Alice's Restaurant

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Original Soundtracks » Alice's Restaurant
Alices Restaurant
Marketplace (15 New & Used)
  1. Audio CD: Release Date 1998-10-13
  2. Publisher: Rykodisc
  3. Format: Enhanced, Soundtrack
  4. Sales Rank in Music: #160641

Product Review

Soundtrack expanded from 9 to 20 tracks. Jewelbox has cracks on the back.

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
Title Tracks for Alice's Restaurant

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (45 customer reviews)

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic!, April 14, 2005
Bugs "Patrick" (Pasadena, Ca.) - See all my reviews
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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...Read more


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
Bill Smythe (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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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
Lisa M. Piquette "eosaurora" (Centereach, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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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...

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