Alice Brock of 'Alice's Restaurant' dies

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Alice Brock of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ dies
"This year we get to add one more to those whose life we celebrate - An important one. Alice was a lifelong friend.” Arlo Guthrie wrote in the announcement of Brock's death.

Written by
Shaw Israel Izikson
November 22, 2024

Alice Brock, who was one of the inspirations for the Arlo Guthrie song “Alice’s Restaurant” has died. ... The announcement of Brock’s death was posted on Friday, Nov. 22 on the social media page for Rising Son Records, Guthrie’s record label.

Back in 1964, Alice and her former husband Ray Brock purchased the St. James Chapel building located at 2 Van Deusenville Road. ... The building was originally the St. James Chapel, built in 1829. Eventually, the building was expanded in 1866 and renamed the Trinity Church. ... Around the same time, Ray and Alice Brock also opened Alice’s Restaurant in Stockbridge.

Musician Arlo Guthrie was a friend of the Brocks and stayed with them at the church during Thanksgiving. ... The year was 1965 when both Guthrie and his friend Rick Robbins helped to clean out garbage from the Brocks’ property, which subsequently led to their arrests for illegally dumping trash down a Stockbridge hillside all because they could not find a trash dump open on Thanksgiving day.

Guthrie used the story about the arrest, along with a story about how he was drafted and how the arrest helped him get out of serving during the Vietnam War, for his infamous 1967 song “Alice’s Restaurant.” The song, and the story behind “Alice’s Restaurant,” became a worldwide phenomenon, leading to a movie, several books, and a cookbook, as well as fame for the Brocks and Guthrie.

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[3Hotdogs]

1. My Cousin Jim, about whom I have posted on D.U. on several occasions, was in Stockbridge and went to

search out Officer Obie. Jim found Obie and had a pleasant, two minute conversation. He reported that Obie was congenial.

Unfortunately, Obie died at age 69.

[DFW]

2. After 40 years in a row of going to Provincetown, I never once met Alice Brock. My loss.

I sorta wanted to seek her out, but I somehow just felt that she had probably had enough of strangers coming up to her and saying, "so, you're Alice, huh?"

I've never really met Arlo Guthrie, either, though he has come to give small concerts at the Payomet Performing Arts center in tiny Truro, MA, where we stay. It's just south of Provincetown. We were at the 85th birthday concert celebration of a mutual friend, Theo Bikel, but somehow, our paths never crossed. I met several of my youth idols there who were contemporaries of Theo, like Peter Yarrow and Tom Paxton, but never Arlo. Again, my loss.