Fun Fact: Arlo would change up the story when doing this live. One of the best was in the late 70's when he suggested that the reason there was an 18-1/2 minute gap in the Nixon White House Tapes was because Tricky Dick was listening to this which happens to be 18 minutes and 34 seconds long. Yes, it was much funnier at the time.
YES We did that. Another way to avoid the draft was to join the National Guard. Doing that removed any chance that you would go to Nam. Unfortunately they used the Guard to kill 4 students at Kent State. None of the dead were even at the protest. That brings us to another song.... 'Ohio' by CSN+Y
Was blessed to have seen Arlo perform at our N.Michigan Blissfest. He had his son playing with him, too. As he was singing Alice's Restaurant, the movie was playing on a huge screen next to the stage. The whole audience sang along with him. It was also his birthday, so we got to sing Happy Birthday to him. Awsome memories had my daughter and her friend there, too. 😊❤
Stockbridge Massachusetts is a real place. And Arlo Guthrie was arrested there for littering. Today Alice’s Restaurant is still in business. Alice’s house is converted into a tourist site. With a VW microbus out front. The Norman Rockwell museum is there as well.
WOW!... TOO COOL!. This song is a Thanksgiving Day Tradition. MILLIONS listen to it every year since it came out. It may be a little long but worth every minute for this ICONIC LEGENDARY song. Thanks again. Number 94
First heard this in the summer of love, 1967 for you people that don't know. I have listened to it every Thanksgiving since then. That was one of the funnest summers of my life.
I too have been listening to it since I was in HS, so for 50+ years. Every year I make my friends, family, kids, grands and any guests sit down at thanksgiving to listen. It’s a history lesson and entertaining. 🩵to Arlo & RIP Woody G!🎶
Alice'srestaurant was a real restaurant in Stockbridge Mass. Around the corner from the Red Lion inn, and down the street from the Norman Rockwell museum
Above all Arlo was super cool and extremely hip. He was an intelligent hippie who sang modern songs in an ancient voice. Folk music through a haze of cannabis and wisdom. It is his sly humor that makes this song so interesting and funny.
JMBOY, I'm a 62 yo white lady raised by social activists. I don't remember a Thanksgiving day that I didn't listen to this recording. I've gone from vinyl to 8track, cassette to CD, back to vinyl. And you can always catch it on your local PBS radio station! Love your videos, keep up the exploration 😍🤗🕯🖖
Nice job sir. This song is based on a real experience he had. Alice Brock ( THE Alice ) died Nov. 21st this year at the age of 83. Rest In Peace Ms. Brock. Please listen to it again. At least one more time to truly appreciate the song. A lot to take in on one try.
Arlo's father, Woody Guthrie was a folk icon back in the depression era who went around the country singing about the injustices of the workers who were being victimized by greedy companies, especially the big farms which paid migrant farm workers barely enough to live on. He helped to grow the labor movement and took a lot of lumps in the process. He was poor in spite of his fame, and hopped trains to get around. He came from Oklahoma and back then they had the 'dust bowl', a drought in that part of the country which forced farmers, and Woody, to go west to places like California to look for work. Many lost their farms. There's a movie about his life, called 'Bound for Glory', with David Carradine playing the part of Woody. Good movie! Woody also wrote 'This land is your land'.
As a testament to the reach of this song, the Associated Press published the obituary of Officer Obie when he passed away in 1994, nearly 30 years after he inspired the song by arresting Arlo for littering. Officer Obie was also used as a model for several Norman Rockwell paintings and Saturday Evening Post covers previously.
News reports of it happening many times back then. I saw a story over 100 people were singing "Alice's Restaurant"at the recruiting office in Santa Ana Calif.
Man, I love this story. Endlessly quotable! This song is based on an actual incident in Arlo's life. The Alice's Restaurant Massacre really happened; there's even a movie about it, starring Arlo himself. A piece of classic Americana.
Woody Guthrie (Arlo's father) is legendary. Fortunately, Arlo doesn't seem to have inherited his father's Huntington's Chorea (look it up). I still have my Alice's Restaurant 33 RPM vinyl (and a record player - yeah, I'm a Luddite). He also has a terrific version of "City of New Orleans". Love from a new subscriber.
First in the comments section. Woohoo. The rock radio station where I lived used to play this every Thanksgiving. His father is the legendary woody Guthrie who was Bob Dylan's greatest influence
I love Arlo. He is able to hold an audience in the palm of his hand by his guitar playing and great songs. This song is great live and he can do this because he is good enough. He's not just trying to slip off a fast 30 minutes. During that time everybody was at attention. Next try "Coming Into Los Angeles". The Woodstock video is awesome. Thanks for reacting to Arlo and Alice!
Brilliant performance! For all the humor in this song, there's a lot of terror behind it and the deadly serious message that Arlo is delivering. Young men were scared to death that they'd be drafted and forced to fight in a war in which they had no stake and against an enemy with whom they had no qualms. They saw their friends and brothers shipped to Vietnam, some of whom came back either in body bags or with debilitating PTSD, and they were afraid they'd be next.
I love Arlo. I got to see him twice. The first time I saw him my mom took me as a toddler for the Newport Folk Festival in 1967, if I recall. The second time I saw him was at the legendary Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence in the early 1990s. As others have noted, Arlo is the son of the cultural and musical legend that is Woody Guthrie. You've heard lots of his songs without knowing it, as for a long time he got into writing a ton of popular children songs. I think Shoo Fly is one of those songs. Of course, Woody's most famous song is This Land Is Your Land, which many people like myself believe would be a much better national anthem. But if you read beyond the first verse, you can find out why it's not our national anthem. A great way to learn more about him is to see the excellent movie This Train Is Bound for Glory, starring David Carradine. Woody caught a lot of serious beatings for his social justice efforts. You've probably seen people adorn their guitars with the words, THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS. They are paying homage to Woody, the originator. Arlo is a fantastic storyteller. He has lots of songs where he interjects humor into serious political commentary.
This is a Thanksgiving tradition. We listen to this at 12 o’clock noon every Thanksgiving we know every word my kids grew up with it. I grew up with it my mother was the greatest.
Just after the release of this album, I was a sophomore in college in Boston and on my way home on a crowded bus in the middle of a snowstorm when a kinds creepy guy tried to strike up a conversation. In self defense, I asked if he'd heard Alice's Restaurant and when he said no, I proceeded to recite the whole thing, word for word. Just as I reached the last chorus, the bus got to my stop so I jumped up and said goodbye. Haven't thought about that in a whole bunch of years so thanks for the memory!
Alice's Restaurant closed some time ago, but you can see where it was. it's down a really little alley. Alice has lived on Cape Cod for many years now.
Arlo Guthrie has a large playlist of songs each has exceptional good acoustic guitar work and arrangements with several instruments used. His vocals sound like he is a Twin of Bob Dylan. Similar tones and singing styles, both are Story Telling Masters. Arlo plays Harmonica in many of his tunes as well.... His fans here will like... "The Motorcycle Song" from the same album.
You're amazing, bro. Gives me hope that there may be enough younger folks out there who appreciate the importance of cultural satire and the era that it's rooted in. Very impressive that you peeped that out so thoroughly. Great upload. Thanks!
This is a true story with a little embellishment. When Carter was president, Arlo was invited to the White House for some sort of event and the president's brother,Billy, showed Arlo where they kept a copy of the record with his finger prints.
This song is as much a Thanksgiving staple as turkey and stuffing. Featured on most radio stations. Hearing this today, I can almost smell that roasting turkey.
GUH-THRIE. His father was Woody Guthrie who wrote "This Land is Your Land". He died from Huntington's chorea. and Arlo has it as well (50/50 chance) and had to stop performing.) This is actually a Vietnam protest song.
The funny thing is when my friend gave me the record, I was a preacher's kid, and I was living in the parsonage right next to the church. So we've got the thing about Alice in the church and all of that and it's kind of funny.
Arlo was somewhat of a pot smoking, part folk singer, part Hippie, who even sang at Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. Think of a younger Bob Dylan, but in the same mold. This was written during the years of the Vietnam war, and while us High school seniors had tto register for the Draft into the Armed Forces. I did end up in Vietnam in 1971. Glad God brought me home alive and not crippled, like so many of my buddies did. God Bless
I was playing Tenor Banjo & Guitar & singing in June 1971 with the Nickelodeons (Trio with Piano & Bass) as a back-up band for lead Singer - beautiful blond, Sandy Gresham, on a 3 week USO Tour all across South Vietnam. I kept thinking of this song, but we didn’t dare play it!
Sort of a Thanksgiving tradition. His Daddy "Woody" was and is an American folk hero sort of. Way Back in the early 1920s, his daddy Woody sang songs about America's wonderous parts. Like the song "Roll on Columbia Roll on." and many others. IU guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, as the saying goes, because, although a little more liberal in his politics than Dad was, Arlo certainly got the musical genes from his daddy. You must react to his (Arlo's) most famous and beautiful song, "The Train They Call the City of New Orleans." An absolute treasure of a song, about how the trains built this country. His daddy would have been proud. Great song.
Actually, Woody called himself a Communist back in the the '30s (although the Party wouldn't let him join). Many people thought he was a conservative because his most famous song ("This Land Is Your Land") is beloved by conservatives. What they don't know is that the song has six verses, and the last three verses are rarely recorded because they definitely are Leftist. Copy and paste : th-cam.com/video/2Q7PULELvok/w-d-xo.html
It's just not Thanksgiving without listening to this at least once. I remember when it first came out when I was in college and to think that 56 years later people are still listening to it and giving it the props it deserves makes me feel optimistic about the younger generations
They took twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us.
I use to travel for work for a number of years and we always hired local temp workers. I gave the instruction lectures so everyone knew what to do. I used this reference one day to a group of about 2 dozen temps. Only one guy got it and he was my age the rest were barely out of their teens.
Back in the late 70s I heard reporters saying the two artist that helped the most to end the Viet Nam war and the military draft was John Lennon and Arlo Guthrie. I agree completely.
Alice's restaurant was about 10 miles from my home Egremont and Arlo hung around my town although I never met him personally. Image being 13 and listening to stuff like this on the radio late at night, under the covers so your parents won't catch you. Really different vibe than now for kids!
This song was how me and many of many generation were introduced to traditional American folk music because it served to open a weekly radio show in NYC inspired by and named for the father of such music, Arlo's father, Woody Guthrie -- the show was called "Woody's Children" and it first aired in 1969. I was three at the time and this song and others became part of the soundtrack of childhood. The title was borrowed from another legendary folks singer, Pete Seeger, who referred to himself and others inspired by Guthrie as Woody's children. It aired for 30 years on WQXR before it was picked up by a second station, WFUV.
This was back in the days of Selective Service. All the young men had to go in and register and be sent to Vietnam. Very unpopular is putting it mildly.
I listened to this at least once every Thanksgiving. It was a habit in my home region of New England. He made a whole movie out of this. I highly recommend it, at least on Thanksgiving. You got it!❤❤❤
Arlo Guthrie was the neighbor hippie (according to my Grandpa hehe) that was playing that and Simon and Garfunkel records one day I visited. It opened up a whole new world of music versus country the parents liked and I didnt very much. I have went to see him any chance I have had and always so great a show and performer!
Oh, Arlo! How I love your stories in song! We watch the movie every year around Thanksgiving! Seen him a few times in concert and they will stay with me always! ❤
I want to say you have done the best most comprehensive insightful reaction to this song from the many who have done it. I have gotten 9 reactors to do it and 17 in total in my collection. Only one other did not "PAUSE" it. They were all very glad they listened to the story and got great view numbers from it as you are.... Now I'm sure you understand the songs notoriety and legendary status. Smiles
Definitely listen to this every thanksgiving morning while preparing our turkey. We heard it also on the way to our parents house. They are gone now, passed away, but it played on the radio on the way to them. I do wish we could go and do those visits again. We have this song for the memories. Thanks for this one. ❤
I first heard this song in the fall of 1969 when I was in the army at Ft. Bliss, Texas. It had extra meaning for us at the time, because of the Vietnam War, and we had all played it straight as far as going into the army.
This is a classic! Saw Arlo perform it a couple of times, and it's a tradition in my family to listen to it every Thanksgiving. A favorite from my generation! Hope you enjoyed it!
You can't believe how powerful this was for those of us going into the draft in the late 60's.
Fun Fact: Arlo would change up the story when doing this live. One of the best was in the late 70's when he suggested that the reason there was an 18-1/2 minute gap in the Nixon White House Tapes was because Tricky Dick was listening to this which happens to be 18 minutes and 34 seconds long. Yes, it was much funnier at the time.
Good One.
Its my favorite version of the song ive heard yet.
Arlo's father was the legendary singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie... Look him up
“This land is your land”
"This Land Is My Land"......@@GizaJ
Woody his father made our Columbia River Scenic Hwy Famous
Woody 's dad Arlo was an honest too God hobo. He rode the rails. And wrote the folk anthem This land is your land this land it mine.
And Woody was Dylan's hero.😊
From an ancient Hippie to all who love this song - PEACE OUT.
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽✌🏽❤️
YES
We did that.
Another way to avoid the draft was to join the National Guard. Doing that removed any chance that you would go to Nam.
Unfortunately they used the Guard to kill 4 students at Kent State. None of the dead were even at the protest.
That brings us to another song....
'Ohio' by CSN+Y
Arlos dad was Woody Guthrie. He wrote and sang “ This Land Is Your Land.”
Was blessed to have seen Arlo perform at our N.Michigan Blissfest. He had his son playing with him, too. As he was singing Alice's Restaurant, the movie was playing on a huge screen next to the stage. The whole audience sang along with him. It was also his birthday, so we got to sing Happy Birthday to him. Awsome memories had my daughter and her friend there, too. 😊❤
For those who may have never heard this piece of musical story telling... Welcome to the millions who have.
Stockbridge Massachusetts is a real place. And Arlo Guthrie was arrested there for littering.
Today Alice’s Restaurant is still in business. Alice’s house is converted into a tourist site. With a VW microbus out front.
The Norman Rockwell museum is there as well.
WOW!... TOO COOL!. This song is a Thanksgiving Day Tradition. MILLIONS listen to it every year since it came out. It may be a little long but worth every minute for this ICONIC LEGENDARY song. Thanks again. Number 94
Absolutely. I have to listened to this song every thanksgiving since, for me about 1976.
First heard this in the summer of love, 1967 for you people that don't know. I have listened to it every Thanksgiving since then. That was one of the funnest summers of my life.
I too have been listening to it since I was in HS, so for 50+ years. Every year I make my friends, family, kids, grands and any guests sit down at thanksgiving to listen. It’s a history lesson and entertaining. 🩵to Arlo & RIP Woody G!🎶
Hey, number 94, I am honored to be the 94th like on this...
@@cosmicvagrant3980 I'm HONORED you did.... COOL This was the 94th artist from my request, not my like.
Alice'srestaurant was a real restaurant in Stockbridge Mass. Around the corner from the Red Lion inn, and down the street from the Norman Rockwell museum
Above all Arlo was super cool and extremely hip. He was an intelligent hippie who sang modern songs
in an ancient voice. Folk music through a haze of cannabis and wisdom. It is his sly humor that makes
this song so interesting and funny.
Arlo also sang "Coming into Los Angeles," and good song, and "City of New Orleans."
You are now among the Best Reactors who have done this song. It is a MUST DO for any self respecting reactor.
The guys in the military played this song a lot over in Viet Nam. There is a movie that stars Arlo and covers the story and is quite funny
JMBOY, I'm a 62 yo white lady raised by social activists. I don't remember a Thanksgiving day that I didn't listen to this recording. I've gone from vinyl to 8track, cassette to CD, back to vinyl. And you can always catch it on your local PBS radio station! Love your videos, keep up the exploration 😍🤗🕯🖖
I’m a 72 yr old rock-ribbed conservative and I listen to this every Thanksgiving as well.
Nice job sir. This song is based on a real experience he had. Alice Brock ( THE Alice ) died Nov. 21st this year at the age of 83. Rest In Peace Ms. Brock.
Please listen to it again. At least one more time to truly appreciate the song. A lot to take in on one try.
I’m 70 years old and this is still a Thanksgiving day tradition for many of us. Please react to Arlo’s City of New Orleans….beautiful❤️❤️❤️
Same age. Same opinion.
Now you have to play this every thanksgiving! It’s tradition!
Arlo's father, Woody Guthrie was a folk icon back in the depression era who went around the country singing about the injustices of the workers who were being victimized by greedy companies, especially the big farms which paid migrant farm workers barely enough to live on. He helped to grow the labor movement and took a lot of lumps in the process. He was poor in spite of his fame, and hopped trains to get around. He came from Oklahoma and back then they had the 'dust bowl', a drought in that part of the country which forced farmers, and Woody, to go west to places like California to look for work. Many lost their farms. There's a movie about his life, called 'Bound for Glory', with David Carradine playing the part of Woody. Good movie! Woody also wrote 'This land is your land'.
Guthrie has an "uh" sound, not an "oo" sound. Glad you like it. It's from my youth.
As long as this iconic story is, there are many of us that know every word, and can sing along with Arlo.... it's fun.
As a testament to the reach of this song, the Associated Press published the obituary of Officer Obie when he passed away in 1994, nearly 30 years after he inspired the song by arresting Arlo for littering. Officer Obie was also used as a model for several Norman Rockwell paintings and Saturday Evening Post covers previously.
Every Thanksgiving! For me, at least, this and the WKRP episode are a family tradition!
News reports of it happening many times back then. I saw a story over 100 people were singing "Alice's Restaurant"at the recruiting office in Santa Ana Calif.
Long John Baldry - "Don't Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King of Rock & Roll"
Man, I love this story. Endlessly quotable!
This song is based on an actual incident in Arlo's life. The Alice's Restaurant Massacre really happened; there's even a movie about it, starring Arlo himself. A piece of classic Americana.
8x10 glossies with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back;)
@@kevinmcconnell3641 ...and they all moved away from me on the Group W bench.
@@kevinmcconnell3641to be used as evidence against us
This song is still played twice every Thanksgiving Day by a local radio station. Once mid-morning and once midafternoon so everyone can give a listen.
Could that station be KQRS in the twin cities?
@@deanhills6745 WCMF here in Rochester, New York.
A radio station out here in the Seattle area has played this every Thanksgiving for decades. 2:PM every thanksgiving!
Arlo had a very big hit with Steve Goodman's song City Of New Orleans
Nailed it. A great song/story.
Enjoy!
🤘😎🤘
Woody Guthrie (Arlo's father) is legendary. Fortunately, Arlo doesn't seem to have inherited his father's Huntington's Chorea (look it up). I still have my Alice's Restaurant 33 RPM vinyl (and a record player - yeah, I'm a Luddite). He also has a terrific version of "City of New Orleans". Love from a new subscriber.
We have listened to this every Thanksgiving for the last 50 or so years. It's a tradition!
Alice Brock
February 28, 1941 - November 21, 2024
Rest in Peace
First in the comments section. Woohoo. The rock radio station where I lived used to play this every Thanksgiving. His father is the legendary woody Guthrie who was Bob Dylan's greatest influence
The story is all true. I was only 13 years old hearing this and it scared the S... out of me and many of my friends
I love Arlo. He is able to hold an audience in the palm of his hand by his guitar playing and great songs.
This song is great live and he can do this because he is good enough. He's not just trying to slip off a fast 30 minutes. During that time everybody was at attention. Next try "Coming Into Los Angeles". The Woodstock video is awesome. Thanks for reacting to Arlo and Alice!
Brilliant performance! For all the humor in this song, there's a lot of terror behind it and the deadly serious message that Arlo is delivering. Young men were scared to death that they'd be drafted and forced to fight in a war in which they had no stake and against an enemy with whom they had no qualms. They saw their friends and brothers shipped to Vietnam, some of whom came back either in body bags or with debilitating PTSD, and they were afraid they'd be next.
Like many others, I still play this song EVERY year on Thanksgiving.
The Church up in the Berkshires of Massachusetts is now a Woody Guthrie Museum. Great folk music from a very talented family.
We were all trying to do anything we could to stop the war.
No matter how many harmony parts it took!
Thank u for injoying the whole song. Most dont thank s that wasthe 60s😊😊😊
JM... If you can sing the chorus...You are now one of us.
I love Arlo. I got to see him twice. The first time I saw him my mom took me as a toddler for the Newport Folk Festival in 1967, if I recall.
The second time I saw him was at the legendary Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence in the early 1990s.
As others have noted, Arlo is the son of the cultural and musical legend that is Woody Guthrie. You've heard lots of his songs without knowing it, as for a long time he got into writing a ton of popular children songs. I think Shoo Fly is one of those songs.
Of course, Woody's most famous song is This Land Is Your Land, which many people like myself believe would be a much better national anthem. But if you read beyond the first verse, you can find out why it's not our national anthem.
A great way to learn more about him is to see the excellent movie This Train Is Bound for Glory, starring David Carradine.
Woody caught a lot of serious beatings for his social justice efforts. You've probably seen people adorn their guitars with the words, THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS. They are paying homage to Woody, the originator.
Arlo is a fantastic storyteller. He has lots of songs where he interjects humor into serious political commentary.
This is a Thanksgiving tradition. We listen to this at 12 o’clock noon every Thanksgiving we know every word my kids grew up with it. I grew up with it my mother was the greatest.
Just after the release of this album, I was a sophomore in college in Boston and on my way home on a crowded bus in the middle of a snowstorm when a kinds creepy guy tried to strike up a conversation. In self defense, I asked if he'd heard Alice's Restaurant and when he said no, I proceeded to recite the whole thing, word for word. Just as I reached the last chorus, the bus got to my stop so I jumped up and said goodbye. Haven't thought about that in a whole bunch of years so thanks for the memory!
By the way, there's some awesome stuff on the flip side - motorcycle song, ring around the rosey rag, chilling of the evening, ...
I went through 'White Hall Street' in 1964 and what he says humorously is pretty true to the experience. LOL now
In Sturbridge/Lenox you can still visit Alice’s Restaurant.
I’m from Lynn, City of Sin!
Alice's Restaurant closed some time ago, but you can see where it was. it's down a really little alley.
Alice has lived on Cape Cod for many years now.
Love it!!
Arlo Guthrie has a large playlist of songs each has exceptional good acoustic guitar work and arrangements with several instruments used. His vocals sound like he is a Twin of Bob Dylan. Similar tones and singing styles, both are Story Telling Masters. Arlo plays Harmonica in many of his tunes as well.... His fans here will like... "The Motorcycle Song" from the same album.
You're amazing, bro. Gives me hope that there may be enough younger folks out there who appreciate the importance of cultural satire and the era that it's rooted in. Very impressive that you peeped that out so thoroughly. Great upload. Thanks!
One of the biggest anti-war songs. This song is iconic. I have it on vinyl. Check out his other great songs.
This is a true story with a little embellishment. When Carter was president, Arlo was invited to the White House for some sort of event and the president's brother,Billy, showed Arlo where they kept a copy of the record with his finger prints.
Nice!
Arlo should Autograph and sell his fingerprints at Meet&Greets.
This song is as much a Thanksgiving staple as turkey and stuffing. Featured on most radio stations. Hearing this today, I can almost smell that roasting turkey.
My favorite Thanksgiving Day song!
Yes! Its that dang Draft again.
I not know if anyone ever sang it during the physical before the draft call.
"If you want to end war and stuff you gotta sing loud." I love this song, I listen to it every year on Thanksgiving at noon Q104.3
A sense of humor approaching genius. The way he rambles a story captivates you till the end. Ya gotta find out how it turns out.
This is a Thanksgiving Day tradition at my house. Love it! Love Arlo! Thanks for reacting!
Arlo has a lot of great music to react to, don't stop here
GUH-THRIE. His father was Woody Guthrie who wrote "This Land is Your Land". He died from Huntington's chorea. and Arlo has it as well (50/50 chance) and had to stop performing.) This is actually a Vietnam protest song.
Arlo didn't get Huntington's (fortunately); if he had, it would have started to show while he was in his 30's or so.
When I turned 16 in 1970, a friend of mine gave me this record. I still have it. I memorized the whole thing front and back. It is iconic.
The funny thing is when my friend gave me the record, I was a preacher's kid, and I was living in the parsonage right next to the church. So we've got the thing about Alice in the church and all of that and it's kind of funny.
I say “8x10 glossies with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back”, and have yet to have anyone know whit it is;(“
Arlo was somewhat of a pot smoking, part folk singer, part Hippie, who even sang at Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. Think of a younger Bob Dylan, but in the same mold.
This was written during the years of the Vietnam war, and while us High school seniors had tto register for the Draft into the Armed Forces. I did end up in Vietnam in 1971. Glad God brought me home alive and not crippled, like so many of my buddies did.
God Bless
I was playing Tenor Banjo & Guitar & singing in June 1971 with the Nickelodeons (Trio with Piano & Bass) as a back-up band for lead Singer - beautiful blond, Sandy Gresham, on a 3 week USO Tour all across South Vietnam. I kept thinking of this song, but we didn’t dare play it!
Sort of a Thanksgiving tradition. His Daddy "Woody" was and is an American folk hero sort of. Way Back in the early 1920s, his daddy Woody sang songs about America's wonderous parts. Like the song "Roll on Columbia Roll on." and many others. IU guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, as the saying goes, because, although a little more liberal in his politics than Dad was, Arlo certainly got the musical genes from his daddy. You must react to his (Arlo's) most famous and beautiful song, "The Train They Call the City of New Orleans." An absolute treasure of a song, about how the trains built this country. His daddy would have been proud. Great song.
Actually, Woody called himself a Communist back in the the '30s (although the Party wouldn't let him join). Many people thought he was a conservative because his most famous song ("This Land Is Your Land") is beloved by conservatives. What they don't know is that the song has six verses, and the last three verses are rarely recorded because they definitely are Leftist. Copy and paste : th-cam.com/video/2Q7PULELvok/w-d-xo.html
It's just not Thanksgiving without listening to this at least once. I remember when it first came out when I was in college and to think that 56 years later people are still listening to it and giving it the props it deserves makes me feel optimistic about the younger generations
Almost every Thanksgiving as we drove down to my aunt's house we would here this...(1969-1977) good times
It's played especially on Thanksgiving at 12 noon on the radio, at NYC.
For 45 YEARS!
They took twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us.
I use to travel for work for a number of years and we always hired local temp workers. I gave the instruction lectures so everyone knew what to do. I used this reference one day to a group of about 2 dozen temps. Only one guy got it and he was my age the rest were barely out of their teens.
We listen to this great song every Thanksgiving.
The government really do have his prints
Well, they already had Woody’s for quite some time, so they went ahead and made it a father-son FBI file set.
It came out during the Vietnam War !
Love Arlo Guth rie. There's a radio station in my area that plays this all day long on Thanksgiving day
Back in the late 70s I heard reporters saying the two artist that helped the most to end the Viet Nam war and the military draft was John Lennon and Arlo Guthrie. I agree completely.
I haven’t listened to this in over 50 years! My brothers and I and our friends would sing it all the time. Great, great memories! 🥰🥰
You MUST listen to his dad Woody Guthrie who was an absolute icon.
Arlo Guthrie has some really good songs. This is one of my favorite Arlo Guthrie songs and I listen to it every Thanksgiving.
Alice's restaurant was about 10 miles from my home Egremont and Arlo hung around my town although I never met him personally. Image being 13 and listening to stuff like this on the radio late at night, under the covers so your parents won't catch you. Really different vibe than now for kids!
it was in Lenox Massachusetts
The movie is lots of fun ,too. Check it out and see for yourself. Another song of his to react to is City of New Orleans.
You should also look at “The Pause of Mr. Clause “ and “The Motorcycle Song” by Arlo
I've seen Arlo live in concert 5 times... he's amazing.
Thanks for having the patience for sticking thru this. It's a song I look forward to every Thanksgiving for the last 45 years.
This song was how me and many of many generation were introduced to traditional American folk music because it served to open a weekly radio show in NYC inspired by and named for the father of such music, Arlo's father, Woody Guthrie -- the show was called "Woody's Children" and it first aired in 1969. I was three at the time and this song and others became part of the soundtrack of childhood. The title was borrowed from another legendary folks singer, Pete Seeger, who referred to himself and others inspired by Guthrie as Woody's children. It aired for 30 years on WQXR before it was picked up by a second station, WFUV.
The war in question at the time of this song was Viet Nam. A particularly unpopular war.
This was back in the days of Selective Service. All the young men had to go in and register and be sent to Vietnam. Very unpopular is putting it mildly.
I listened to this at least once every Thanksgiving. It was a habit in my home region of New England.
He made a whole movie out of this. I highly recommend it, at least on Thanksgiving.
You got it!❤❤❤
Had the good fortune of meeting Arlo at my local community college several years ago after a concert. Really nice guy!
Arlo Guthrie was the neighbor hippie (according to my Grandpa hehe) that was playing that and Simon and Garfunkel records one day I visited. It opened up a whole new world of music versus country the parents liked and I didnt very much. I have went to see him any chance I have had and always so great a show and performer!
Played at noon every Thanksgiving on many radio stations. And we have a Group W Bench store in New Haven CT. Sells all kinds of funky things.
Watching your expression was the best reaction I've ever seen of this.
Oh, Arlo! How I love your stories in song! We watch the movie every year around Thanksgiving! Seen him a few times in concert and they will stay with me always! ❤
I want to say you have done the best most comprehensive insightful reaction to this song from the many who have done it. I have gotten 9 reactors to do it and 17 in total in my collection. Only one other did not "PAUSE" it. They were all very glad they listened to the story and got great view numbers from it as you are.... Now I'm sure you understand the songs notoriety and legendary status. Smiles
Definitely listen to this every thanksgiving morning while preparing our turkey. We heard it also on the way to our parents house. They are gone now, passed away, but it played on the radio on the way to them. I do wish we could go and do those visits again. We have this song for the memories. Thanks for this one. ❤
Your next thousand subs will be added faster than before with the stuff you're doing.
I first heard this song in the fall of 1969 when I was in the army at Ft. Bliss, Texas. It had extra meaning for us at the time, because of the Vietnam War, and we had all played it straight as far as going into the army.
I play this every year !
I had to take a Draft physical and hummed this song and got about 20 people singing it 😮
This song means a lot to many. Thank you for reacting. Next try the Motorcycle song.
I watched him perform this live, flawlessly. I was impressed.
We still listen to this every Thanksgiving...
“City of New Orleans” by Arlo Guthrie (first part of Guthrie pronounced like guh, Guth-rie).
His Motorcycle song is pretty good, also War by Edwin Starr if you haven't already heard it, great reaction
This is a classic! Saw Arlo perform it a couple of times, and it's a tradition in my family to listen to it every Thanksgiving. A favorite from my generation! Hope you enjoyed it!
One of the local FM radio stations around where I live used to play this in its entirety every Thanksgiving years ago.