Svend Asmussen, Chanticleer, Country Gazette, Velma Frye, Johnny Gimble. Garrison Keillor,
King Chanticleer (Chanticleer ) Angels Watching Over Me (Chanticleer ) The Way You Look Tonight ( Johnny Gimble , Velma Frye , Svend Asmussen ) Side by Side ( Svend Asmussen , Johnny Gimble ) Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm gone ( Svend Asmussen , Johnny Gimble ) What a wonderful world ( Garrison Keillor ) Rooster Crows (Country Gazette ) Eat More In Winter (Country Gazette ) All Day All Night (Country Gazette ) The River of Old (Country Gazette ) We Shall Walk Through the Valley (Country Gazette ) When I Fall in Love (Country Gazette ) Lovely ( Velma Frye ) Somebody Stop Me ( Velma Frye ) Courting by the Laws of Love ( Velma Frye ) Sweet Georgia Brown ( Johnny Gimble , Svend Asmussen ) Don't Let the Deal Go Down ( Johnny Gimble , Svend Asmussen ) Embraceable You ( Johnny Gimble , Svend Asmussen ) Five Four Hambo ( Johnny Gimble , Svend Asmussen ) A Beautiful Life ( Garrison Keillor , Country Gazette ) John Hardy ( Garrison Keillor , Country Gazette ) Gone Home ( Garrison Keillor , Country Gazette )
Bertha's Kitty Boutique (Snowshoes for cats.) Custom Van Council (Shag carpeted water beds.) Powdermilk Biscuits (Grandma's message on the answering machine.) Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery (The cheap cotton gloves)
People love to tell stories when the snow is deep and the light is mysterious. Uncle Lou's 1906 story about the house burning down in the middle of the night and little children pitched out of the upstairs windows.. Grandfather Keillor woke up all seven of his children and dressed them warmly and led them out into the moonlight into the birch woods. A pure white wolf was 50 feet away on the crest of a hill. It sniffed something in the air and loped slowly away. Grandfather told them that he got them up because they might never see a wolf again. The children still see the white wolf every time the story is repeated. They're watching TV in the Kruger's house. Kenny's house is a mess and he's running around the dining room table after his little boy. Kenny hoists the little boy in the air. What joy! The dishes aren't cleared. Jo-Anne is at choir practice. He gathers them together and they lie on top of him and he tell them the story of Hansel and Gretel. It's a hard story to tell. They insist that every detail be exactly the same. A letter on the table says that Kenny's father, Doc, died the day before. Doc was born in LW and thought that he would inherit the farm, but they lost the farm in the depression. Doc worked as a farm hand and played baseball. He came home to LW every winter. In the winter of 1947, he and Dorothy were married. The marriage didn't last. Doc left in 1950, soon after Kenny was born. He came to St. Paul looking like a derelict but he was lucky enough to meet Aura, who worked in a restaurant. They married and Doc worked as a caretaker. Kenny visited him once but he was uncomfortable. Kenny never told his wife about Doc. The dog climbed on the table and ate the meat loaf. Jo-Anne came home but took a tour around the block. Kenny hustles the kids to bed and cleans up the house. She says, 'Honey, I can't believe the mess." They go to bed and make love.
Today's grandmas are different. Snowshoes for cats. Garrison discusses JFK's assassination anniversary.
1986.11.06 Star Tribune
Archival contributors: Frank Berto