Arlo Guthrie – “City Of New Orleans”, “Alice’s Restaurant” and “Coming Into Los Angeles”

by Paul

Arlo Guthrie, the famous son of the famous American folk singer Woody Guthrie, was already a legend himself by the early Seventies when “City Of New Orleans” hit the airwaves.

In particular he had made his name with the 18 minute 34 second long “talking blues song” “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, better known simply as “Alice’s Restaurant”, the title of the 1967 album and the 1969 film.

Last year he said in an interview that this satirical protest against the Vietnam war draft is more an “anti-stupidity” song than an anti-war song.

Whatever, although from the Sixties, I recall this song from the Seventies, when it was still being played a lot in New Zealand. In fact, to this day, many people in the US listen to “Alice’s Restaurant” every year on Thanksgiving Day!

The “City Of New Orleans”, though, was just as present in my consciousness and the radio playlists, and I can still sing along at least with the chorus! Here’s a live version shortly after it came out, with a still young Arlo Guthrie:

And here, many years later, is a grey but long haired Arlo Guthrie singing “City Of New Orleans” at the Boston Pops; musically you can hardly tell the difference:

Also many years later, Arlo Guthrie still sings a slightly updated version of “Alice’s Restaurant”. Here’s a great performance from 2005, in the same church. The video shows Arlo singing live, with scenes from the film interspersed throughout:

Again with the Boston Pops, celebrating 40 years of the Woodstock festival, “Coming Into Los Angeles”:

And, as a contrast, the original Woodstock performance of “Coming Into Los Angeles” by the young Arlo Guthrie, where he played before over a million young people, many of whom were indulging in the substance he was singing about, as the film very clearly shows: