Culture

Alice’s Restaurant 50th Anniversary Concert | Thanksgiving Day 2015


Posted on:

< < Back to alices-restaurant-50th-anniversary-concert-thanksgiving-day-2015

ALICE’S RESTAURANT 50th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

WITH ARLO GUTHRIE

Premieres Thanksgiving Day 2015 on PBS

 – Multi-Media Concert Celebrates a Holiday Tradition –

Fifty years ago, in 1965, Arlo Guthrie took out the trash following a “Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat.” The hilarious account of actual events that precluded Arlo from military service in 1966 went on to become Alice’s Restaurant, a platinum-selling record in 1967, and a full-length motion picture in 1969. Today it’s as much a part of Thanksgiving tradition as cranberry sauce. For the first time in a decade, folk icon Arlo Guthrie brings The Alice’s Restaurant Massacree in its entirety to the stage. On the 50th anniversary of Arlo’s arrest for littering, ALICE’S RESTAURANT 50th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT WITH ARLO GUTHRIE premieres on PBS stations on Thanksgiving, November 26th, 2015, 9:30-11:00 p.m.

In 1965, Arlo, the 18-year-old son of legendary musician Woody Guthrie, and his friend were spending Thanksgiving with Alice and Ray Brock at the couple’s home in a former church in the Berkshires. Alice asked the boys to take a load of trash to the town dump. When they arrived, they found that the dump was closed, so they threw the trash down a nearby hillside. Guthrie turned the story of his subsequent arrest, court appearance, and rejection from military service into “Alice’s Restaurant,” a musical monologue lasting over 18 minutes.

ALICE’S RESTAURANT 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT is a unique multi-media event, the likes of which Guthrie’s fans have never seen before. Arlo is joined onstage by his son Abe Guthrie on keyboards, longtime friend Terry A La Berry on drums, Darren Todd on bass, and Bobby Sweet on guitar and fiddle. The program is produced and directed by four-time Emmy Award winner Jim Brown, whose other films include 50 Years with Peter, Paul and MaryPete Seeger: The Power of Song and The Weavers: Wasn’t That A Time!.

ALICE’S RESTAURANT 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT includes these performances:

  • “The Motorcycle Song”
  • “Chilling of the Evening”
  • “St. James Infirmary”
  • “Pig Meat”
  • “Coming Into Los Angeles”
  • “Alice’s Restaurant”
  • “I Hear You Sing Again”
  • “City of New Orleans”
  • “Highway In The Wind”
  • “My Peace”

 

PBS special programming invites viewers to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; hear diverse viewpoints; and take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. Viewer contributions are an important source of funding, making PBS programs possible. PBS and public television stations offer all Americans from every walk of life the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content.

 Underwriters: Public Television Viewers and PBS

Producer: Jim Brown Productions

Producer and Director: Jim Brown