A Halloween Classic from 1998

Sitting in the sixth pew, brooding on things

My grandpa Denham grew up in the tenements of Glasgow back when the residents leaned out the window and shouted, “Comin’ oot!” and threw the contents of the chamber pot into the street. Grandpa got sick of being dumped on and brought his brood to Minneapolis and he never looked back. He wasn’t nostalgic about his origins. He was happy to be here.

I thought of him when I took the train to Washington last week, a city he wanted to see and never did. I go to Washington to remind myself what a beautiful city it is despite the contempt brought upon it by so many elected officials, many of whom are emptying their chamber pots in the form of campaign advertising. The Jefferson and Lincoln memorials are stunning but you look at the dome of the Capitol and remember the mob that stormed it in the name of a miserable lie that is being repeated this election year and how do you explain this? The mob went to the same schools we did, learned about Jefferson and Lincoln, and yet they are fascinated by fascism and long for a dictator.

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Classic A Prairie Home Companion

This week on the classic A Prairie Home Companion program, we revisit one of the earliest shows in the online archives from the Fitzgerald Theater in 1998 with Kate MacKenzie, Butch Thompson & The Hiawatha Marching Band, and The Chenille Sisters. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith), and the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band.
Highlights include a few Halloween tales, including a sketch about Vampires, plus BeBop, Duct Tape, Catchup, and Guy Noir, a glorious take of “Long Black Veil” and “Banks of the Ohio” from Kate MacKenzie, “The Love of Your Life” and “Wonderful World” from The Chenille Sisters, some up-tempo foot-tappers from Butch Thompson and the Hiawatha Marching Band on “When the Saints Go Marching In,” plus the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
Every Saturday, a classic broadcast from the archives is featured on our Facebook fan page and on the website for your listening pleasure. The link to the show is posted at 5 p.m. CT but can be accessed anytime using the link below.

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Featured on this A Prairie Home Companion show:
Pianist and clarinetist Butch Thompson was known worldwide as a master of ragtime, stride, and classic jazz. Born and raised in Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota, Butch was already playing Christmas carols on his mother’s upright piano by age three, and he led his first professional jazz group as a teenager. For 12 years, he was A Prairie Home Companion’s house pianist, dating back to the show’s second broadcast, in July 1974. He is joined by a few of his musical friends on this show. Butch passed away a on August 14 of this year.

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Kate MacKenzie was a favorite guest of A Prairie Home Companion dating back to 1981. For many years, she was lead singer of Stoney Lonesome, with whom she recorded six bluegrass albums, toured Japan and North America, and was featured in the public television series Showcase. With the Hopeful Gospel Quartet, Kate recorded a live album from Carnegie Hall, performed at folk festivals in Scotland and Denmark, and performed on PBS’ Austin City Limits. Her work with A Prairie Home Companion included coast-to-coast tours, farewell and reunion shows, 20 Disney Channel television broadcasts, the 1993 Book of Guys tour, and a recurring dramatic role as Sheila, the Christian Jungle Girl (wild, yet pure). Her first solo album, Let Them Talk, was on the National Bluegrass Charts for 10 months. Her second solo album, Age of Innocence, garnered Kate her first Grammy Award nomination. Kate’s success was noted in the New York Times, which grouped her in “the new wave of strong female voices.”

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The Chenille Sisters insist that they are sisters, it’s just that they have different parents. Their voices blend like siblings — à la the Andrews, Boswell, and McGarrigle sisters — and their music is very reminiscent of the sound of those girl groups. Their own moniker shows their identification with sister bands, as well as with groups like the Nylons and the Chiffons: they’ve memorialized chenille, the soft and nubby fabric of bathrobes and grandmothers’ bedspreads. Related or not, these three women have slowly and carefully made a name for themselves — first across the Midwest and then throughout the nation — as hilarious and talented songstresses.

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People We've Met Along the Way

American Revival — Washington, D.C., Shirt

2022 has seen an American Revival of the old radio show, with five complete A Prairie Home Companion shows planned and an exclusive design tied to each show. This collectible shirt features one of the earliest wordmarks of A Prairie Home Companion that feels as wistful today as it did some 40 years ago. Available in sizes S – XXL

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A Prairie Home Companion Hat

Our new hat features one of the original wordmarks for A Prairie Home Companion — also featured prominently on the American Revival tour merchandise. Comfy, cotton, low-rise hats have an adjustable strap on the back, so one size fits most. Available in blue, khaki, and multicolored versions.

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