Hi Arlo. The BBC is coming to Maine to record our rendition of your song Alice's Restaurant! We have had a child care for the last 25 years and every Thanksgiving we have taught the kids to sing Alice's Restaurant. It's been a tradition in our family and a lot of fun, and somehow the BBC found out about us and is coming to record us on September 1 for a story they are doing about Alice. We wanted you to know. I have been polishing my licks on the guitar like mad. We are sorry we just missed you at the Clearwater festival. We are moving to Beacon! maybe we'll see you there, or in Maine.

Have fun with the family tour, we saw it last time in Portland. "We're just waiting for it to come around again on the guitar..."

Thank you!
Chris

Neat story! Welcome to the site!

That sounds positively fantabulascinating!

....The BBC???


Um,..... I wonder why the Brits are so interested in a unilaterally AMERICAN holiday?


Considering that this year (2012) is the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812 and the subsequent butt-whooping of the British military, (for a second time)..... I gotta be a bit suspicious.

Keep y'er eyes open, y'all..... them Redcoats might just be lookin' fer some payback and plannin' a sneak attack in an effort to take back their Colonies!!!


(They's sneaky,..... them Brits).

I'm with you Don, makes me suspicious too. Not just the Thanksgiving thing, but "just a half a mile from the railroad track" -- they've made it clear that our non-metric system is odious to their sensibilities. Maybe they're making another attempt to portray us as a bunch of hayseed barbarians

Which, now that I think about it - considering what 8 years of GW, almost 4 years of teaparty crap, the circus that was the republican primaries, the recent insanity of our congressional process, and just the fact that Romney is currently polling essentially even with Obama - that's probably what I'd think of us if I were them

Maybe it's cuz they don't have that holiday.

There's no way to fit a half a ton of garbage into a Cooper Mini.




.....(Maybe they'd like a pickle)?

If you get it onto YouTube, make sure you send us the link!

Yes, we'd love to see.

Actually the use of Thanksgiving as a holiday has become in North America for the U.S. and Canadian seperate Holidays.

Historically any leadership Colonial or Homerule in Britian could declare a day of Thanksgiving with was essentially a Religious day to pray to give praise for the Lord sparing the population from a trying and difficult time. There have been more than the one Thanksgiving observance in the U.S since the one observed by the Pilgrims of the Massachussets Bay Colony. Survival of Huricanes, epidemics and even earthquakes have been witnessed with local days of Thanksgiving. So as a specific holiday in the U.S. it is unique but overall not unusual though many nations don't have a specific day set aside as a day to witness Thanks to Providence.

And every day I hoist a beer, I witness thanks to the Brewer's Craft. Cheers.

Well, I just wrote out a whole response but I think it got lost! So, basically, the bbc is just doing a story about the song of Alice's Restaurant- probably because it's just interesting that it has retained it's prominence as a Thanksgiving Tradition (with radio stations, at least in Maine, playing each Thanksgiving at 12 noon) and with our family and preschool for the past 20 years, they figure there is a little story there because little children obviously weren't around in the 60's but still love to sing the song. The song means different things to different people, and they (the BBC folks) are coming to interview me and my wife, the families in our preschool, and to hear the kids sing- then on to cape cod to interview Alice, and then on to Ireland or where every Arlo is- oh and to Stockbridge and the quote "scene of the crime". They do stories about things and people from all over the world, this is the same idea. It'll air on 11/17/12 so tune in and enjoy the fun of it!

This kind of thing needs to be done more often.

.....In fact, I re-iterate from a previous thread..... "Alice's Restaurant" needs to be done in CGI animation by someone in Hollywood. This film was a classic description of a generation and needs to be re-introduced to a NEW generation to accentuate our diversity and perhaps help to distract us all from our iPods, smartphones and internet brain-candy.

A new version of this film could entertain millions who are unaware of the existance of the song and film, and keep the delightfully eccentric nostalgia an enduring part of Americana's appeal.



cwatkinson,..... could you ask the BBC folk if they know anyone who might agree that the film "Alice's Restaurant" could be a big hit as an animated feature film? I'll bet the folks from "Despicable Me" and "The Lorax" might be interested.

Maybe they have connections?