New York, New York from 2006

A BENEFIT IN MENOMONIE, WISCONSIN

From Garrison Keillor:

I am excited to announce that I’m doing my first poetry reading in decades on Saturday, January 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Mabel Tainter theater in Menomonie, Wisconsin. All proceeds go to TILT, a charitable fund supporting indigent students in Uganda and their self-employment projects and also the lovely historic Mabel Tainter.

This reading takes me back to 1970 when I did a reading at the Minneapolis Public Library’s planetarium with Peter Schjeldahl for Walker Art Center. Suzanne Weil produced it and she produced the first Prairie Home Companion shows four years later. With PHC, I got off poetry and did improvised monologues, so this is a return to my roots. And all for a good cause. A happy occasion.

Join us for this unique event on January 20, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. Ticket info.

Listen to the classic show from December 30, 2006

This week, we revisit a classic show to see how the New York 2006 engagement was wrapped up with American bebop jazz pianist and vocalese singer Bob Dorough, and jazz singer Prudence Johnson. Plus, the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band seemed ten feet tall with the addition of early-jazz superhero Vince Giordano and the mad hatter of violin, Andy Stein. We’ll also have the Royal Academy of Radio Acting: Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, the News from Lake Wobegon, and much more this Saturday (or now, if you simply cannot wait).

Highlights include a great song about New York, “The One I Love” from Prudence Johnson, “Back to Me” from Pat Donohue, “Moon River” from Bob Dorough, Guy Noir, Bob, Catchup, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.

When Bob Dorough was growing up in Arkansas and Texas, he wanted to be a cowboy, but changed his mind once he began playing music. It was the right choice. His career in jazz took him to Paris in the mid-’50s, where he recorded with singer Blossom Dearie. Then it was on to New York. He collaborated with Miles Davis, the Fugs, and Allen Ginsberg, and he served as musical director for ex-boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. He also launched his solo career with the album Devil May Care (Bethlehem). Then, in the early 1970s, he began a project that would endear him to generations of young TV watchers — even if they didn't know his name. "Schoolhouse Rock" (remember Dorough’s jingles “Conjunction Junction,” “Three Is a Magic Number,” and “My Hero, Zero”?) was on the air from 1973 to ’86, and has appeared from time to time in the decades since. Bob passed away in 2018.

VINCE GIORDANO grew up on Long Island listening to old 78s on his grandmother’s Victrola. He joined the musicians union at 14, playing a number of instruments. After high school, he joined the Navy and played in a big band that toured South America playing jazz, rock ’n’ roll, and music indigenous to the countries they visited. He later formed his own band, The Nighthawks, which continues to perform at Birdland and other venues. Also a big-band historian and collector, Giordano has more than 30,000 scores in his collection, most of which were found on cross-country trips spent poking around in musicians’ basements.

That silky alto and striking style — you’d expect to find Prudence Johnson singing at a high-tone nightspot. And you might. But be it a concert hall, a little jazz club or A Prairie Home Companion, Pru is the perfect complement. As one music critic put it, “[There’s] not a genre she hasn’t interpreted with her ducky, sensual alto voice and terminally good taste.” Her 10 album releases include Moon Country, featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, and ’S Gershwin. On the silver screen, she appeared in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It, and in Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion. Prudence continues to perform and regularly does appearances with Garrison across the country.

New Year’s Eve is approaching and thus this friendly reminder from this week’s show:

Garrison Keillor: … after this message in the public interest. If you’re planning to drink on New Year’s Eve, please use your cell phone responsibly. One of the side effects of alcohol is a belief that people want to hear from you at 3 in the morning. The Bureau Against Drunk Dialing reminds you: give your phone to a friend. Don’t call when you’re drunk. (DRUNK: “Hey, I wonder if Allison doesn’t want to get back together with me.”) Maybe you've come up with a great idea to fly to Las Vegas this morning and get there in time for the kickoff. Don’t do it.

Sue Scott: Yeah, um, Frank, I don’t know how to break this to you but … (BIG YAWN) all of those reasons I told you I didn't like you before, (YAWN) they haven't changed just because you’re drunk.

Fred Newman: I really need to talk to you. No really. Just let me get this out. I got passed over for a promotion when they gave it to somebody totally unqualified.

GK: Sleep on it. You’ll feel different tomorrow. If you’re going to drink , don’t call.

Tim Russell: (FRAT BOY) Duuuude! I just figured out why people have fingers. It’s so we can grab stuff out of our pockets. Humans are the only animals with pockets. Except for kangaroos. I don’t know if they have fingers or not. Probably.

GK: A message in the public interest.

POEM Book Tote

Anyone that has listened to A Prairie Home Companion knows that POEM is an acronym for The Professional Organization of English Majors, our most literate sponsor! Now, after a long delay, here is our first POEM book bag. Get the tote.

A Prairie Home Companion LIVE DVD

A live performance of A Prairie Home Companion recorded at the Fitzgerald Theater, featuring Elvis Costello, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele, Heather Masse, Robin and Linda Williams, and, of course, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors and a punched-up Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band. Enjoy the music — plus your favorites: Guy Noir, Lives of the Cowboys, and the News from Lake Wobegon. Includes Garrison’s pre-show personal tour of St. Paul. More than 2 hours on 1 DVD. Get the DVD.

Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80: Why We Should Keep on Getting Older contains 25 Rules of the Game to make one’s life simpler and more enjoyable. Here is rule #2:

2. Less is more. Appreciate what you have. Jesus said so and so did Buddha and Emily Dickinson and Buster Keaton. This is the great lesson of old age. Give up wanting the monumental, the dream home, the trophy husband, the hit show, the Medal of Honor, the Pulitzer Prize for Parody, NO. 1 on the list of American Influencers, a close genuine working relationship with Russell Sheridan Thomas. Accept the Good Enough. Love your mediocre grandkids along with the geniuses. Want less, then want even less than that. Jesus said, “Think not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink. Ask your wife.” And so I content myself with a kale salad and a glass of cold tap water out of the faucet, and content leads to contentedness. Just as Buddha said. Mysterious, but it really works.

More suggestions coming from the book that The Saturday Evening Post called “a self-published masterwork on aging.” Get the book.