Alice’s Restaurant: A Timeless Thanksgiving Tradition

Thanksgiving sparks the idea of tradition. Everyone is back at home. Some people enjoy a beer and a few laughs with old friends on Wednesday night. Some people look forward to a classic Turkey Bowl rivalry. Everyone can enjoy the tradition of "Alice's Restaurant" on MGK three times on Thanksgiving Day.

We will get the Arlo Guthrie Thanksgiving classic going at 8 am, and MGK will play it again at 1 pm and 4 pm.

An 18-minute narrative song about events (loosely) related to Thanksgiving has crept into that tradition over many years.

Former MGK program director Bill Weston says the song has played on the airwaves "as long as anyone can remember" on Thanksgiving Day. He recalls something that started as somewhat of a stretch because of the lack of music easily associated with Thanksgiving, but ultimately became a widespread radio tradition.

Arlo Guthrie even played an annual Thanksgiving concert at Carnegie Hall over the holiday weekend until 2019.

Guthrie was a storyteller as much as a musician. His ability to captivate an audience with a narrative for 18 minutes speaks to his ability. The song tells the (exaggerated) story of a petty crime committed on Thanksgiving Day that snowballs into a major crime in the eyes of local law enforcement. The record of the crime damaged Guthrie's eligibility for the military.

The Smithsonian Magazine called "Alice's Restaurant", “a work that capsulized a young generation’s disaffection with bureaucratic stupidity, resonated as an anti-war anthem and still captivates audiences with its simple melody, gentle narrative and infectious chorus.”

The radio relic has persisted for decades on MGK, and it's become a staple of local holiday tradition in Philadelphia.

Ask your smart speaker to "Play 102 POINT 9 M-G-K" while you're cooking your turkey to hear Alice's Restaurant three times at 8 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm on Thanksgiving!