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Story Behind ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ is Connected to Hudson Valley
The Thanksgiving classic may have never happened if it wasn't for a man from the Hudson Valley.
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On Thanksgiving, we and other stations across the country will play Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant." "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" is the official title of the song, released by Guthrie in 1967.
Turns out, a man from Poughkeepsie helped inspire the song. The Berkshire Eagle recently reposted a crime story about two young men who were fined 25 bucks for dumping trash.
"Little did we know at the time that the incident, which ran on page 25, would become the basis for Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant," The Berkshire Eagle wrote.
The song is based on a true story that happened to Guthrie and Richard (Rick) Robbins of Poughkeepsie, who was also a musician, on Nov. 29, 1965.
"Richard J. Robbins, 19, of Poughkeepsie, New York, and Arlo Guthrie, 18, of Howard Beach, New York, each paid a fine of $25 in Lee District Court after pleading guilty of illegally disposing of rubbish. Special Justice James E. Hannon ordered the youths to remove all the rubbish. They did so Saturday afternoon, following a heavy rain. Police Chief William J. Obanhein of Stockbridge said later the youths found dragging the junk up the hillside much harder than throwing it down. He said he hoped their case would be an example to others who are careless about disposal of rubbish," The Berkshire Eagle 1965 article states.
Guthrie and Robbins drove to Stockbridge, Massachusetts for Thanksgiving dinner with Alice and Ray Brock, who lived in a church. Ray told them to clean up the mess at the Church. Robbins, from Poughkeepsie, said yes first and Guthrie joined in, according to Songfacts.
They loaded up a VW microbus full of junk from the church and drove to drop it off at a dump. However, the dump was closed, so Guthrie remembered a spot nearby near a music camp where he spent one summer. So they dumped the garbage and the rest is history.
"We'd never heard of a dump closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in Our eyes, we drove off into the sunset lookin' for another place to put the garbage. We didn't find one till we came to a side road, and off the side of the side road was another fifteen-foot cliff, and at the bottom of the cliff was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile was better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up, we decided to throw ours down. That's what we did," Guthrie sings in the song.
WPDH reports, "Guthrie stated that the last part of the song was intended for the listener to sing along, and inspire them to resist the draft and end the war." You can hear the full unedited 18-minute version of the song this Thanksgiving at 8 a.m., noon. and 5 p.m. on i95. You can also listen by downloading the app, available in the App Store and Google Play.
You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant
Walk right in, it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's restaurant
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