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

[Charmed Life Picks]

Lowrider, one more thing. You mentioned Vince Scelsa. There's an interview with him somewhere (maybe in the liner notes with the CD) where he heard about Steve's death. He said he was jogging and overheard the news from a car he was passing by with the window open and the radio on. He went to the curb, sat, and bawled his eyes out.

Thank you, Steve, for all the great pickin' and all the great memories.

scott memmer

[bill austin]

https://youtu.be/QejGh82vG7A

[Gozitan]

Another fan of Steve and John. Haven’t stopped listening to them over the years.
Never got to see them though.
He was a fine guitar player too!
Tim

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by bill austin

https://youtu.be/QejGh82vG7A

Bill, thanks. Where did you find this? I thought I knew all the Goodman clips out there.

Thanks,
Scott

[nightflight]

I was there.

Steve Goodman, John Prine, Trevor Veitch & Andy Kulberg (they opened for Prine), and wait for it... Bonnie Raitt. They sang Hank Williams tunes til they forgot the words. It was an incredible night.

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Auggie, thanks for the clarification on the photo. I thought the guy on the far left might have been Bromberg, but hard to tell.

Everyone I've spokem to who ever saw Goodman live will tell you he's the best solo performer they've seen. And, as you say, I've never encountered anyone before or since who seemed to love performing more than SG.

Thanks again, Auggie.

scott

[bill austin]

Scott, it just showed up on the right side of another video. I hadn't seen it before either.

[jefflaher]

Steve Goodman was a huge influence during Jimmy Buffet's early Key West days. JB covered Banana Republics and This Hotel Room that SG wrote

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by bill austin

Scott, it just showed up on the right side of another video. I hadn't seen it before either.

Huh, surprised I missed it. Thanks so much. Did you ever have a chance to see Steve perform live. Just wow.

Jeff, I'm sure I've mentioned this several times in this thread already, but next to John Prine probably Steve's next closest friend was Jimmy Buffett. I read this story somewhere that JB was so poor, when he was in Chicago he would sleep on Steve's sofa.

So many ironies. If Steve had been cured and lived to see the whole Margaritaville (sp?) thing explode, he would likely be a multi-millionaire today. Jimmy would have hired him in a second to be his band leader and lead guitarist, and Steve would've been rolling in it. Life sure has its twists and turns.

Thanks again for the great vid.

scott memmer

[lowrider]

Scott, I've got to tell you this one. Way back then, I heard Steve being interviewed on WCAS from Central Sq in Cambridge. He was talking about his friendship with Jimmy Buffett and John Prine. About playing on each other's records, writing songs together and similarities in their music and recording with a band. When they got to John Prine, I remember the quote, Steve said

''John Prine doesn't need a band on his albums, JOHN PRINE'S WORDS ROCK''

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Scott, I've got to tell you this one. Way back then, I heard Steve being interviewed on WCAS from Central Sq in Cambridge. He was talking about his friendship with Jimmy Buffett and John Prine. About playing on each other's records, writing songs together and similarities in their music and recording with a band. When they got to John Prine, I remember the quote, Steve said

''John Prine doesn't need a band on his albums, JOHN PRINE'S WORDS ROCK''

Low, have you heard Prine tell the story of how Goodman got him discovered by Kristoffersen (sp?)?

If not, let me know and I'll post the vid here. So wonderful.

scott memmer

[lowrider]

Scott, I've probably hard it or read it, but there's nothing like hearing from JP himself. By all means, please post that video

I love John Prine's stories!

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Scott, I've probably hard it or read it, but there's nothing like hearing from JP himself. By all means, please post that video

I love John Prine's stories!

Yes, JP could easily have been a very successful stand-up or another Garrison Keillor if the music thing didn't pan out.

I'm on the run right now, Low, so look for the vid post by the end of the day today.

sm

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

... I'm almost positive he co-wrote this with Michael Smith ("The Dutchman")...

The Eals biography gives interesting histories of Goodman's songs. The Dutchman is my favorite, next to Banana Republics. The Dutchman seemed always poorly and slowly performed finger style until Goodman did his cross picking version. I could barely flat pick, so did it in travis picking. Then figured out a little cross picking of it for the first time.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by vintage40s

The Eals biography gives interesting histories of Goodman's songs. The Dutchman is my favorite, next to Banana Republics. The Dutchman seemed always poorly and slowly performed finger style until Goodman did his cross picking version. I could barely flat pick, so did it in travis picking. Then figured out a little cross picking of it for the first time.

I think the quote above is actually from someone else I was quoting, not from me. I don't believe Steve had any hand in writing "The Dutchman." He popularized it, but that's Mike Smith's genius all the way.

I promised I would post an interview with Prine about how Steve got Kristofferson to listen to his songs. I'll let John tell it, followed by Kris.

If you've never seen this little documentary, this is something Steve's manager Al Bunetta put together after his passing. A lot of great interviews.

John's story goes 5:00-7:20, immediately followed by KK's version from 7:30-10:30.



At the end of the vid, starting at 29:40 to the end, KK tells this amazing story about Steve's spirit. I get chills and cry every time I hear it.

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

... I don't believe Steve had any hand in writing "The Dutchman." He popularized it....

Right. That's what the book says, and Steve credits Smith every time he plays the song.