![]() ![]() ![]() Guthrie refers to the incident as a " massacree", a colloquialism originating in the Ozark Mountains that describes "an event so wildly and improbably and baroquely messed up that the results are almost impossible to believe". Due to Guthrie's rambling and circuitous telling with unimportant details, it has been described as a shaggy dog story. (Guthrie has used the brief "Alice's Restaurant" bookends and guitar backing for other monologues bearing the Alice's Restaurant name.) The track lasts 18 minutes and 34 seconds, occupying the entire A-side of the Alice's Restaurant album. The song consists of a protracted spoken monologue, with a constantly repeated fingerstyle ragtime guitar (Piedmont style) backing and light brush-on- snare drum percussion (the drummer on the record is uncredited), bookended by a short chorus about the titular diner. In 2017, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant". The work has become Guthrie's signature song and he has periodically re-released it with updated lyrics. The song was an inspiration for the 1969 film also named Alice's Restaurant, which took numerous liberties with the story. The title refers to a restaurant owned by one of Guthrie's friends, artist Alice Brock although she is a minor character in the story, the restaurant plays no role in it aside from being the subject of the chorus and the impetus for Guthrie's visit. ![]() The song is a deadpan protest against the Vietnam War draft, in the form of a comically exaggerated but largely true story from Guthrie's own life: while visiting acquaintances in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, he is arrested and convicted of dumping trash illegally, which later endangers his suitability for the military draft. " Alice's Restaurant Massacree", commonly known as " Alice's Restaurant", is a satirical talking blues song by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie, released as the title track to his 1967 debut album Alice's Restaurant. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |