''The McGarrigle Hour'' is the eighth studio album by

Kate & Anna McGarrigle Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010) and Anna McGarrigle (born December 4, 1944) were a duo of Canadian singer-songwriters (and sisters) from Quebec, who performed until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010. Music ca ...

, released on October 13, 1998. The album was recorded at a family gathering, including Kate's former husband

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

, their son and daughter

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

and

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...

, Anna's husband

Dane Lanken Dane Lanken (December 9, 1945 – March 3, 2023) was a Canadian journalist and author. Career Lanken was a film critic for the ''Montreal Gazette'' from 1967 to 1977, and was then a freelance journalist who wrote regularly for ''Canadian Geogr ...

, their son and daughter Sylvan Lanken and Lily Lanken, and Kate and Anna's sister

Jane McGarrigle Laury Jane McGarrigle (born 26 April 1941) is a Canadian songwriter, musician and music publisher, known mainly for her work with her younger sisters, singers Kate & Anna McGarrigle. She is the co-author of a book about the three sisters' childhood ...

. Several of the McGarrigle sisters' friends and collaborators, including

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

Chaim Tannenbaum Chaim Tannenbaum is a Canadian folk musician and academic. A longtime collaborator of Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, he released his own self-titled solo debut album in 2016,Ezra Glinter"Chaim Tannenbaum Steps Out" ''The Walrus ...

Joel Zifkin Joel Zifkin (born April 14, 1954) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. His primary instrument is the electric violin and he is best known as a session musician and live performer. Career Zifkin has performed and/or recorded with the followi ...

and

Philippe Tatartcheff Philippe Tatartcheff (born in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian poet and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist who wrote French language songs recorded by folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Origins and early life Tatartcheff's family was or ...

, also appear on the album. The combo perform a mix of traditional folk tunes, pop standards and original material by the participants. Two of the songs, "Gentle Annie" and "Skip Rope Song", were recorded separately with

and

in Tucson, Arizona. The sisters had been invited down to Arizona in order to participate on Harris and Ronstadt's 1999 album ' Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions'. Kate & Anna accepted the offer to feature on the album, but asked Harris and Ronstadt feature on their next album in exchange. Harris later also recorded several songs for the album during the normal recording sessions in Montreal. A DVD of a live show featured most of The McGarrigle Hour was released a year after the album. Some of the songs were accompanied by video interviews of Kate & Anna McGarrigle discussing the songs. The DVD also contained two 'Music Videos' of the songs recorded in Tucson - neither Harris nor Ronstadt was present at the live show - and a handful of songs from a 1980 concert at Teatro Expo in Montreal. The album won the

Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year - Group Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Juno, in the f ...

at the

Juno Awards of 1999 The Juno Awards of 1999 honouring Canadian music industry achievements were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The primary ceremonies at Copps Coliseum on 7 March 1999 were broadcast by CBC Television and hosted by Mike Bullard. Nominations wer ...

Track listing

#"School Days" (

) – 2:52 #"Skip Rope Song" (

Jesse Winchester James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid b ...

) – 2:34 #" Gentle Annie" (

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

) – 2:59 #"

Alice Blue Gown "Alice Blue Gown" is a popular song written by Joseph McCarthy (lyricist), Joseph McCarthy and Harry Tierney. The song, which was inspired by Alice Roosevelt Longworth's signature gown, was first performed by Edith Day in the 1919 Broadway musical ' ...

" (

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

Harry Tierney Harry Austin Tierney (May 21, 1890 – March 22, 1965) was an American composer of musical theatre, best known for long-running hits such as ''Irene'' (1919), Broadway's longest-running show of the era (620 performances), ''Kid Boots'' (1923) and'' ...

) – 2:39 #"Porte en arrière" (

D. L. Menard Doris Leon Menard#François90, François 1990, p. 446. (April 14, 1932 – July 27, 2017) was an American songwriter, performer, and recording artist in contemporary Cajun music. He was called the "Cajun Hank Williams". Biography Menard was bor ...

) – 3:05 #"What'll I Do?" (

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...

) – 3:37 #" Dig My Grave" (Traditional) – 2:38 #"Cool River" (Anna McGarrigle, Audrey Bean) – 3:32 #"Heartburn" (

) – 2:28 #"NaCl (Sodium Chloride)" (Kate McGarrigle) – 2:30 #"Bon Voyage" (Jacques Laure, Danny Small) – 3:25 #"Allez-vous en" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

) – 3:43 #"Green, Green Rocky Road" (Traditional) – 3:54 #" Young Love" (

Ric Cartey Whaley Thomas Cartey better known as Ric Cartey (18 January 1937 – 5 August 2009) was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. He was born in born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. He formed a duo with guitarist Charlie Broome performi ...

Carole Joyner "Young Love" is a popular song, written by Ric Cartey and Carole Joyner, and published in 1956. The original version was recorded by Ric Cartey with the Jiva-Tones on November 24, 1956. It was released in 1956 by Stars Records as catalog number 5 ...

) – 3:23 #"Year of the Dragon" (

) – 5:20 #"Forever and the Same" (Anna McGarrigle,

) – 3:29 #"Talk to Me of Mendocino" (Kate McGarrigle) – 2:58 #"Baltimore Fire" (Traditional) – 3:15 #"Johnny's Gone to Hilo" (Traditional) – 3:09 #"Time On My Hands" (Chaim Tannenbaum) – 4:15 #" Goodnight Sweetheart" ( Jimmy Campbell,

Reginald Connelly Jimmy Campbell (born James Alexander Campbell-Tyrie; 5 April 1903–19 August 1967) and Reg Connelly (born Reginald John Connelly; 22 October 1895–23 September 1963) were English songwriters and music publishers. Writing together in t ...

Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...

) – 2:09

Personnel

Musicians

* Kate McGarrigle – vocals, harmony vocals, chorus, banjo, piano, guitar, accordion * Anna McGarrigle – vocals, harmony vocals, chorus, guitar, accordion, piano, bass * Jane McGarrigle – vocals, harmony vocals, chorus, piano *

– vocals, guitar * Martha Wainwright – vocals, harmony vocals, guitar * Rufus Wainwright – vocals, harmony vocals, piano *

- vocals, harmony vocals * Sylvan Lanken – harmony vocals * Lily Lanken – vocals, harmony vocals *

– vocals, mandolin, background vocals, whistling * Michel Pépin – guitar, bass, mandolin, drums *

– violin, fiddle, back up vocals * Tom Mennier – piano * John McColgan – drums, percussion *

– vocals (3) *

– vocals (2, 5, 13) *

– recitation

Production team

* Joe Boyd – producer * John Wood – recording and mixing * Don Murnaghan – assistant engineer, additional photography * Michel Pépin – mixing of "School Days" and "Green, Green Rocky Road" * Randy Saharouni – cover concept, photography and design * Melissa Caro – additional photography * Sylvan Lanken – additional photography * Anna McGarrigle – additional photography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGarrigle Hour, The 1998 albums Kate & Anna McGarrigle albums Albums produced by Joe Boyd Hannibal Records albums