49 Fun Facts About Thanksgiving Music

Which group played its farewell concert, filmed by Martin Scorsese as The Last Waltz, on Thanksgiving Day 1976?

The Band. Promoter Bill Graham served the Winterland crowd a turkey dinner before the music, and guests such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young joined the group on stage.

Arlo Guthrie says Jimmy Carter's son found a copy of 'Alice's Restaurant' in which former president's White House record collection?

Richard Nixon. Guthrie likes to add that the famous gap in the Watergate tapes runs about as long as his 18-minute song, though he insists he is 'not implying anything'.

In which Massachusetts town did the Thanksgiving littering arrest in "Alice's Restaurant" take place?

Stockbridge. The dump was shut for the holiday, so Guthrie and a friend tipped the rubbish onto an old pile down a hillside; each paid a $25 fine and had to pick it all up.

What was the nickname of the police chief who arrested Guthrie in "Alice's Restaurant"?

Officer Obie. The real chief, William Obanhein, went on to play himself in the 1969 film of the song, and he had already posed for the painter Norman Rockwell.

Why, according to Guthrie, did "Alice's Restaurant" become a Thanksgiving radio tradition?

DJs used its length to take a break. Radio wasn't automated then, Guthrie says, and New York's WBAI once played the song so often that it raised money on pledges to stop.

Which institution chose 'Alice's Restaurant' for preservation as a culturally significant recording?

Library of Congress. It added the song to its National Recording Registry in the class of 2017, though Guthrie says he never expected an 18-minute monologue to be put on a record at all.

What war was "Alice's Restaurant" protesting?

The Vietnam War. In the song, Guthrie's littering record lands him on the Group W bench at his draft physical, where the military decides it doesn't want him.

Guthrie sent a demo of "Alice's Restaurant" to which relative on his deathbed in 1967?

His father Woody. Arlo says the family joke is that Woody Guthrie was played the test pressing, heard it and died soon after, in October 1967.

Who wrote the 1844 poem that became the song "Over the River and Through the Wood"?

Lydia Maria Child. Her 1833 book attacking slavery got her shunned socially and sank the children's magazine she had founded.

Unlike the version most people sing today, the original 1844 'Over the River and Through the Wood' heads to whose house?

Grandfather's. Grandmother still gets her moment in the original poem: she turns up in its closing verses, greeting the sleigh party with a pie for everyone.

Which 1987 hit did its singer perform as a surprise prank on the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Never Gonna Give You Up. Rick Astley had kept his distance from the rickrolling craze, then burst onto a Cartoon Network float mid-parade and rickrolled millions of TV viewers himself.

In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, what does Charlie Brown say about his grandmother after the gang's singalong?

She lives in a condominium. His grandmother had invited the whole gang over after Peppermint Patty turned up her nose at their feast of toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans.

The hymn "We Gather Together" began as a Dutch song celebrating a victory over which country?

Spain. The Dutch were fighting Spanish rule for their independence and their Protestant faith, which is why the English words still pray that 'the wicked oppressing' will cease.

Which comedian made 'Thanks for the Memory', first sung in a 1938 film, his lifelong signature tune?

Bob Hope. He introduced it as a duet in The Big Broadcast of 1938, then adopted it as his theme and kept having the words rewritten to suit each new audience.

Which soap opera's Quartermaine family traditionally sings 'We Gather Together' in its annual Thanksgiving episode?

General Hospital. The Quartermaines' holiday dinner is ruined year after year, so the family sings the hymn and then sits down to take-out pizza.

Which drama's Thanksgiving episode 'Shibboleth' ends with children singing 'We Gather Together' in the Rose Garden?

The West Wing. The press secretary spends the episode choosing which of two turkeys gets the president's pardon, and has to admit she doesn't know the hymn she is due to lead.

Which hymn did Henry Alford first publish in 1844 as 'After Harvest'?

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. When other editors rewrote the verses without his consent, Alford added a footnote to his own edition saying he did not approve.

Which animated sitcom has mom Linda burst into a 'Thanksgiving Song' that indie band The National later covered?

Bob's Burgers. Voice actor John Roberts made the whole song up in the recording booth, and the show's writers later ranked it among their favourite numbers.

The pastor behind 'Now Thank We All Our God' buried plague victims during which war?

Thirty Years' War. In the plague year of 1637 Martin Rinkart was the only pastor left alive in Eilenburg, burying up to 50 people a day, his own wife among them.

Which composer built a whole church cantata on 'Nun danket alle Gott', the German original of 'Now Thank We All Our God'?

Bach. His 1730 cantata sets all three verses of the hymn, but its tenor part went missing, so performers have to work from a reconstruction.

On which show did Adam Sandler first perform "The Thanksgiving Song" in November 1992?

Saturday Night Live. He sang it at the Weekend Update desk with Kevin Nealon anchoring, though the version radio plays each November was taped at a California club eight months later.

Two years after 'The Thanksgiving Song', Adam Sandler wrote a better-known novelty number about which holiday?

Hanukkah. 'The Chanukah Song' reels off famous Jewish names, and Sandler says he is proud of it but admits the first version got one of its facts wrong.

In "The Thanksgiving Song", Adam Sandler can't believe the Mets traded which player?

Darryl Strawberry. The Mets never traded him: he left as a free agent after the 1990 season and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On which Adam Sandler album did the live recording of "The Thanksgiving Song" appear?

They're All Gonna Laugh at You! The title is the shriek of a mother in one of the album's sketches, a riff on the horror film Carrie, and the record went double platinum.

Who composed the music for the 1973 special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?

Vince Guaraldi. Producer Lee Mendelson sought the jazz pianist out after hearing one of his records on the radio, and Guaraldi was so keen that he played his first Peanuts theme to him down the phone.

Which song was introduced in the score of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, alongside the "Thanksgiving Theme"?

Little Birdie. The composer sings it himself, a rare vocal turn for him, while Snoopy and Woodstock wrestle the garden furniture into place for the feast.

Which signature Peanuts theme was reworked with a brass section for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?

Linus and Lucy. Its composer wrote it for a 1963 documentary about Charles Schulz that never found a sponsor, and it only reached television two years later in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

In which landmark cartoon does the hero play 'Turkey in the Straw' using farm animals as instruments?

Steamboat Willie. Captain Pete is not amused by Mickey Mouse's barnyard concert, and the short ends with the deckhand peeling potatoes in the galley as punishment.

Which crooner introduced "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" as a single for Christmas 1954?

Perry Como. The tune was written by his own piano accompanist, Robert Allen, and he went back to record it a second time, with a new arrangement, in 1959.

In the standard '(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays', a man from Tennessee heads to Pennsylvania for which homemade treat?

Pumpkin pie. The joke of the verse is that everyone is swapping places: the Tennessean heads north for his pie while Pennsylvanians travel south for Dixie's sunny shore.

"Turkey Lurkey Time" is a dance number for three secretaries at an office Christmas party in which Broadway musical?

Promises, Promises. The show's creators were stuck for a way to end the first act until Michael Bennett's frantic choreography for the number solved the problem and became a sensation.

Which TV series mashed up "Turkey Lurkey Time" with "Let's Have a Kiki" in a 2012 Thanksgiving episode?

Glee. Sarah Jessica Parker, playing Kurt's boss, turns his and Rachel's quiet New York Thanksgiving into a party by arriving with a crowd of friends and launching the number.

The Shaker song "Simple Gifts" became famous after Aaron Copland used it in which of his works in 1944?

Appalachian Spring. The Shakers knew the tune as a quick dance, and its closing lines about turning until we 'come round right' double as instructions for the steps.

In the hymn 'Bringing in the Sheaves', what are the sheaves?

Bundles of grain. Knowles Shaw took the image in 1874 from Psalm 126, which promises that those who go out weeping to sow will come home rejoicing, sheaves in hand.

Which singer wrote her 1998 hit 'Thank U' after a trip to India helped her recover from burnout?

Alanis Morissette. Worn out by the success of Jagged Little Pill, she took a year and a half off, and the song thanks India along with terror, disillusionment and silence.

Irving Berlin's "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" features in which 1954 film?

White Christmas. Berlin said the idea came from his doctor, who cut short his complaints about insomnia by asking whether he had ever tried counting his blessings.

Which Bing Crosby film features 'I've Got Plenty to Be Thankful For' and a confused animated calendar bird?

Holiday Inn. The cartoon turkey hopping between two Thursdays mocks 'Franksgiving', President Roosevelt's 1939 attempt to move the holiday a week earlier.

Which bandleader, nicknamed the King of Swing, gave the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade its first celebrity performance in 1958?

Benny Goodman. He had already appeared in the 1934 and 1937 parades as a guest without playing a note; in 1958 his sextet finally got to perform.

Which precision drill team from Kilgore, Texas, is known for high-kick routines at events such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

The Rangerettes. Kilgore College founded the troupe in 1940 to attract more women students and liven up football halftimes, with a local oil millionaire paying the first bills.

Which charity has held a halftime concert at the Cowboys' Thanksgiving game since 1997?

The Salvation Army. The show launches its Red Kettle Christmas appeal, and in 2016 Cowboys rookie Ezekiel Elliott celebrated a touchdown by jumping into the giant kettle, then gave the charity $21,000.

The Cranberries, whose name matches a Thanksgiving side dish, formed in 1989 in which Irish city?

Limerick. Brothers Noel and Mike Hogan started out there as The Cranberry Saw Us with a different singer; Dolores O'Riordan won the job by bringing words and melodies for their demos.

Which band's 1969 gratitude anthem 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' topped the Hot 100 in 1970?

Sly and the Family Stone. Bassist Larry Graham thumps and plucks the strings throughout, the slap style he is credited with inventing and that funk players went on copying for decades.

The 1978 soft-rock single 'Thank You for Being a Friend' found a second life as the theme to which sitcom?

The Golden Girls. Andrew Gold said the song took him about an hour to write, and the sitcom did not use his recording: jingle singer Cynthia Fee re-sang it for the credits.

Which ABBA member sang lead vocals on 'Thank You for the Music'?

Agnetha Fältskog. Her first studio take, a jazzy cabaret reading modelled on Doris Day, was set aside for a re-recording and stayed in the vaults until a 1994 box set.

Which Eminem single sampled the opening verse of Dido's 'Thank You'?

Stan. The hit sent Dido's own single, first heard in the film Sliding Doors three years earlier, to number three in America, and she appears in the video as Stan's partner.

In her 'Thank U, Next' video, Ariana Grande first appears as the queen bee of which teen comedy?

Mean Girls. Jonathan Bennett returns as heartthrob Aaron Samuels and Kris Jenner films the dance as the 'cool mom', before the video moves on to Bring It On, 13 Going on 30 and Legally Blonde.

On which 1969 album does the Plant-Page ballad 'Thank You', with its false organ ending, appear?

Led Zeppelin II. Robert Plant wrote the words as a love song to his wife, Maureen, a gentle turn on an album better known for 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Heartbreaker'.

Thankful, which opened at number one in 2003, was the debut album of which American Idol winner?

Kelly Clarkson. Its lead single, 'Miss Independent', was a cast-off: Christina Aguilera had co-written it for her album Stripped and then left it unused.

Whose 1998 hit 'Kind & Generous' fades out with its singer saying thank you over and over?

Natalie Merchant. She said she had always wanted to write a song with one simple, universal sentiment, plain gratitude, and its video casts her as a performer in a travelling circus.