Alice Brock, Inspiration for the Arlo Guthrie Song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” Dies at 83

1970: American folk singer Arlo Guthrie, eldest son of cult folk singer Woody Guthrie. The younger Guthrie's song 'Alice's Restaurant Massacre' inspired the film 'Alice's Restaurant' in which he starred — McCarthy/Express/Getty Images

In the early 1960s, Arlo Guthrie, the son of folk musician Woody Guthrie, met a woman named Alice who would change his life forever. He was attending the Stockbridge School in Massachusetts and became friends with the librarian there, Alice Brock. They stayed in touch after he left school and Guthrie often stayed with Brock and her husband.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1965, Guthrie was arrested after throwing trash down a hill when he couldn’t find a dumpster. The police charged him with illegal dumping, and the whole ordeal led to his most famous song, played in many homes on Thanksgiving Day.

Alice Brock is the Alice in the Arlo Guthrie song. She now lives in Provincetown where she lives and works as an artist. She is in front of her favorite wine store, Glass Half Full on Commercial Street

Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The song was “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” with the chorus paying tribute to Brock: “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.”

Although the restaurant was not actually called Alice’s Restaurant, but The Back Room, the song became popular. Guthrie titled his debut album Alice’s Restaurant, which eventually became a movie and cookbook. Brock and Guthrie remained lifelong friends, eventually collaborating on a children’s book titled Mooses Come Walking.

Alice passed away just about a week before Thanksgiving this year at 83 years old. At her time of death, Brock and Guthrie had been talking about opening an exhibit at her former home, now called the Guthrie Center, which serves free dinners every Thanksgiving for those in need.

A poster for Arthur Penn's 1969 comedy 'Alice's Restaurant' starring Arlo Guthrie

Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images

Before her death, she also wrote a memoir called My Life As a Restaurant, recounting that while she ran three different restaurants during her career, initially, she didn’t love cooking or running a business. In honor of her life, don’t forget to listen to the song this week.

Alice Brock, Inspiration for the Arlo Guthrie Song “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” Dies at 83

1968 Retrospective

January 2018