Características
Although he was a known quantity on the East Coast folk scene several years earlier, Arlo Guthrie did not release his debut album until mid-1967. It was "Alice's Restaurant," the epic, 18-minute-plus title track that spans the entire A-side of the LP, that attracted the most attention. However, it's the half-dozen other Guthrie compositions that offer a glimpse into his all excellent, but perplexingly often overlooked, early Warner Bros. recordings.
Though it may not be one hundred percent factual, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" - which was recorded at a performance in front of an audience - is rooted in a series of actual events. This tale with a decidedly anti-establishment bent, involving garbage dumps closed on Thanksgiving, Obie the good cop, and Guthrie's experiences with the draft, bases its success not only on the unusual and hair-raising situations the hero gets into; it's also his outsider's point of view and sardonic delivery that maximize the effect in the telling.
In terms of artistic merit, the studio-recorded B-side is an equally mature effort and features six distinctly more traditional folk-rock compositions. Among the standouts are the haunting "Chilling Of The Evening," whose arrangement seems perhaps more fitting for a collaborative effort by Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell. There's a kind of old-fashioned charm to "Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag," a snazzy, fast-paced, hippie-friendly piece of jug band nostalgia. "I'm Going Home" is an underrated masterpiece in a minor key that not only recalls Roger McGuinn's "Ballad of Easy Rider" but also illuminates a more sensitive and intimate side of Guthrie's skill. Also worth mentioning is the first version of "The Motorcycle Song" - which was updated and reworked on the live follow-up album "Arlo" (1968) - notable for its extended discourse on 'the significance of the pickle'.
Arlo Guthrie (voc, g)
Side One
1. Alice's Restaurant Massacree
Side Two
1. Chilling of the Evening
2. Ring-Around-a-Rosy Rag
3. Now and Then
4. I'm Going Home
5. The Motorcycle Song
6. Highway in the Wind