Truth be told, I’d never heard of anyone listening to this song as a Thanksgiving tradition until I saw this thread and I can’t really think of any reason it would be one. Sure part of the song’s narrative takes place on Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t really seem to emphasize the theme of Thanksgiving at all.
I’ve never heard the song on Thanksgiving or any other day.
And in numerous live performances for years before that.
IIRC how he used to tell the story, he claimed to be at one of the inaugural parties for Jimmy Carter’s inauguration, when Chip Carter sidled up to him and asked something like “how many things are 18½ minutes long?” with the answers being Alice’s Restaurant, and the infamous gap on one of the Nixon Watergate tapes. So the joke was that Nixon had to erase the evidence that he and H.R. Haldeman were in the Oval Office, listening to Alice’s Restaurant together.
I love that album. My dad introduced both it and Alice’s Restaurant (and Firesign Theater) to me when I was a teenager.
“Show him we don’t draw the line… this week!”
I completely forgot about Firesign Theater! Must google now.
I listened to both this and Stan Freberg’s “Take an Indian to Lunch” this November through Youtube. I even facebooked them to all my friends. A lot of people made note that both of these songs are kind of mean spirited, with the Freberg one even thought of to be a little racist. Some people don’t understand irony anymore. Anyway, I have always been a fan of Alice’s Restaraunt, especially the anniversary edition released in 1991, where Arlo Gurthrie says that the knowledge of Richard Nixon owning a copy of the record makes him especially suspicious of the 18 1/2 minute gap in the Watergate tapes…
When I saw him in the 80’s, the story was that they’d found a copy in the WH, and Arlo’d asked if it was open, and when Chip said yes, Arlo tells the audience ‘so don’t tell me you can’t change the world with a song.’ Good times.
Some days I feel like such a foreigner. I never even heard of this song or this tradition. Ever.
I love the song. Wife hates it for all the reasons I think it’s fantastic–droning voice, repetetive back music, the composition seems intentionally aggravating. It IS smartass music.
Not only is it a tradition with me, but I get good and drunk the night before so I look and feel my best.
You’re our boy!
And I intend to bump this thread every future Thanksgiving, much like the Xmas Rudolph Thread.
Oh, let me. I’m not proud…
Or tired.
Yep, we’re just waitin’ for it to come around again, on the gee-tar…
But that’s not what I came here to tell you about…
45 minutes from now…
2 hours, ten minutes from now.
My dad used to play it on the guitar, and thanks for the reminder: he no longer can play due to decades of dealing with bursitis, but I can still call him up and play it for him from Youtube 
Anyone remember that 18 1/2 minute gap in the White House recordings from the Watergate investigation? Well, the original recording of this song is just over 18 1/2 minutes long, so once Arlo jokingly suggested in a concert that the song was what was on that 18 1/2 minute gap in the tape. (Nixon apparently owned a copy of the record.)
My local classic rock station played this song at noon, and they claimed it’s 18 minutes, 11 seconds. But you’re right; I timed the song off my watch and it is barely over 18 1/2 minutes.
I usually go with the original album recording, but today listened to the 2005 live version. I liked the subtle updates and I know it’s 7 years old now, but I think Arlo aged pretty well.