Alice Brock, who was one of the inspirations for the Arlo Guthrie song “Alice’s Restaurant” has died.
The announcement of Brock’s death was posted on Friday, Nov. 22 on the social media page for Rising Son Records, Guthrie’s record label.
Back in 1964, Alice and her former husband Ray Brock purchased the St. James Chapel building located at 2 Van Deusenville Road.
The building was originally the St. James Chapel, built in 1829. Eventually, the building was expanded in 1866 and renamed the Trinity Church.
Around the same time, Ray and Alice Brock also opened Alice’s Restaurant in Stockbridge.
Musician Arlo Guthrie was a friend of the Brocks and stayed with them at the church during Thanksgiving.
The year was 1965 when both Guthrie and his friend Rick Robbins helped to clean out garbage from the Brocks’ property, which subsequently led to their arrests for illegally dumping trash down a Stockbridge hillside all because they could not find a trash dump open on Thanksgiving day.
Guthrie used the story about the arrest, along with a story about how he was drafted and how the arrest helped him get out of serving during the Vietnam War, for his infamous 1967 song “Alice’s Restaurant.” The song, and the story behind “Alice’s Restaurant,” became a worldwide phenomenon, leading to a movie, several books, and a cookbook, as well as fame for the Brocks and Guthrie.
The Brocks sold the church in 1971, and it fell under different ownership over the years, while Alice Brock shut down Alice’s Restaurant in Stockbridge in 1979.
In 1991 Guthrie purchased the Old Trinity Church building that his friends, the Brock family, formally owned and turned it into The Guthrie Center.
The following announcement was posted by Guthrie on Rising Son Records Facebook page:
“Alice passed away a week before Thanksgiving. She was living in one of her favorite places – Provincetown, Massachusetts where she’d been for over four decades.
I first met Alice in 1962 when she was the school librarian at The Stockbridge School, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I was there beginning my second of four years. I also met, Rick Robbins, another student, and we’ve been friends ever since.
Alice’s mother, Mary Pelky, bought the church in June of 1963 and gave it to Ray & Alice who began transforming it into a home. After the school year, my brother and I, along with Rick and a few others spent the summer with Alice and her husband, Ray on Martha’s Vineyard where they ran the Youth Hostel in West Tisbury. Alice always loved being on the Cape. It was home.
I returned to The Stockbridge School after a most wonderful summer, playing music every night, and generally goofing off. Ray & Alice got busy at the church, making it into a home.
For the next couple of years, friends would gather at the church from time to time, play some music, and generally enjoy a loose network of like minded people. Then it all changed.
Rick & I went to visit Ray & Alice for Thanksgiving in 1965. The rest is history. 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 humor.
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.
A couple of years ago, Alice, Rick and I met up at the church, and from there went to Rick’s home for a Thanksgiving Dinner. Marti & I, along with a lot of old friends celebrated 60 years of friendship. Some couldn’t be there, as time has taken its toll. But, the spirit was all that mattered, and we got to celebrate it.
This year we get to add one more to those whose life we celebrate – An important one. Alice was a lifelong friend.”
