Obligatory self-promotion, with a hat-tip to my friends here who suggested songs for this one. The fine folks at WMKY (Morehead State Public Radio) suggested I should put together an hour of music about Thanksgiving.
And so I did.
What I didn’t really tell them was that it is among my least favorite holidays, though having a child has taken the edge off that. I grew up an enormously picky eater, and all I would touch most Thanksgivings was my mother’s home-made rolls and cranberry sauce. (I’ve mended my ways. And discovered cornbread stuffing.)
So. This is what I came up with. The show airs Friday night, 7 p.m. EST. Or in your imagination.
1. Dolly Parton’s recording of Billy Joel’s “Travelin’ Prayer”
2. Porter Wagoner’s first hit, “Company’s Comin'”
3. Crooked Still’s version of “Come On In My Kitchen,” even though I know it’s really not about food. I’m a literal sort of guy.
4. Tim O’Brien’s “Cornbread Nation”
5. Greg Brown’s “Canned Goods”
6. Frank Zappa’s “Call Any Vegetable” (he he!)
7. Red Foley’s “Hominy Grits”
8. The Pilgrim Travelers’ “My Road is Rough and Rocky”
9. Kris Kristofferson’s “The Pilgrim Chapter 33”
10. Jonathan Edwards & The Seldom Scene, “Only A Hobo” (I ran onto “My Road is Rough and Rocky” on that same album, long ago)
11. Merle Travis, “I Am A Pilgrim”
12. Steve Earle’s “Pilgrim”
13. Johnny Cash’s version of Peter LaFarge’s “The Ballad Of Ira Hayes” because all the mythology about the pilgrims and the Indians sometimes really pisses me off.
14. Mary Gauthier’s “Thanksgiving.”
I think one of those tracks didn’t fit, but they fit here. So. Drive carefully, play nice with your relatives, and eat as much as you want to.
