Arlo Guthrie - Songs

ABOUT

Arlo Guthrie (b. 1947) is a highly acclaimed and veteran folk rock singer-songwriter and political activist with a flair for satire, self-deprecating humor, and storytelling who became famous during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is best known for the hilarious and mostly spoken "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" (1967, aka "Alice's Restaurant"), a lengthy protest against the Vietnam War draft lasting over 18 minutes that inspired "Alice's Restaurant" (1969), a cult movie classic starring Guthrie as himself. A shortened version of this song titled "Alice's Rock & Roll Restaurant" became a minor hit in 1969. He also had a Top 20 hit with his cover of the Steve Goodman-penned "The City Of New Orleans" (1972), which was inducted many years later into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017.

Born Arlo Davy Guthrie in Brooklyn, New York into a family of musicians, artists, and entertainers, he is the son of folk legend Woody Guthrie. After graduating from Stockbridge School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1965, he spent the summer of that year in London, eventually connecting with the city's folk rock scene. Guthrie's career turning point came later that year the day after Thanksgiving when he and a friend were arrested in Stockbridge for illegally dumping a half-ton of garbage from the home of his friends, teachers Ray and Alice Brock, after learning that the local landfill was closed for the holiday. This incident, which was quickly resolved, inspired his most famous song, "Alice's Restaurant," which led to a recording contract with Reprise after a New York radio host broadcast one of Guthrie's performances of the song repeatedly one night in 1967. Guthrie's fame continued to soar for the remainder of the 1960s, and he went from playing coffee houses to performing at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall and Woodstock. "Alice's Restaurant," which takes up the entire side of his 1967 debut album of the same name, became a symbol of the late 1960s counterculture, and over the years, many radio stations across the country made it a tradition to play this song every Thanksgiving Day.

Arlo Guthrie continued to perform and record actively through 2023, and his numerous recordings include 19 studio and 10 live albums. One of his songs, "Massachusetts" (not to be confused with the same-named song by The Bee Gees), was made the official song of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1981. In 1992, he was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award.

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SONGS

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Arlo Guthrie

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