Alice Brock, who helped inspire folk star Arlo Guthrie's classic song 'Alice's Restaurant,' dies at age 83

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Alice Brock, the artist and restaurant owner whose Massachusetts restaurant became the subject of folk singer Arlo Guthrie's famous 1967 song Alice's Restaurant Massacree, has died.

Brock died at the age of 83. Her death was announced by Guthrie on Facebook.

He broke the news of her death on a Facebook page for his record company Rising Son Records on Friday November 22, stating that Brock died two days prior, on Wednesday November 20, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Guthrie, aged 77, whose father was 20th century folk music icon Woody Guthrie, said that she had been living there for four decades prior to her death.

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As The New York Times reported, a longtime friend of Brock's said she died in hospice care from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

As Guthrie wrote in his post mourning Brock's death, he first met Brock in 1962 when she was working as a librarian at a boarding school in Stockbridge, Massachusetts that he attended and he then became friends with her and her husband Ray, along with another friend named Rick.

"Rick & I went to visit Ray & Alice for Thanksgiving in 1965. The rest is history," Guthrie wrote. "Alice went into the restaurant business and I began my years as an entertainer. We were, both in our own ways, successful. As well as being a restauranteur, Alice also became an author, and an artist. We worked together on various projects. During the next few decades we remained friends while our lives kept us busy. She was a no-nonsense gal, with a great sense of humour."

Alice Brock, the artist and restaurant owner who helped inspire Arlo Guthrie's folk song Alice's Restaurant Massacree, has died aged 83. Photo by Instagram.Alice Brock, the artist and restaurant owner who helped inspire Arlo Guthrie's folk song Alice's Restaurant Massacree, has died aged 83. Photo by Instagram.
Alice Brock, the artist and restaurant owner who helped inspire Arlo Guthrie's folk song Alice's Restaurant Massacree, has died aged 83. Photo by Instagram. | Instagram

Guthrie's famous song, Alice's Restaurant Massacree, was inspired by Brock's actual restaurant. It is an 18-minute long blues-folk track that largely features Guthrie telling a long, winding story about visiting Alice and Ray for Thanksgiving, subsequently getting arrested for dumping rubbish illegally and how it affected his eligibility to be drafted to serve in the Vietnam War.

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The song grew into enough of a hit that Guthrie starred in a 1969 movie titled Alice's Restaurant, in which Brock makes a cameo appearance. The song is considered Guthrie's best-known work, and the Library of Congress preserved it in the National Recording Registry in 2018.

Guthrie added at the time: "This coming Thanksgiving will be the first without her. Alice and my daughter, Annie had spoken together recently and Alice, knowing her circumstances, approved an exhibit at the church to tell her own story. Alice and I spoke by phone a couple of weeks ago, and she sounded like her old self. We joked around and had a couple of good laughs even though we knew we'd never have another chance to talk together."

Brock moved to Provincetown in 1979 to take up a career as a painter, according to The New York Times. She said in past interviews that she "resented" the fame the song had bestowed upon her for years but eventually grew more comfortable with the public's love for the song. She is survived by three stepchildren, two grandchildren, one great-granddaughter and two great-great grandchildren, according to the Times.

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