A Prairie Home Companion Song Book: Piano, Vocal, Guitar

by Garrison Keillor

Every Saturday at 5 p.m. Central, in a packed theater, the lights dim, the crowd hushes, and an old-time radio show called A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor goes on the air, live, coast to coast. Our songbook features 20 songs written for and performed on the show, based on Richard Dworsky's improvised arrangements at the piano: Bad Jokes * Beeboparebop Rhubarb Pie Theme * Brownie & Pete * Guy Noir Theme * Hush Little Baby * Hymn to Winter * Lake Wobegon School Hymn * Limericks (Waltz Me Around Again Willie) * The Lives of the Cowboys Theme * My Minnesota Home * Nonsense Song (A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother) * Oh Baby * Polly-Wolly Tunafish * Powdermilk Biscuit Theme * Slow Days of Summer * Song of the Exiles * The Sons of Knute Christmas Dance and Dinner * Tishomingo Blues * Whispering Tuna * Whoop-I-Ti-Yi-Yo.

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version of A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.