restaurant" and you'll probably find the schedule of re-playings.
this year, as i was saying, i was bemoaning the fact that i couldn't find the CD and bemoaning the fact that i was up here in Oakland for Thanksgiving with my friend Della and her new husband Michael and didn't have access to hearing Alice's Restaurant. and then it hit me: GOOGLE IT! god bless google. there's a down-loadable concert version and a UTube version, and a bunch of others and right now i'm playing the UTube version, rerecorded 2005, in which Arlo Guthrie is talking about the event happening 40 years ago.
i foisted Alice's Restaurant on my kids annually and they indulged me, but were never as enchanted as i was. one year we rented the movie, which was a trip but was a really bad movie that didn't quite stand the test of time. and the movie didn't play the song much, but Officer Obie did play himself as i recall, which redeemed it a bit.
another Alice's Restaurant recollection is that my friend Louise gave me an Alice's Restaurant Cookbook in 1969 which had a great chili recipe that i cooked for my kids a lot over the years. in the back was a thin plastic disc-type record. but i was disappointed. it wasn't a recording of Alice's Restaurant. i still have the cookbook.
in all honestly the original recording is the best. the version on UTube has been visited 155,841 times as of this moment, but you can tell Arlo has done this so many times that he's sick of it and has resorted to a little theatricality that i find cloying.
the other thing, is that Alice's Restaurant is best played with a bunch of people who remember it and haven't heard it for a long or a bunch of cynical young people who get it right away. but since it's about 20 minutes long, it's hard to find on Thanksgiving Day the right 20 minutes when maybe the right people are hanging around, cooking but not talking and wanting to listen.
but since You Can Get Anything You Want on google, i hope you will join me in playing Alice's Restaurant. and, at least for me, it will make Thanksgiving almost perfect.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I recently came across your blog and read most of it in one sitting. Although I can’t imagine what you are going through, your eloquent writing resonates in so many ways.
I had to laugh when I read about your obsession with Alice’s Restaurant. Just a couple hours before my husband Kevin had played You Tube version. Like you, he plays it every year. Although I tolerate it (I am not quite old enough to appreciate it - I think it’s one of those “you had to be there” things) and Maggie (age 16) usually quickly leaves the room, her hands over her ears!
Many years ago, when we were traveling around western MA we had make the side trip to Stockbridge and other locations made famous by Guthrie. Although Stockbridge is beautiful, Arlo’s legacy is a little disappointing.
Coincidentally, this week, due to not paying attention to the holiday collection schedule, we missed the recycling collection (a big deal here since everything is recycled), and Maggie and I spent some time driving around looking for the recycling truck to no avail. Of course, we wouldn’t just dump it! (Try explaining that part of the song to a teenager today)
Anyway, I can see that you have found solace with so many family members and friends, a testimonial to you I am sure. Best wishes to you as you continue on your “journey”.
hi cousin! thanks so much for reading and commenting. well, kevin gets Major Points for being an AR Devotee and Annual Celebrator. before your comment i felt really like i was from another planet, so tell kevin i am very grateful. and you're right, if i'm calculating correctly, you would have been around 7 at the time of the Thanksgiving Incident and Memorialization Thru Song. the story of your recycling efforts this week is priceless.
Paola made me a wonderful collage of pictures she had collected of Kyle and family, and you and Maggie are in one (from 2002 we think) sitting on the front porch with our whole crew. i still feel badly about how little i got to see you and your family at the Reunion in 2003. the Whithams were so plentiful and noisy and, of course, having helped Ted organize it, i think i was just too busy.
i am planning an extended trip to New England next year (mid-July through 1st weekend in August at this point) in which i want to get to the Cape to see your mum. in April i went to Edinburgh and South Queensferry, did genealogical research, trooped around old graveyards, and took a whole bunch of photos for a slideshow. i'm not sure if Aunt Gwen went to Edinburgh herself at some point, but i'd love to visit with her and show her the pics.
thanks, joannie, for being there. you are right: my friends and family provide continuing solace. these days have been more peaceful for me and i hope this feeling lasts as i return to my busy work week.
with love, cousin Cindy
Maybe it's just me but this little ditty drives me nuts. EVERY year my mom made us all go dead silent so I might appreciate the humor of this bit. Every few minutes or so she would burst out laughing and I would roll my eyes and all but crawl under the table. I just don't get it....glad you had something to make you smile though :)
IN August I went to Stockbridge with my wife (Veronica,from Russia) and sonSjoma (age 16). They were blithely indifferent to Alice's Restauant; it meant nothing to them. So I explained the whole deal -- the Vietnam Era, the draft, Woody Guthrie, Arlo, etc.
When we got to the main street we saw the usual sign "Alice's restaurant, around the back" or some such thing. But when we went around the back the cafe that allegedly replaced Alice's was missing. Gone. Vanaished. Like all that's left is the sign pointing around back to the the thing that replaced Alice's, that is, pointing at nothing. That appears to be it, historically speaking. In memory there is so much more, but not in the memory of Veronica and Sjoma.
thanks, Leonard, for reading and responding. i guess that is why memory is so precious to us: our stories, our histories, our connections. good for you telling our generation's story and good for Veronica and Sjoma for being willing to listen!
Post a Comment