Arlo Guthrie is in the midst of an extended celebration of his signature song “The Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.” As a note on his website explains, “This year marks the 50th reunion of that fateful Thanksgiving Day in 1965 when Arlo Guthrie, then age 18, drove to the Berkshires to have Thanksgiving dinner with friends Alice and Ray Brock at their Great Barrington home in The Trinity Church on Division Street. The Trinity Church is where the song began and where the movie Alice’s Restaurant was filmed, and continues to service the local and international community as the home to The Guthrie Center and The Guthrie Foundation.”

Guthrie, who rarely plays the complete “The Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” live, has revived and updated the song in time for the 50th anniversary celebration and he will perform it during his upcoming shows. Tonight and tomorrow he will appear at the Housatonic, MA’s The Church, the site of the events which inspired the song exactly 50 years ago. Then, on Wednesday, November 25, Great Barrington, MA’s The Mahaiwe Theater will screen the Alice’s Restaurant film. Guthrie will talk at the screening and sit for an interview WAMC’s Alan Chartock before the film. An audience Q & A will follow the screening. (He will not perform a proper set, however.)

Guthrie’s tour will continue this weekend with a special show at New York, NY’s Carnegie Hall on Saturday.