Steve Goodman Appreciation Thread (John Prine's Best Friend)
 

About once a year, I trot out an appreciation thread for Steve Goodman. If you're under 30, you may have never heard the name.

In addition to writing probably the best train song ever ("The City of New Orleans" -- No, Arlo didn't write it), he was John Prine's best friend and largely responsible for getting John his first record deal, he was the best solo performer I've ever seen. PLEASE look at this clip, Steve playing a duet on JP's "Souvenirs."

Steve Goodman died from leukemia in 1984, at the age of 36. Enjoy!

He also wrote the perfect country and western song.

Nope. He left a couple of things out, lol.

Dang, PC, you beat me to it. Okay, here you go.

Watch Steve knock half the members of Congress out of their chairs with laughter, at a formal concert in D.C. in the eighties. He was funny as hell, on top of being an amazing picker and writer.

He co-wrote this tune with JP, a sendup of every cliche in country music, all crammed into one song. David Alan Coe had a #1 hit with it many years ago. The song is called "You Never Even Call Me By My Name."

Be prepared to laugh. What a showman!

The last verse is pretty good, Matt, but yeah, probably needed one more verse. lol

Did you ever see Stevie live? If you ever did, you would never forget it the rest of your life.

sm

You waited until post #4 to mention this one??? I'm sorry but we can no longer be friends. LOL

Mick, I was saving it up for an "encore." Drop dead funny. Did you ever see Steve perform? He was also an amazing flattop player. Marty Stuart was one of
his best friend.

And talking to you might be a GOOD thing.

Memmer

Never had the pleasure of seeing him live but Austin City Limits gave me a very good introduction back in the day.

Glad to have seen Steve at the Park West and the Earl of Old Town...up close and personal. I can't remember if I also saw him at the Main St. (Evanston) location of AmazinGrace...

Sigh.

So much talent, lost to the world...

Larry, I think you may have shared this with me before. That must've been so wonderful. I saw him first at the Santa Monica Civic, on what I think was his first West Coast tour.

Did you ever see him do the broken string song?

The best was seeing him on a double bill with JP. This was right after Bruised Orange came out, a great album, at the Roxy Theatre of all places, right at the center of the sleazy Sunset Strip. We were about ten feet from the stage. A night I will never forget.

Thanks!
Scott

I was fortunate enough to have seen him twice. First time was at UD Arena, opening for Steve Martin (God bless him for exposing a whole lot of folks to Goodman). I felt so bad for him, in front of thousands of drunks w/arrows on their heads...there was a couple right behind us who drove down from Columbus just to see SG, though, so we did have that...

Second time was at the old Canal Street Tavern. He did two shows that night and was very considerate to not repeat any more songs than he had to for the benefit of those of us that had tickets for both performances. He was selling "Artistic Hair" LPs between shows so I got to meet him and have a brief conversation. "Hell of a way to make a living, ain't it, Steve?" "Beats following the elephant in the circus." We were right at the stage for both shows. Consummate performer. He played a video as an intro to each set featuring different stars (Martin, Carl Reiner, don't remember any more). I remember Reiner (I think it was him) saying, "Steve Goodman is the world's oldest living Muppet"...

I think seeing him w/Prine would have been the ultimate.

I think I first learned of him from the Soundstage he was on w/Arlo and Hoyt Axton (first time seeing Hoyt as well). Back in 1974.It was either then or when PBS broadcast the '74 Philadelphia Folk Festival, where he performed w/JP...you can see one or two of the songs he did on Soundstage if you spend enough time nosing around on YouTube.

Has anybody gotten his bio yet? It's in its 4th printing and I've read nothing but raves about it. Very well researched, many interviews and each edition is updated...

Arlo Guthrie, in his show for years, has told a great story about meeting Steve for the first time. Hilarious.

I've read the biography. It is remarkably detailed and thorough. Loved it, not only because it is very good, but also because it allowed me to recall the many times I saw him here in Chicago, from the beginning of his career. After a time, many in the audiences knew of his illness. Yet I can still recall the shock when I heard of his death on the news -- 1984, I believe? The way he lived his life in spite of the obstacles is a potent message about not waiting for things to get better before we fully live our lives with enthusiasm. I miss him greatly.

I honestly know that the only song I'm aware of is YNECMBMN. I'm sure as I go down the thread I'll do some "Oh yeah...", just like I did when I first started listening to John Prine.

Try doing a performance like this while you're fighting leukemia.

I was lucky enough to see him twice. My all time favorite performer, even all these years later.