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In 1965 Arlo Guthrie writes “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”

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After cleaning a church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts where they had Thanksgiving dinner the day before, Arlo Guthrie and a friend clean up the place, but toss the trash down a hill when they can’t find an open dump. They are arrested, fined $25 each, and forced to pick up the garbage. When they return to the church, Guthrie writes “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” about the incident, embellishing some details.

The American Red Cross

In 1967 Arlo Guthrie debuts “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”

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Arlo Guthrie debuts “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” at the 1967 Newport Folk Festival. The song runs 18 minutes long and tells a true (but greatly exaggerated) story about how he was arrested one Thanksgiving morning for illegal dumping. The ticket later made him ineligible for the draft, keeping him out of the Vietnam War.

Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins, Janis Ian, and Tom Paxton also play the festival this day.

The American Red Cross

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