Feast on this birthday treat

You can get anything you want on 
Sundays at the Sanctuary, where
Al Tays covers everything from
Arlo (above) to ZZ Top.

By Al Tays

For today's birthday celebration, a cake just won't do. No, it's gotta be "a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat." Thanksgiving in July? We could only be talking about Arlo Guthrie, the creator of "Alice's Restaurant Massacree."

Guthrie turns 64 today, and it's been 44 years since he released the album titled "Alice's Restaurant." A few years ago he re-recorded the song, adding an anecdote about discovering that Richard Nixon owned a copy of the album, and the song is exactly the same length as the famous gap in the Watergate tapes.

It's a tradition among many radio stations (not to mention yours truly) to play this song every Thanksgiving (I get to do it as long as I agree not to force Mrs. Assistant Music Blogger or Assistant Music Blogger Son and Daughter to listen).

But for Arlo's birthday, I'll crank up the iPod and wait for it to come around again on the gi-tar. Those of you Sanctuary seekers who enjoy it as much as I do can easily find it online. But for those with shorter attention spans, we offer this version of Guthrie's other well-known recording, his version of the Steve Goodman classic "City of New Orleans."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DM6ppYwXTQ