Steve Goodman

A singer and songwriter whose stature among fellow musicians and reviewers greatly exceeded his reach with general audiences, Steve Goodman crafted songs from his Chicago home base that displayed an easygoing yet incisive sense of humor, empathetic portraits of individuals, and a keen attention to everyday scenes across the Midwest. Songs in his catalog covered such topics as parking hassles in central Chicago, the political career of Mayor Richard J. Daley, and the long-suffering fortunes of his cherished Chicago Cubs. Numerous compositions achieved commercial chartings through interpretations by fellow performers, notably “The City of New Orleans,” which reached the Top 20 for Arlo Guthrie, and “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” which David Allan Coe brought into the Country Top Ten; among those who held his work in high regard were Bob Dylan, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, and Bonnie Raitt. The LPs Steve Goodman (1972) and Somebody Else’s Troubles (1973) established his early standing and contained many songs that would remain staples, whereas Jessie's Jig & Other Favorites (1975) and Words We Can Dance To (1976) introduced greater studio refinement and ranked among his strongest-selling releases. Once his deal with a major label concluded in the 1980s, Goodman founded his own imprint; the resulting 1983 album Artistic Hair and 1984 release Affordable Art ranked among his most wide-ranging and intimate sets, even as they proved to be among his final works before the songwriter died in September 1984.

Steven Benjamin Goodman entered the world in Chicago on July 25, 1948. Raised in what he described as “a Midwestern middle-class Jewish family,” he made his initial public appearances singing with the junior choir at Temple Beth Israel in the Albany Park neighborhood. As a teenager he took up guitar, drawing early inspiration from the folk movement of the early 1960s as well as country figures such as Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. During his time at the University of Illinois he performed rock & roll material with a cover band, yet left after two years to pursue opportunities in New York City. After only a brief stay he returned to Chicago and became a fixture at local folk venues including the Earl of Old Town, the Dangling Conversation, and the Quiet Knight. In 1971 he opened for Kris Kristofferson, who responded favorably to Goodman’s material and arranged an introduction to Paul Anka; Anka supplied funding for a demo recording that secured a Buddah Records contract and yielded the debut album Steve Goodman in 1972. That set contained the railroad narrative “The City of New Orleans,” which became a Top 20 single for Arlo Guthrie the same year and has since entered the folk canon. (Willie Nelson’s 1984 version earned Goodman a Grammy for Country Song of the Year.) His follow-up Buddah project, Somebody Else’s Troubles (1973), included keyboard work and backing vocals credited to Robert Milkwood Thomas, later recognized as Bob Dylan. After that release failed to register on the charts, Goodman parted ways with the label, which subsequently issued the outtakes collection The Essential Steve Goodman (1975).

He next signed with Asylum Records, issuing Jessie's Jig & Other Favorites in 1975—the same year outlaw country artist David Allan Coe reached the country Top Ten with “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” a song first cut on the Steve Goodman album and co-written with an uncredited John Prine. Jessie's Jig & Other Favorites marked Goodman’s initial chart entry, and Words We Can Dance To followed with comparable commercial results in 1976, featuring the track “Banana Republics” that Jimmy Buffett would later popularize. Neither Say It in Private (1977) nor High and Outside (1979) matched the sales of the earlier Asylum titles, although the latter appeared during a period when Goodman toured as opener for Steve Martin at the height of the comedian’s “Wild and Crazy Guy” fame. Hot Spot (1980) represented another attempt at broader appeal that did not expand his audience, yet Goodman’s engaging stage presence had by then built a devoted following at clubs and folk festivals nationwide. He often shared bills with mandolin specialist Jethro Burns of the comedy duo Homer & Jethro and took on production duties in 1978 for John Prine’s Bruised Orange.

After Hot Spot, Goodman departed Asylum to establish Red Pajamas Records, debuting the imprint with Artistic Hair in 1983, a set drawn from earlier live recordings. (The move prompted John Prine to launch his own Oh Boy label the next year.) The title Artistic Hair reflected Goodman’s characteristic humor applied to a grave subject; long afflicted with leukemia, he had undergone chemotherapy by the album’s release, and the cover photograph captured him largely without hair or his signature beard. Artistic Hair garnered critical praise and modest sales, leading to a second Red Pajamas project, Affordable Art, issued in 1984 and blending live and studio tracks. Among its selections was the wry “A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request,” which took on added resonance when Goodman died on September 20, 1984, only eleven days before the Chicago Cubs advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 1945.

Red Pajamas soon released Santa Ana Winds, a country-leaning album Goodman had been completing in his final months, while the 1987 anthology Unfinished Business earned him a posthumous Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the label continued to issue compilations of rare material, previously unreleased concert performances, and reissues from his catalog. In July 2019 Omnivore Recordings began a program of expanded reissues drawn from the Red Pajamas holdings, starting with upgraded versions of Artistic Hair and Affordable Art. An enlarged edition of Santa Ana Winds followed the next September, and the previously unreleased concert document Live '69 appeared in April 2020. In May 2021 Omnivore issued It Sure Looked Good on Paper: The Steve Goodman Demos, comprising twenty privately recorded selections from the archive.