The soundtrack to Arthur Penn’s 1969 film Alice’s Restaurant, based on Arlo Guthrie’s song of the same name and featuring the singer-songwriter, is getting a 50th anniversary reissue on CD and as a 2-LP set. Due out on Omnivore Recordings on Aug. 23, the release, Alice’s Restaurant: Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack (50th Anniversary Edition), features a new recording of “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” as well other songs and music cues from the movie. (The album was previously expanded on CD in 1998 with even more material.)
Penn received an Oscar nomination for his direction.
This new version contains all of the material from the 1969 and 1998 editions (while retaining the 1969 sequence), but also adds a previously unissued, live, 24-minute take, “Alice’s Restaurant: Multi-Color Rainbow Roach Affair,” from 1968. That’s 12 tracks making their vinyl debut!
Packaging contains photos, images from the film, and liner notes by writer Lee Zimmerman (author of Americana Music: Voices, Visionaries & Pioneers of an Honest Sound), and features a new interview with Guthrie.
Related: Our interview with Arlo
Says Guthrie in the new interview, “I never expected it to be so popular. ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ was a surprise. An 18-minute song doesn’t get airplay. You can’t expect that. So the fact that it became a hit was absurd on the face of it. It wasn’t part of the calculation, but it did take me for surprise.”
Track Listing
1. Traveling Music: Garry Sherman
2. Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, Part I Vocal: Arlo Guthrie
3. The Let Down: Garry Sherman
4. Songs To Aging Children: Tigger Outlaw
5. Amazing Grace: Garry Sherman
6. Trip To The City: Garry Sherman
7. Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, Part Ii
8. Crash Pad Improvs: Garry Sherman
9. You’re A Fink: Al Schackman
10. Harps And Marriage: Garry Sherman
Bonus Tracks
11. Opening Credits (Amazing Grace)
12. Travelin’ Guitars
13. Café Harris Rag
14. Revival Meeting (Amazing Grace)
15. Alice’s Restaurant Radio Jingle
16. Pastures of Plenty:Pete Seeger
17. Car Song: Pete Seeger And Arlo Guthire
18. Big City Garbage
19. Wedding Festivities
20. Farewell (Alice’s Restaurant)
21. End Title (Amazing Grace)
Watch the original trailer from Alice’s Restaurant
Go see Guthrie perform in 2019. Tickets are available here and here.
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