Arlo Guthrie, in his song “ Alice’s Restaurant Massacree“, describes Stockbridge Massachusetts as ” three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car”. Sixty years later it is little changed. Still not much more than two blocks long with a single stoplight which for some reason is not at the busiest intersection in town where gridlock is a regular summer tourist phenomenon. Stockbridge is in the heart of the Berkshires, at the intersection of arts and money. It has long been such. Just outside of town is the estate and studio of Daniel Chester French, Chesterwood, most famous as the sculptor of Abraham Lincoln that resides in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. A mile down the road is the studio and museum devoted to the illustrator Norman Rockwell. Up the road is the former summer home of the author Edith Wharton called The Mount. It’s perfectly preserved home and extensive grounds date from 1902 and are open for tours and strolling the grounds. Nearby is the music destination, Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Pops. Through it all, Stockbridge has maintained a small town atmosphere, somehow balancing the money and the tourists with an enduring hippie vibe. Arlo didn’t just hang out in Stockbridge to write his iconic song but using the proceeds from “Alice’s Restaurant” he bought a farm in the area where he has lived for decades.

Arlo absorbed much from his father and friends musically but was much more successful when it came to money. Woody was pretty much broke all his life and turned down or fled from a number commercial gigs and ventures. Arlo in contrast has made substantial amounts of money from his music, his touring and his acting. Woody was sick for much of the time that Arlo was growing up, but fortunately Arlo had many good role models in his life, perhaps most notably Pete Seeger and Harold Leventhal. Leventhal was the legendary manager of Woody, Pete, Judy Collins, Joan Baez and a host of others. He took Arlo under his wing and at just 17 gave Arlo a job in his office which seemed to consist mostly of hanging out and learning to play music with the likes of Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee and all the others folkies who frequented Leventhal’s office.

But Stockbridge obviously caught Arlo’s attention and after living in the area he bought the church. You remember the church right? In the song Alice’s Restaurant Arlo goes to spend Thanksgiving with his friends Alice of Alice’s Restaurant and her husband Ray and Fasha the dog who live in a former church outside of Stockbridge. Arlo acquired the church and turned it into the headquarters of the Woody Guthrie Foundation on one side and used the former sanctuary as a recording studio and small performance space.

And so the story goes that for the 25th anniversary of the release of the song Arlo wanted to reissue it. His record company refused and, as was all too typical at the time, Arlo did not own the rights to the song, the record company did. But Arlo being Arlo he refused to be deterred. Instead, he decided to re-record the song in a modified and updated version. For the recording, he decided to do it in the church with a live audience. The church space is quite small, seating maybe 50 or 60 people, so Arlo did four recording sessions on four different days and then put together a final version from the best of the recordings including the audience reactions. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to one of those recording sessions. Arlo made it clear at the outset that he expected us to sing and laugh along with the song and of course we all joined in on the famous chorus. So I made my professional debut and one and only recording singing backup for Arlo Guthrie as he created Alice’s Restaurant Massacre Revisited. And like Arlo’s fingerprints that ” enshrined in some little folder, is a study in black and white” so my singular performance is enshrined on that vinyl record released in 1996.

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Ron Cooke is the author of a book of short stories and poems entitled Obituaries and Other Lies (available at Amazon); writes a well-received blog (ASSV4U.com/blog); and hosts a weekly radio show called Music They Don’t Want You to Hear on KTAL-LP in Las Cruces, NM.  He is also a founding director of A Still Small Voice 4U, a not for profit supporting arts, culture and community that presents folk concerts, sponsors artists, festivals and community groups. Ron is an avid cyclist, racer, blogger, sculptor and ne’er-do-well.