Ace in the Hole — a classic show from 1999

Garrison Solo in New York

Garrison brings his solo show to Riverhead, New York, in early August. Be enchanted by an evening of stories, song, poetry, and limericks plus a sing-along and the News from Lake Wobegon.

August 2nd at 8 p.m. at the Suffolk Theater in Riverhead, NY

This show is part of our upcoming series of EVENTS — Garrison performing solo or in concert with others in addition to a few shows gathering our PHC troupe back together to celebrate the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the first Prairie Home Companion show. VIEW ALL EVENTS here.

Listen to the show from July 23, 2016 (a repeat from fall 1999)

This week, we take a gamble and travel back to October 9, 1999, for a show from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Quintessential New York folksinger Dave Van Ronk brought his guitar and his immediately recognizable voice for “Jelly, Jelly, Jelly” and “Where Were You Last Night?”; Gillian Welch and David Rawlingssang their soon-to-be classic “Time (The Revelator)” and delivered a performance of Lefty Frizzell’s “That’s the Way Love Goes”; and Geoff Muldaur (master of American blues, jazz, roots, and more) stopped by with “Drop Down Mama” and “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You?” Plus: Rainbow Motor Oil and the Rainbow Family of Automotive Products, presented our Royal Academy of Radio Actors in “The Story of Bob, a Young Artist,” a look at why men go deer hunting, and The Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band played the “Garbage Man Blues,” featuring Andy Stein’s ferocious fiddle. In Lake Wobegon, Daryl and Marilyn Tollerud reminisced about the early years of their courtship. Click here to listen to the show or join us via our Instagram page each Saturday at 5 p.m. CT.

Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk’s musicianship and versatility defied pigeonholing. As a teenager in Brooklyn, he played tenor banjo in a group called the Brute Force Jazz Band before switching to guitar and developing a style that combined blues, jazz, and folk music. After moving to Greenwich Village, he was encouraged by Odetta to pursue music as a profession. From his start in the folk boom of the 1960s, to jug band music and cabaret theater, from ragtime guitar arrangements of Jelly Roll Morton, to covers of Tom Waits and Paul Simon tunes, he did it all. With dozens of albums to his credit and an ASCAP lifetime achievement award, the gravelly voiced guitarist had a huge influence a new era of artists. Dave Van Ronk passed away in 2002.

Geoff Muldaur

“There are only three white blues singers,” Richard Thompson once said, “and Geoff Muldaur is at least two of them.” Once you hear Muldaur’s otherworldly voice, you know what he meant. He was a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and Paul Butterfield’s Better Days group, and he has collaborated with Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Jerry Garcia, and many other notables. An Emmy-winning composer of scores for television and film, Muldaur’s recordings include Beautiful Isle of Somewhere and the double album His Last Letter (The Amsterdam Project).

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings

In the early 1990s, Gillian Welch met Dave Rawlings at the Berklee College of Music in Boston while the two were students waiting to audition for the country-band class. Since then, they have carved out a highly successful career, with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association and recordings that include Welch’s Grammy-nominated The Harrow & The Harvest and the Dave Rawlings Machine release Nashville Obsolete.

A few words from Gillian Welch about the show:

“I remember this show very well. It was the first time I’d ever met Dave Van Ronk, and he was as advertised ... tweed coat devoid of any shape, paperback protruding from hip pocket, voice simultaneously graveled and gilded by uncountable packs of cigarettes. We hit it off immediately. My partner, David Rawlings, and I were generously allowed to play our new song, “Revelator,” which had not been recorded yet. Then, we dedicated a Lefty Frizzell love song to our A&R man, Paul Kremen, whose wedding we were supposed to be singing at but were missing at his insistence that we must put “show business first.” I believe it’s the only time we ever performed that song.”

Definitely Above Average — click to purchase

After the birth of Garrison Keillor's daughter, the stories, songs, and sketches on A Prairie Home Companion took on a distinctly parental bent. This collection gathers the warmest, funniest, most affectionate examples: dance tunes and comedy with sound effects; songs featuring Chet Atkins, Leo Kottke, BeauSoleil, and other guests; Ian Frazier's much-requested "Lamentations of the Father"; and Garrison's version of "The Princess and the Pea." Garrison says, "I test-played this album for my daughter, who is three, and she jumped around a lot."

Filled with stories, sketches, and songs recorded from live broadcasts, Definitely Above Average will delight parents and children everywhere. Here are the lyrics to bananas along with the song as it appears on the CD-

My baby, she loves to eat

She climbs into her baby seat.

Grabs a spoon and starts to shout,

"Come on, Daddy, bring it on out!"

Bring the sweet potato and the spinach and beans,

Kiwi fruit and tangerines.

Apricot yogurt and cottage cheese.

And the rice with the corn and peas.

She cleans her plate and looks up at me,

Her eyes light up in ecstasy.

"Daddy, Daddy, is there (please say yes)

B-a-n-a-n-a-s?"

Bananas. Oh, we love 'em.

Bananas. Can't get enough of 'em.

Bananas. Peel 'em and slice 'em.

Bananas. She's glad to try some.

Do you know how much my baby loves bananas?

You could serve her cheese soufflés.

Walleye pie or goose pâtés.

Sushi, scampi, or souvlaki,

Beef or chicken teriyaki.

Swedish meatballs,

Belgian waffle,

French fries or a fresh falafel,

Fish-and-chips or filet mignon,

Barbecued beef bourguignon.

Shepherd's pie or sauerbraten.

She'd say, “Ain't there something you've forgotten?"

Yes there is (take a guess),

B-a-n-a-n-a-s

Cheerfulness Book & Notecards

Garrison Keillor has a lot to say about cheerfulness in his new book, titled (yes) Cheerfulness. Along with thebook, you can send a bit of cheer to your friends with this new set of cards containing a few of his favorite passages. With this collection of eight notecards — each featuring a different colorful photo and quote from the book — you’re ready to mail a little cheer to brighten someone’s day. Approximately 5" x 7". Add both the book and notecards to your shopping cart and receive a discount.

NOTECARD QUOTES:

Cheerfulness is a great American virtue, the essence of who we are when we’re cooking with gas: rise and shine, qwitcher bellyaching, step up to the plate and swing for the fences, do your best and forget the rest, da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron.
***

The uncertainty of tomorrow makes today rather cheerful. Beautiful, in fact. This is our time. We’re lucky to have been born when we were, any later and we wouldn’t know how lucky we are, any earlier and we’d be deceased.
***

Cheer up. Put your bare feet on the floor in the morning and meet the world’s
indifference with a light heart. Pull on your pants, buckle your belt, get your head on straight and go to the work you were put here to do. The world will be improved by your enthusiasm.
***

The secret of cheerfulness is to Delete. Cut out watching golf or basketball on TV, loud restaurants, science fiction, most of Florida, the Book of Revelation, broadcast journalism, and irony, and you’ll be much happier.
***

Gloom is just like carbuncles:

Yours is the same as your uncle’s 

Whereas the hilarious

Is wildly various

Like the wildlife found in the jungles.

***

Work is crucial. Usefulness can lead to genius. Edison invented the talking machine to help execs dictate letters and Caruso sang into it and Jimmie Rodgers and King Oliver and the seeds of jazz and blues blew around the world.
***

Happiness is circumstantial, bliss is brief, joy is for angels and small children,
contentment is fragile and easily interrupted, gaiety doesn’t happen until eighty, and for jubilation you need to find a good roller coaster and someone to ride it with you and scream, but cheerfulness is a choice, like choosing chocolate rather than a spoonful of mud. Take the chocolate.
***

Cheerfulness is a choice. Every morning you’re offered Anxiety, Bitterness,
Cheerfulness, Dread, Ennui, and Forgetfulness. It’s a new day, there is work to be done, you are loved, the coffee is on, so choose C. C is always the correct answer.

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