Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant
I've been listening to Alice's Restaurant now for 25 years. I could listen to it for another 25 years. I'm not proud. Or tired.

Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie, is best known for this song. It's a lengthy piece of talking folk/blues. It would be one of the most epic bits of storytelling in popular song, if it weren't for the fact that Arlo rambles all over the place as he tells his story. It's deadpan and sardonic, and as such is an excellent riposte to the modern view that hippies had no sense of irony

This remains one of the classic documents of the '60s anti-war movement, as well as being one of the best-loved bits of that era's counterculture. It was popular enough at the time to be turned into a film, but my advice would be to avoid that and just stick with the music. Stretched out over 2 hours, things can get a little too relaxed; better to stick to the 20 minutes of the song.

Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant