Old Sweet Songs
A Prairie Home Companion, 1974-1976
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
On July 6, 1974, about a dozen people made their way to the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College in St. Paul for the first broadcast of a new radio show. Things went pretty well, so Garrison Keillor and his team produced another show, then another . . . close to 500 in the first 10 years alone. Today A Prairie Home Companion is heard by more than 4 million listeners each week on 590 public radio stations. This new collection looks back at the early days, in particular early music, with pianist Butch Thompson, mandolin maestro Peter Ostroushko, Dakota Dave Hull, and the first Powdermilk Biscuit Band: Adam Granger, Bob Douglas, and Mary DuShane. This collection is a treat for longtime fans who love the show's music.
My Little Town
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town . . ." Lake Wobegon has been Garrison Keillor's fictional home town-and America's-for almost 40 years. Many of us have grown up with "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve." The Chatterbox Cafe, the Sidetrack Tap, the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility, the Bunsens and the Krebsbachs, the Lake Wobegon Whippets-these are places, people, and sports teams we know and love, thanks to Keillor's ability to weave a story and tell it live. Never before collected, these expertly crafted tales are full of gentle humor, genuine emotion, and (more often than not) surprising insights into family, relationships, community, faith, and hope.
Duets 2
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Singing greats celebrate the art of the duet from live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion Duet singing continues to be one of the hallmarks of A Prairie Home Companion, America's favorite live radio variety show. Following in the grand tradition of the original A Prairie Home Companion Duets collection, Duets 2 gathers even more outstanding performances from the show's archives, revealing the magic that occurs when two voices meet in front of a live audience. Duets 2 features performances from some of the greatest names in the music world, including Garrison Keillor and Sara Watkins, The Every Brothers, Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler, Robin and Linda Williams, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele, Suzy Bogguss and Steve Wariner, The Civil Wars, The Cactus Blossoms, Storyhill, Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur, Heather Masse and Aoife O'Donovan, and many more!
It's Only a Show
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
It's Only a Show offers the best of the best of Guy Noir, Dusty and Lefty, ads from the show's commercial sponsors, and-of course-the News from Lake Wobegon. With laughter, stories, songs, and special guests, It's Only a Show has everything fans know and love about A Prairie Home Companion.
More News From Lake Wobegon: Hope
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
A thematic collection of Lake Wobegon monologues, Hope contains "Truckstop"; "Smokes"; "The Perils of Spring"; "Let Us Pray."
The 2nd Annual Farewell Performance
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall, the second Farewell (June 4, 1988) was a joyous reunion heard by millions of fans. This complete original radio broadcast stars Keillor and friends Chet Atkins, Leo Kottke, the Everly Brothers, and more. Contents: Hello Love; Buster Preview; Small Songs; Peanut Butter; Chaplin in New Shoes; Greetings; It's a Lonesome Road; When I Wake Up to Sleep No More; Powdermilk Biscuits; You're the Top; Broadway Baby; Buster The Show Dog; The First to Go; Bertha's Kitty Boutique; Lemon Meringue; Mamie's Blues; Everly Brothers Medley; Greetings; Tell Me Why; Jazznochracy; The Duet of Bill & Marilyn; Across the Blue Mountains; News from Lake Wobegon; Remember Me; Bye Bye Love; I'll See You in My Dreams; The Lord Will Make a Way.
The Final Performance
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Here's the last weekly live broadcast that started it all-the glorious tradition of saying goodbye. The final performance (June 13, 1987) brought Garrison Keillor and guests together for sweet music, sparkling wit, and the latest "News from Lake Wobegon." Contents: Hello Love; Loves Old Sweet Song; Garrison Talks of Leaving; Tell Me Why; Jitterbug Waltz; The Storms Are on the Ocean; Powdermilk Biscuit Spot; How Can I Keep from Singing?; Songs of Parting; Greetings; Roy Blount Poem; I'll See You in My Dreams; Brownie and Pete; Spring Poem; Crow River Waltz; Buster the Show Dog; Oh Susanna; America the Beautiful; Adventures in Paradise; Aloha Oe; Intermission Medley; Stars & Stripes Forever; Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet; Meet Me in St. Louis; The Sons of Knute Fishing March; News From Lake Wobegon; Sleepwalk, Eskray Love Lilt; Til Then; The Minstrel Show; Hawaii Aloha; Fool Such as I; One More Spring; Till We Meet Again; Songs of the Exiles.
Pretty Good Jokes Live!
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Jokes are made for sharing, and everyone loves to laugh. This nonstop collection gathers the best jokes from the most recent Joke Show (11/4/2014) plus special joke segments from 2011 to the present, all recorded before live before doubled-over audiences in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and New York.. Performers include show regulars-Garrison Keillor, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Tom Keith and Richard Dworsky-along with special guests. There's music from the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, a bucketful of Halloween jokes, a musical tribute to bad jokes, a celebration of Jewish Jokes from New York radio legend Larry Josephson, Ole and Lena jokes, a Guy Noir sketch, Dusty and Lefty, and of course, even more jokes. So it's everything fans want and expect: good jokes, good music, and a pretty darned good time. Also available: Pretty Good Jokes, New and Not Bad Pretty Good Jokes, A Few More Pretty Good Jokes, Even More Pretty Good Jokes.
News From Lake Wobegon: Summer
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Funny and touching, these monologues from original live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion focus on the summer season. Includes: "The Living Flag," "The Tollefson Boy Goes to College," and "Tomato Butt."
News From Lake Wobegon: Spring
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Funny and touching, these monologues from original live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion focus on the spring season. Includes: "Me and Choir," "A Day in the Life of Clarence Bunsen," and "Letter from Jim."
A Prairie Home Companion Anniversary Album
The First Five Years
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
This festive collection is a nostalgic trip through five years of America's favorite radio show. "Commercials" for Powdermilk Biscuits, Jack's Deep Valley Bed and more introduce songs and sketches like "The Finn Who Would Not Take a Sauna," and "The Cat Came Back." Selected from the original live radio broadcasts. Contents: Hello Love, Sister Nell and Dirty Reuben, Turn Your Radio On, Powdermilk Biscuit Spot and Theme, I Know You Rider, Rockin' Alone, Powdermilk Biscuit Theme, The Finn Who Would Not Take a Sauna, Timas Hans Schottis, Getting in the Cows, Hiberman Reel, Joe Trudeau's Time, Saint Adele's Reel, Minnesota Moon, Fearmonger's Spot, Teddy Bear's Picnic, I'll Keep on Loving You, D&D Hull Tax Service Spot, Sunday Rag, The Cat Came Back, Olandis Tos, Jack's Deep Valley Bed Spot, Answer Only with Your Eyes, Do Right Woman, Suppertime, All God's Children, The Ballad of the Maples, Stepstone.
The 4th Annual Farewell Performance
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Recorded live on June 16, 1990 at the University of Iowa, this original radio broadcast features "News From Lake Wobegon" and great guest performances from Jean Redpath, Peter Ostroushko, Greg Brown, and Tom Keith. Contents: Hello Love; Open Up Your Heart; Why Iowa; Powdermilk Biscuits/Back Again; Iowa Waltz, Reach for Tomorrow; If I Had Known; All Day Rain; Higher Ground; Buster, The Show Dog; Ostroushko Horseradish; Moi Rchehn (Moyee Yasinih); Tico Tico; Intermission Rag; Greetings Prairie Lullaby; Bertha's Kitty Boutique; The Eriskay Love Lilt; Heavy Lies My Heart; Leaving the Land; News From Lake Wobegon; God Moves on the Water; Hallelujah; I'm Ready.
News From Lake Wobegon: Fall
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Funny and touching, these monologues from original live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion focus on the fall season. Includes: "Giant Decoys," "Daryl Tollerud's Long Day," and "Thanksgiving."
More News From Lake Wobegon: Love
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
A thematic collection of Lake Wobegon monologues, Love includes "Truckstop," "Uncle Al's Gift," "Rotten Apples," and "The Wise Men."
The 3rd Annual Farewell Performance
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
This complete original radio broadcast of the third Farewell (June 10, 1989) features boogie piano player Butch Thompson, Robin and Linda Williams doing their show-stopping "Mavis and Marvin Smiley" routine, a "News from Lake Wobegon" monologue, and the latest on "Buster the Show Dog." Contents: Hello Love, Westbound Passenger Train, Powdermilk Biscuits, A Solas, Fat, Buster the Show Dog, News From Lake Wobegon (Part One), Gospel Medley, History, Mavis & Marvin Smiley, Tell Me Why, Ecuadorian Memories, Reaching Out, Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger, News from Lake Wobegon (Part Two), News from Lake Wobegon (Part Two, continued), You don't knock, Ezekiel, Wobegon Finale.
More News From Lake Wobegon: Faith
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
A thematic collection of Lake Wobegon monologues, Faith contains "Rotten Apples"; "O Death"; "The Wise Men"; "A Trip to Grand Rapids."
News From Lake Wobegon: Winter
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Funny and touching, these monologues from original live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion focus on the winter season. Includes: "Guys on Ice," "The Christmas Story Re-told," and "Storm Home."
Dusty and Lefty
The Lives of the Cowboys
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Lefty: Haven't you read about the dangers of drinking? Dusty: I have. And it led me to give up reading. Like the News from Lake Wobegon and Guy Noir, Private Eye, The Lives of the Cowboys sketch has become a signature part of A Prairie Home Companion. Each week, radio listeners can't wait to hear Lefty's latest poem and Dusty's latest rant. In six complete sketches drawn from the radio show, the two pardners cope with hangovers and citrusy aftershave, try to get in the Christmas mood (not much luck there), meet a vampire, drive a herd of 10,000 free range chickens, tangle with a territorial poet named Big Messer, pay a visit to the New York Public Library, and wind up in the San Luis Obispo County Jail for mistaking a cocker spaniel for a coyote. Each is a glimpse into daily life in and mostly out of the saddle. Includes four songs. Garrison Keillor stars as Lefty; Tim Russell as Dusty; with Sue Scott, Tom Keith, and Danielle De Vecchio, and Julie Boyd.
News from Lake Wobegon
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Funny and touching, these 20 stories from original live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion follow the seasons in Lake Wobegon.
More News From Lake Wobegon
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
All monologues from this collection are from original live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. Contents: Rotten Apples; O Death; The Wise Men; A Trip to Grand Rapids; Truckstop; Smokes; The Perils of Spring; Let Us Pray; Alaska; Uncle Al's Gift; Skinny Dip; Homecoming; Pontoon Boat; Author; Freedom of the Press; Vicks
Church People
The Lutherans of Lake Wobegon
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Skits, songs, stories, and more from A Prairie Home Companion reveal the secret world of a stalwart people. When you fly Lutheran Air, there's no first class, meals are potluck with assignments by rows (rows 1-6, bring rolls; rows, 7-15, salad), all fares are by freewill offering, and the plane doesn't land until the budget is met. Welcome to the Land of Lutherans, where people drive Fords, wear cardigans, go to church at Third Lutheran (which used to be called First Lutheran, but Lutherans are more comfortable with being Third), drink a lot of coffee, serve chow mein noodles on tuna hot dish, work hard, and don't make a fuss. Selected from live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion, this collection celebrates the kindest people on God's green earth-except for the mean ones. If you're not a Lutheran, you'll laugh out loud. If you are, you'll smile as hard as you can. Contents: I'm a Lutheran Lutheran Tours: Vacation Guilt Potato Salad Elim Lutheran Anniversary with Philip Brunelle Iniquity on the Tundra with Charles Keating LYLE: Lutheran Youth League for Evangelism St. Patrick's Day The Story of Bob with Vern Sutton Church Directory Guy Noir: New Year's Eve Indiscretion LOL: Lutherans On Line Lutheran Polka Summer Vacation Flood: Floating Away with Your Pastor Evelyn Lundquist Counseling Agency (ELCA): Easter Briefing Church Organist.
Pretty Good Jokes
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Fulfilling the flood of requests from enthused listeners, Pretty Good Jokes combines all the jokes from A Prairie Home Companion's first four joke shows (1996-1999). It is an entertaining mix of knock-knocks, one-liners, North Dakota, religious, animal, bar, and light bulb jokes, those famous "yo mama" insults and much more. This live recording features guests Roy Blount, Jr. and Paula Poundstone. Pretty Good Jokes is for A Prairie Home Companion fans and all fans unaffected good humor.
Never Better
Stories from Lake Wobegon
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town...." Each week, more than four million radio listeners hear these words, and settle in for some old-fashioned, up-to-the-minute storytelling. During live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor takes us to "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve," where "the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." These expertly crafted tales touch the heart and tickle the funnybone. Warm, poignant, often hilarious, each is a classic of live storytelling, full of gentle humor, genuine emotion, and (more often than not) surprising insights into family, community, love, faith, and hope.
Commercial Radio
Words From Our So-Called Sponsors
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
A word or thirty from the sponsors of public radio's enduring Saturday-evening staple, Commercial Radio features the best bits (and questionable marketing strategies) of many Lake Wobegon establishments. In addition to missives from longtime supporters such as the Catchup Advisory Board and the American Duct Tape Council, special messages from the Minnesota Diminishment Clinic, the Professional Association of English Majors, and many others peddle unique wares and unexpected services. Combining catchy slogans, memorable jingles, sometimes-seamless segues to product promotions, and the spirited aural antics of Tom Keith, this first-ever collection of sponsor ads is a true treat for aficionados of A Prairie Home Companion, which attracts more than three million listeners every week. All tracks are recorded from live broadcasts.
A Few More Pretty Good Jokes
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
The Joke Show is the most popular annual broadcast from A Prairie Home Companion. A Few More Pretty Good Jokes features all the jokes from the most recent shows which aired in April 2000 and 2002 (both were done in New York). These recordings are a welcome supplement to the highly successful previous Joke Book, Tape, and CD.
A Prairie Home Companion
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
This retrospective collection of A Prairie Home Companion features complete monologues drawn from 20 years of radio broadcasts Filled with gentle humor, down-home truths, and amazing depths of tenderness and meaning, these tales of "the little town that time forgot and the decades could not improve" are classics of American storytelling. Contents: Hello Love; O Captain, My Captain; I Will; Tomato Butt; Barnyard Dance; Casey at the Bat; Rhubarb; Life Is a Ballgame; Revival Tent; Calling My Children Home; The Perfect Day; The Warm Welcome; Regina; Carl's Dog Story; Vincent; Pontoon Boat; Goin' Home; The Lake Superior Canyon Project; Cotton; Emily Dickinson's Birthday Pizza; Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam; Troublesome Ivories; The Little Match Girl; The Elegance of Winter; Answering Machine; A Kohler Thanksgiving; Not the Cheapest Kind; Homecoming; You Drive Me Crazy; Six Minute Hamlet; The Living Flag; Stars and Stripes; Pioneer Waltz; Buddy Holly and the Pharaohs of Rhythm; My Life; Cherry Picker; Graduation Day; Julia; Raccoons; Lover's Waltz.
More News From Lake Wobegon: Humor
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
A thematic collection of Lake Wobegon monologues, Humor includes "Skinny Dip," "Homecoming," "The Freedom of the Press," and "Vicks."
Summer Love
Garrison Keillor and the cast of A Prairie Home Companion
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
In the summer of 2010, Garrison Keillor, Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins, the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and sound-effects artist Fred Newman went on a whirlwind tour of 25 cities in less than two months. The theme was everlasting love; the shows were jam-packed with tender duets and ballads, poetry, and stories of passion and marriage, all done Prairie Home Companion-style. Now the best performances from that tour are available on this Summer Love collection. Never broadcast and therefore available for the first time on this collection, selections include favorite Prairie Home Companion elements: Guy Noir, "show sponsor" commercials, and the News from Lake Wobegon.
Tourists
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
From 1981-82, A Prairie Home Companion went on tour, visiting and performing in friendly places like Lansing, Michigan and Ashland, Oregon. This scrapbook of musical highlights features performances by The Butch Thompson Trio, Robin and Linda Williams, The Odessa Balalaikas, The Klezmer Conservatory Band, and Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band, plus "commercials" for Jack's Auto Repair and Bertha's Kitty Boutique. Contents: Lebedikun Freylekh; Rumenye, Rumenye; Powdermilk Biscuits; Russian Intermezzo; Jack's Auto Repair; Lovely Streets; Bertha's Kitty Boutique; Roanoke; Wheel Hass; Ode to Oregon; Love Songs of the Nile; Rosa Majeur; Iowa Songs; When I Stop Dreaming; The Hangman's Reel; Ajua!; Kill It Kid.
Horrors!
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Fear and loathing in Lake Wobegon? You betcha. Garrison Keillor's Horrors! is a grab bag of treats from Halloween broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. Horrors! features eclectic musical performances, commercials for loyal Prairie Home "sponsors" like Guy's Shoes, and lighthearted comedy from A Prairie Home Companion's cast of regulars. Halloween is a time when everyone's a kid again-perhaps that's why it's so eagerly celebrated by adults. Listen to Horrors! and you'll smile, you'll shiver, and you might even take a peek to see what's lurking in the shadows. Contents: Halloween; This Wonderful World-Bats; Butch Thompson: In the Dark; The News from Lake Wobegon: The Ethics of Jokes; Blue Turtles by Rich Dworsky; The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe; Halloween: The Movie; Cafe Boeuf; That's Odd; Halloween at the Radio Station; Funerary Verse; Flies; News from Lake Wobegon: The Do-Rites; Celebrity Halloween; Little Red Riding Hood; Buried Alive; Butch Thompson: Creepy Feeling by Jelly Roll Morton.
Even More Pretty Good Jokes
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Even more of a good thing: the latest collection of knee-slappers, toe-tappers, and groaners from A Prairie Home Companion Joke Shows. Did you hear the one about the paranoid dyslexic? He always thought he was following someone. . . . Why did ancient Romans close down the Coliseum? The lions were eating up the prophets. . . . Jokes are made for sharing, and everyone loves to laugh. This nonstop collection gathers the best jokes from four Joke Shows including the two most recent (3/8/2008 and 11/1/08), all recorded before live audiences at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Performers include show regulars-Garrison Keillor, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Tom Keith-along with special guests. There's music from the Guy's All-Star Show Band, a Guy Noir sketch, a Ketchup sketch, and an unforgettable performance of "The Sound of Chickens," a song that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Simon & Garfunkel classic "The Sound of Silence." Except it really is about chickens, and while "The Sound of Silence" is dead serious, this version is just plain silly. ("And in the naked light I saw/Ten thousand chickens maybe more….") So it's everything fans want and expect: good jokes, good music, and a pretty darned good time.
Lake Wobegon U.S.A.: Fertility
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
These news from Lake Wobegon monologues are grouped by theme. Fertility includes "The Krebsbach's Vacation," "Prophet," "The Six Labors of Father Wilmer," and "Fertility."
A Prairie Home Companion 10th Anniversary
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
This tenth anniversary show-recorded July sixth-seventh, 1984-is considered a must-have by long time fans of A Prairie Home Companion. Guests include Greg Brown; the Butch Thompson Trio; the Dale Warland Singers; Lieberman, Fogel and Bey; Sue Shepard; Stoney Lonesome; and Vern Sutton.
Lake Wobegon U.S.A.: Patience
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
These news from Lake Wobegon monologues are grouped by theme. Patience includes "Aunt Ellie," "Duke's 25th," and "You're Not the Only One."
Pretty Good Bits from A Prairie Home Companion and Garrison Keillor
A Specially Introduction to the World of Lake Wobegon
by Garrison Keillor
read by Various Readers
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
Ever wondered what makes over 3 million listeners tune in week after week to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion? Thought about a visit to Lake Wobegon but never got around to it? Now is the time to find out and take a special tour. Pretty Good Bits is a special limited edition sampler containing "pretty good bits" from this popular radio program, including an episode of Guy Noir: Radio Private Eye, ads from loyal sponsors, trademark sound effects, and a classic News from Lake Wobegon monologue.
Lake Wobegon U.S.A.: Youth
by Garrison Keillor
read by Garrison Keillor
Part of the Prairie Home Companion series
These news from Lake Wobegon monologues are grouped by theme. Youth includes "Blue Devils," "Nostalgia," "O Christmas Tree," "Pageant," and "Messy Shoes."