Rolling Stone Magazine recently released a list of the 40 Most Iconic Albums of the Past 50 Years.

While such lists are by nature arbitrary and subjective – and certainly open to fiercely passionate discussion – the omission of Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 masterwork Alice’s Restaurant is inexplicable. Released mid-year, with the singer having just turned twenty, it’s a rollicking ride of acerbic wit, blistering indignation, and laugh out loud humor. More importantly it proved that folk music could be funny and still get a point across.

Others, most notably Dylan and Dave Van Ronk, certainly imbedded much of their music with political wit but it was typically subservient to the social message; the message of Alice’s Restaurant was decidedly less substantial. Guthrie’s story is well known; the fourth child and only son of folk giant Woody Guthrie, he had a tangled relationship with his famous father even while formulating his own musical path.

Although he’d been a fixture on the East Coast folk circuit for several years, Alice’s Restaurant was his recording debut. Its centerpiece was the epic 18-plus-minute title track, which sprawled over the entire A-side of the long-playing album. Although as much fiction as fact (and the better for it) “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” – recorded in front of a live audience – is rooted in a series of comical events.

After graduating high school at the Stockbridge School in Massachusetts, Guthrie enrolled at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT with an eye on becoming a forest ranger. However after only six weeks he dropped out and returned to Massachusetts. While there he stayed at the home of Alice and Ray Brock, former faculty members of the Stockbridge School and longtime family friends, who had recently opened a restaurant called the Back Room.

Celebrating Thanksgiving with them, Guthrie and his friend Rick Robbins undertook what he later called the “friendly gesture” of attempting to dispose of a large amount of accumulated garbage. Finding the city dump closed, they threw it down a hillside, whereupon they were arrested for littering. Convicted of the offense, they paid fines of $25 each and were ordered to retrieve the garbage. Soon after, when Guthrie was summoned for the military draft, his conviction registered him as unfit for service. Quite of fortunate turn of events!

As for the record itself, anti-establishment in tone and irreverent as heck, it perfectly captures the “in your face” zeitgeist of the time. But it’s the other half-dozen originals that provided a glimpse into his uniformly outstanding, yet maddeningly over looked early sides on Warner Bros. Such standouts as the haunting “Chilling of the Evening” or the charming if somewhat dated “Ring-Around-a-Rosy Rag,” showed the depth of Guthrie’s song construction.

The first installment of “The Motorcycle Song” – updated for the live self-titled follow-up release Arlo (1968) – became one of his most enduring moments. The album sold well over a million copies and occupied the top tier of the charts for an amazing 65 weeks. Moreover it allowed Guthrie the freedom to embark on a career that has now hit the mid-century mark. Along the way he has recorded numerous albums, performed countless times, and became a vital figure in American music.

“Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” immediately transformed Guthrie into a concert attraction; he came off as a wry, yet gentle and charming hippie able to puncture the pretensions of “the establishment” with comic hyperbole. Guthrie appeared at a memorial concert for his father held on January 20, 1968 at Carnegie Hall, which was later released on disc as A Tribute to Woody Guthrie, Pt. 1 and featured his performances of “Do Re Mi” and “Oklahoma Hills.”

A second concert from 1970 was released as A Tribute to Woody Guthrie, Pt. 2, on which Guthrie performed “Jesus Christ” and participated in a version of “This Land is Your Land.” Alice’s Restaurant was still selling when Reprise released Arlo in October 1968. Recorded at the Bitter End nightclub in Greenwich Village it featured more of Guthrie’s zany humor, along with original songs.

Overshadowed by its predecessor, it peaked at number 100 in Billboard, although it got to number 40 in rival Cash Box magazine. Soon after, Guthrie agreed to have “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” adapted into a motion picture and to star in the film. Veteran director Arthur Penn (The Miracle Worker, Bonnie and Clyde) was brought in, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Venable Herndon, elaborating on the song’s story to create a virtual screen biography of the 21-year-old Guthrie.

The movie premiered at the New York Film Festival on August 24, 1969, to favorable reviews, earning Penn an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Alice’s Restaurant the album promptly jumped back into the charts. It was certified gold on September 29 (the same day that Guthrie appeared on the cover of Time magazine) and achieved a new peak in Billboard at number 17 on November 15. Ultimately, it spent a total of 99 weeks in the Billboard chart, and it was certified platinum in 1986.

United Artists, the distributor of the film, released a soundtrack album featuring a different, two-part version of “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” along with instrumental music by Guthrie on its record label in September. Simultaneously, Reprise released Guthrie’s third album, Running Down the Road. Given this glut of product, it is striking that both albums sold fairly well. The soundtrack album had peaked and soon after fell off the charts. Nevertheless, Running Down the Road did not attract as much attention as it deserved.

Produced by Lenny Waronker and Van Dyke Parks and featuring such prominent session musicians as James Burton, Ry Cooder, and Clarence White, it was Guthrie’s first album without any comic monologues, and it combined some excellent new originals, including the psychedelic rocker “Coming into Los Angeles” and the tender ballad “Oh, in the Morning” (later covered by McKendree Spring), with covers of old folk and blues standards like Woody Guthrie’s “Oklahoma Hills” and Mississippi John Hurt’s “My Creole Belle.”

In October 1969, Guthrie, who had bought a 250-acre farm in Stockbridge, MA, married Alice “Jackie” Hyde, with whom he would have four children: Abraham (Abe), Annie, Sarah Lee, and Cathy. Abe has been a longtime member of his father’s band. Sarah Lee has also continued the family tradition; along with her husband she has established herself as a noticeable figure in Americana music.

Over the next forty plus years Guthrie has maintained a steady schedule of touring and a studio album every two or three years. He has become a seminal figure in music and co-starred in a largely forgotten (but much loved by this writer) 1994 television series (The Byrds Of Paradise, created by Steven Bochco and featuring Timothy Busfield, Bruce Weitz, and then up and comers Jennifer Love Hewitt and Seth Green). In short, his has been an amazing career.

A few years ago Guthrie began thinking about the importance of Alice’s Restaurant; aware that the 50th anniversary was approaching he began creating a stage show to mark the event. Those plans were set aside when Guthrie’s wife passed away. He understandably grieved, retreated, and eventually regrouped.

And now is the time: Embarking upon a lengthy tour, reaching from late January well into May, booking venues both large and small, with our very own Diana Wortham Theatre among a select few hosting consecutive nights. Guthrie and his band, celebrating his life in music and the legacy of Alice’s Restaurant, will be appearing on February 13 and 14, 2015. It’s a rare opportunity to see an artist of such stature in a venue known for its intimacy, great acoustics, and not having a bad seat in the house.

This event will likely sell out, making the evening even more special. This is one show I would not hesitate on!

If You Go: Two nights with Arlo Guthrie and the 50th Anniversary of Alice’s Restaurant at the Diana Wortham Theatre on Friday and Saturday, February 13 and 14, 2015. For ticket information and more details, go to www.dwtheatre.com