Q 01/05

Who recorded 'Alice's Restaurant Massacree', the talking blues played every Thanksgiving?

A) Arlo Guthrie

B) Bob Dylan

C) Pete Seeger

D) Phil Ochs

Answer · why

A) Arlo Guthrie

It was the title track of his 1967 debut album and took up the whole A-side.

Q 02/05

How long does the original recording of "Alice's Restaurant" run?

A) 8 minutes 12 seconds

B) 18 minutes 34 seconds

C) 12 minutes 40 seconds

D) 15 minutes 6 seconds

Answer · why

B) 18 minutes 34 seconds

Guthrie never expected it to be released, since singles of the era ran under three minutes.

Q 03/05

In which Massachusetts town did the Thanksgiving littering arrest in "Alice's Restaurant" take place?

A) Lenox

B) Amherst

C) Stockbridge

D) Great Barrington

Answer · why

C) Stockbridge

Guthrie and a friend dumped garbage from a deconsecrated church because the local tip was closed for the day.

Q 04/05

What was the nickname of the police chief who arrested Guthrie in "Alice's Restaurant"?

A) Sergeant Sam

B) Chief Buster

C) Deputy Dan

D) Officer Obie

Answer · why

D) Officer Obie

His officers gathered "twenty-seven 8-by-10 color glossy photographs" of the trash as evidence.

Q 05/05

Why, according to Guthrie, did "Alice's Restaurant" become a Thanksgiving radio tradition?

A) DJs used its length to take a break

B) Stations lost a bet with him

C) His father requested it

D) It was cheap to license

Answer · why

A) DJs used its length to take a break

Classic rock and adult album alternative stations still air it each November, and the FCC has never punished a station for playing it.