At the outset of his second recorded performance of the anti-war shaggy-dog story-song "Alice's Restaurant,"
Arlo Guthrie notes that 30 years have passed since the events described in the song. That anniversary may serve as a useful touchstone for this only slightly revised retelling, but a more likely explanation for why
Guthrie would re-record not only his most famous song, but also his entire first album in soundalike fashion is simply that, unlike most of his records,
Alice's Restaurant is still owned by Warner Bros. Records and not by
Guthrie's own Rising Son label. The new version of the title song has a few new jokes in it (it's even longer than the original), and
Guthrie faithfully re-creates such songs as "Ring-Around-A-Rosy Rag" and "The Motorcycle Song," but the original album is still the one to own. ~ William Ruhlmann