Editing Steve Goodman

{{short description|American folk music singer-songwriter (1948-1984)}}
{{About|the folk singer|the electronic music artist|Kode9}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name                = Steve Goodman
| image               = 19830430 Steve Goodman.gif
| caption             = Goodman in 1983
| landscape           = Yes
| background          = solo_singer
| birth_name          = Steven Benjamin Goodman
| alias               =
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1948|7|25}}
|birth_place          = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date          =  {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1984|9|20|1948|7|25}}
|death_place          = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S.
| origin              =
| instrument          =  {{flatlist| 
* [[Vocals]]
* [[guitar]]
}}
| genre               = {{flatlist| 
* [[Folk music|Folk]]
* [[Country music|country]]
* [[Rock music|rock]]
* [[Pop music|pop]]
* [[blues]]
}}
| occupation          = Musician, songwriter
| years_active        = 1968–1984
| label               = [[Buddah Records|Buddah]], [[Asylum Records|Asylum]], [[Red Pajamas Records|Red Pajamas]]
| past_member_of     =}}

'''Steven Benjamin Goodman'''<ref>{{cite book | last = Eals | first = Clay | title = Steve Goodman: Facing the Music | publisher = ECW | year = 2007 | location = Toronto | page = [https://archive.org/details/stevegoodmanfaci00eals/page/29 29] | isbn = 978-1-55022-732-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/stevegoodmanfaci00eals/page/29 }}</ref> (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American [[folk music|folk]]  and [[Country music|country]] singer-songwriter from [[Chicago]]. He wrote the song "[[City of New Orleans (song)|City of New Orleans]]", which was recorded by artists including [[Arlo Guthrie]], [[John Denver]], [[The Highwaymen (country supergroup)|The Highwaymen]], and [[Judy Collins]]. In 1985, Goodman received the [[27th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy]] songwriter award for best country song. Goodman co-wrote "[[You Never Even Called Me by My Name]]", which became the best-selling song of country musician [[David Allan Coe]]. A lifelong [[Chicago Cubs]] fan, Goodman wrote "[[Go Cubs Go]]." Goodman died of [[leukemia]] in September 1984.

==Personal life==
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2023}}
Goodman was born on Chicago's North Side to a [[American middle class|middle-class]] [[Jew]]ish family.  He began writing and performing songs as a teenager. He graduated from [[Maine East High School]] in [[Park Ridge, Illinois]], in 1965, where he was a classmate of [[Hillary Clinton]]. During high school he began his public singing career by leading the junior choir at Temple Beth Israel in Albany Park. In the fall of 1965, he entered the [[University of Illinois]] and pledged the [[Sigma Alpha Mu]] fraternity. In college he formed a cover band called The Juicy Fruits, with Goodman on lead guitar, Ron Banyon on rhythm guitar, Steve Hartmann on bass, and Elliot Englehardt on drums. He left college after one year to pursue his musical career. In the early spring of 1967, Goodman went to New York, staying for a month in a Greenwich Village brownstone across the street from the [[Cafe Wha?]], where he performed regularly.

Returning to Chicago, he intended to restart his education. In 1968 Goodman began performing at the [[Old Town, Chicago|Earl of Old Town]] and The Dangling Conversation coffeehouse and attracted a following.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cobo.org/goodman/sg.html#stobit |title=Steve Goodman Obituary |author=Harlan Draeger |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=September 22, 1984 |access-date=December 12, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050722082757/http://www.cobo.org/goodman/sg.html#stobit |archive-date=July 22, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1969, Goodman was a regular performer in Chicago, while attending [[Lake Forest College]]. During this time Goodman supported himself by singing advertising jingles. It was during this time<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Browne |first1=David |title=Looking Back on John Prine Buddy Steve Goodman |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/looking-back-on-john-prine-buddy-steve-goodman-860284/ |magazine=Rolling Stone|date=July 19, 2019 }}</ref> he discovered the cause of his continuous fatigue was actually [[leukemia]]. This led him to drop out of school again to pursue his music full time.

In September 1969 he met Nancy Pruter (sister of [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] writer [[Robert Pruter]]), who was attending college and working as a waitress. They were married in February 1970. Though he experienced periods of remission, Goodman never felt that he was living on anything other than borrowed time, and some critics, listeners and friends have said that his music reflects this sentiment. His wife, writing in the liner notes to the posthumous collection ''No Big Surprise'', characterized him this way:

<blockquote>Basically, Steve was exactly who he appeared to be: an ambitious, well-adjusted man from a loving, middle-class Jewish home in the Chicago suburbs, whose life and talent were directed by the physical pain and time constraints of a fatal disease which he kept at bay, at times, seemingly by willpower alone.... Steve wanted to live as normal a life as possible, only he had to live it as fast as he could.... He extracted meaning from the mundane.</blockquote>

==Career==
{{More citations needed|section|date=June 2023}}
Goodman's songs first appeared on ''Gathering at The Earl of Old Town'', an album produced by Chicago record company [[Dunwich Records|Dunwich]] in 1971. As a close friend of Earl Pionke, the owner of the folk music bar, Goodman performed at The Earl dozens of times, including customary New Year's Eve concerts. He also remained closely involved with Chicago's [[Old Town School of Folk Music]], where he had met and mentored his friend, [[John Prine]].

Later in 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for [[Kris Kristofferson]].  Impressed with Goodman, Kristofferson introduced him to [[Paul Anka]], who brought Goodman to New York to record some demos.<ref name="kevin46036">{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZx7xCK6yfo|title= John, Arlo, Kris And Others Discuss Steve Goodman|date= March 16, 2011|publisher= kevin46036|access-date= May 17, 2017|archive-date= October 4, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171004233412/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZx7xCK6yfo|url-status= live}}</ref> This resulted in Goodman signing a contract with [[Buddah Records]].

All this time, Goodman had been busy writing many of his most enduring songs, and this avid songwriting would lead to an important break for him. While at the Quiet Knight, Goodman saw [[Arlo Guthrie]] and asked him to let him play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed on the condition that Goodman buy him a beer first; Guthrie would then listen to Goodman for as long as it took Guthrie to drink the beer.<ref name="kevin46036"/> Goodman played "[[City of New Orleans (song)|City of New Orleans]]", which Guthrie liked enough that he asked to record it.

Guthrie's version of Goodman's song, about the Illinois Central's ''[[City of New Orleans (train)|City of New Orleans]]'' train, became a Top 20 hit in 1972 and provided Goodman with enough financial and artistic success to make music a full-time career. The song would become an American [[Standard (music)|standard]], covered by such musicians as [[Johnny Cash]], [[Judy Collins]], [[Chet Atkins]], [[Lynn Anderson]], and [[Willie Nelson]], whose recorded version earned Goodman a posthumous [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Country Song#1980s|Best Country Song]] in [[Grammy Awards of 1985#Country|1985]]. A French translation of the song, "Salut Les Amoureux", was recorded by [[Joe Dassin]] in 1973.

A Dutch singer, [[Gerard Cox]], heard the French version while on holiday and translated it into Dutch, titled "'t Is Weer Voorbij Die Mooie Zomer" ("And again that beautiful summer has come to an end"). It reached number one on the Dutch Top 40 in December 1973 and has become a classic which is still played on Dutch radio. Inspired by this version [[Rudi Carrell]], a Dutch TV host and entertainer who was also very successful in Germany, covered the song with German lyrics ("Wann wird's mal wieder richtig Sommer?") in 1975. It peaked #18 in the Top 40 and has become a radio classic which gains airplay in rainy summers. A Hebrew version of the song "Shalom Lach Eretz Nehederet" was sung by famous Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon in 1977 and became an immediate hit. Lyrically, the French, Dutch, German and Hebrew versions bear no resemblance to Goodman's original lyrics. 

According to Goodman, the song was inspired by a train trip he and his wife took from Chicago to [[Mattoon, Illinois]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/steve-goodman/concerts/bottom-line-march-30-1977-early-show.html |title=Steve Goodman Concert |date=March 30, 1977 |publisher=Wolfgang's Vault |access-date=March 29, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326060735/http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/steve-goodman/concerts/bottom-line-march-30-1977-early-show.html |archive-date=March 26, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> According to the liner notes on the Steve Goodman anthology ''No Big Surprise'', "City of New Orleans" was written while on the campaign trail with Senator [[Edmund Muskie]].

In 1974, singer [[David Allan Coe]] achieved considerable success on the country charts with Goodman's and John Prine's "[[You Never Even Called Me by My Name]]", a song which good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics. Prine refused to take a songwriter's credit for the song, although Goodman bought Prine a [[jukebox]] as a gift from his publishing royalties. Goodman's name is mentioned in Coe's recording of the song, in a spoken epilogue in which Goodman and Coe discuss the merits of "the perfect country and western song".

Goodman's success as a recording artist was more limited. Although he was known in folk circles as an excellent and influential songwriter,<ref name="kevin46036"/> his albums received more critical than commercial success. One of Goodman's biggest hits was a song he didn't write: "[[The Dutchman]]", written by [[Michael Peter Smith]]. He reached a wider audience as the opening act for [[Steve Martin]] while Martin was at the height of his stand-up popularity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/steve-goodman-and-the-sur_b_123206.html |title=Steve Goodman, and the Surprising Story of "Go, Cubs, Go" &#124; Robert J. Elisberg |date=September 2, 2008 |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |access-date=2015-10-08 |archive-date=April 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417033312/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/steve-goodman-and-the-sur_b_123206.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the mid and late seventies, Goodman became a regular guest on [[Easter|Easter Sunday]] on [[Vin Scelsa]]'s radio show in New York City. Scelsa's personal recordings of these sessions eventually led to an album of selections from these appearances, ''The Easter Tapes''.

In 1977, Goodman performed on [[Tom Paxton]]'s live album ''New Songs From the Briarpatch'' (Vanguard Records), which contained some of Paxton's topical songs of the 1970s, including "Talking Watergate" and "White Bones of Allende", as well as a song dedicated to [[Mississippi John Hurt]] entitled "Did You Hear John Hurt?"

During the fall of 1979, Goodman was hired to write and perform a series of topical songs for [[National Public Radio]]. Although Goodman and [[Jethro Burns]] recorded eleven songs for the series, only five of them, "The Ballad of [[American Airlines Flight 191|Flight 191]]" about a plane crash, "Daley's Gone", "Unemployed", "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over", and "The Election Year Rag", were used on the air before the series was cancelled.<ref>Eals, 558–59</ref>

Goodman wrote and performed many humorous songs about Chicago, including three about the [[Chicago Cubs]]: "[[A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request]]", "When the Cubs Go Marching In" and "[[Go, Cubs, Go]]" (which has frequently been played on Cubs broadcasts and at Wrigley Field after Cubs wins). He wrote "Go, Cubs, Go" out of spite after then GM [[Dallas Green (baseball)|Dallas Green]] called "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" too depressing. The Cubs songs grew out of his fanatical devotion to the team, which included many clubhouse and on-field visits with Cubs players. He wrote other songs about Chicago, including "The Lincoln Park Pirates", about the notorious [[Lincoln Towing Service]], and "Daley's Gone", about Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]. Another comic highlight is "Vegematic", about a man who falls asleep while watching late-night TV and dreams he ordered many products that he saw on [[infomercials]]. He could also write serious songs, most notably "My Old Man", a tribute to Goodman's father, Bud Goodman, a used-car salesman and [[World War II]] veteran.

Goodman won his second Grammy, for [[Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album#1980s|Best Contemporary Folk Album]], in [[Grammy Awards of 1988#Folk|1988]] for ''Unfinished Business'', a posthumous album on his [[Red Pajamas Records]] label.

Many fans become aware of Goodman's work through other artists such as [[Jimmy Buffett]]. Buffett has recorded several of Goodman's songs, including "This Hotel Room", "Banana Republics", and "California Promises", as well as songs co-written with Buffett: "Door Number Three", "Woman Goin' Crazy on Caroline Street", "Frank and Lola", "It's Midnight and I'm not Famous Yet", and "Where's the Party?".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://steve-goodman.hegewisch.net/jbsg.html | title=Buffett/Goodman Connection|website=Steve-goodman.hegewisch.net }}</ref> [[Jackie DeShannon]] covered Goodman's "Would You Like to Learn to Dance" on her 1972 album, ''[[Jackie (Jackie DeShannon album)|Jackie]]''.

Goodman's posthumously released album, ''[[Santa Ana Winds (album)|Santa Ana Winds]]'', included a tribute to [[Carl Martin (musician)|Carl Martin]], "You Better Get It While You Can (The Ballad of Carl Martin)", celebrating the joy both found in their music, and a refrain of,  "From the cradle to the crypt, Is a mighty short trip. So you better get it while you can".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/Steve-goodman-you-better-get-it-while-you-can-the-ballad-of-carl-martin-lyrics|title=Steve Goodman – You Better Get It While You Can (The Ballad of Carl Martin)|access-date=December 1, 2024|website=Genius.com}}</ref>

==Death==
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2023}}
On September 20, 1984, Goodman died of [[leukemia]] at the [[University of Washington Medical Center]] in [[Seattle, Washington]].<ref name=VanMatre>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79366260/songwriter-steve-goodman-a-chicago-gift/ |title=Songwriter Steve Goodman; a Chicago gift to folk music |first=Lynn |last=Van Matre |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=37 |date=September 21, 1984 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He was 36 years old.

On October 2, after clinching the [[National League East]] division title, the Cubs played their first post-season game since the [[1945 World Series]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79366457/cubs-clinch-nl-east-crown-first-title-s/ |title=Cubs Clinch NL East Crown: First Title Since 1945 |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[The Herald-Palladium]] |location=[[St. Joseph, Michigan]] |page=14 |date=September 25, 1984 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Filling in for Goodman, who had been scheduled to sing "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" before the game, [[Jimmy Buffett]] dedicated the song to him.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79366687/loose-lips-column/ |title=Loose Lips (column) |newspaper=[[Philadelphia Daily News]] |page=44 |date=October 3, 1984 |access-date=June 11, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Since the 2000s, at the conclusion of every home game win, the Cubs play "[[Go, Cubs, Go]]", written by Goodman.

In April 1988, some of Goodman's ashes were scattered at [[Wrigley Field]], the home of the Cubs.<ref>Eals, 725-6.</ref>

Goodman was survived by his wife and three daughters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshiresweek.com/011503/default.asp?filename=page_15&adfile=ads1 |title=Berkshires Week |publisher=Berkshires Week |date=2002-01-23 |access-date=2015-10-08 |archive-date=August 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823001629/http://www.berkshiresweek.com/011503/default.asp?filename=page_15&adfile=ads1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Legacy==
In 2006, Goodman's daughter, Rosanna, issued ''[[My Old Man (album)|My Old Man]]'', an album of a variety of artists covering her father's songs.

In 2007 the [[Chicago Cubs]] began playing Goodman's 1984 song "Go, Cubs, Go" after each home game win. When the Cubs made it to the playoffs, interest in the song and Goodman resulted in several newspaper articles about him. [[Lieutenant Governor of Illinois|Illinois Lieutenant Governor]] [[Pat Quinn (politician)|Pat Quinn]] declared October 5, 2007, Steve Goodman Day in the state. In 2010, Illinois Representative [[Mike Quigley (politician)|Mike Quigley]] introduced a bill renaming the Lakeview post office on Irving Park Road in honor of Goodman. The bill was signed by President [[Barack Obama]] on August 3, 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title= Obama signs law renaming post office after singer Steve Goodman|first= Katherine|last= Skiba|newspaper= [[Chicago Tribune]]|date= August 3, 2010|url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/2010/08/03/obama-signs-law-renaming-post-office-after-singer-steve-goodman/|access-date= August 8, 2010|archive-date= October 21, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171021003651/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-08-03/entertainment/chi-steve-goodman-post-office_1_renaming-steve-goodman-folk-music|url-status= live}}</ref>

==Discography==
===Albums===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Title
! Label
! Number
! class="unsortable" | Comments
|-
|1970||''Gathering at the Earl of Old Town''||[[Dunwich Records|Dunwich]]||670||Various artists including Goodman, [[Jim Post]], Ed Holstein, [[Fred Holstein]], [[Ginni Clemmens]]
|-
|1971||''[[Steve Goodman (album)|Steve Goodman]]''||[[Buddah Records|Buddah]]||BDS-5096||
|-
|1972||''[[Somebody Else's Troubles]]''||Buddah||BDS-5121||
|-
|1975||''[[Jessie's Jig & Other Favorites]]''||[[Asylum Records|Asylum]]||7E-1037||
|-
|1976||''Words We Can Dance To''||Asylum||7E-1061||
|-
|1977||''Say It in Private''||Asylum||7E-1118||
|-
|1979||''High and Outside''||Asylum||6E-174||
|-
|1980||''Hot Spot''||Asylum||6E-297||
|-
|1983||''Artistic Hair''||[[Red Pajamas Records|Red Pajamas]]||RPJ-001||Live
|-
| rowspan="2"|1984||''Affordable Art''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-002||
|-
| ''[[Santa Ana Winds (album)|Santa Ana Winds]]''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-003||First posthumous release
|-
|1987||''Unfinished Business''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-005||Second posthumous release, Grammy award
|-
|1996||''The Easter Tapes''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-009||18 live cuts from WNEW-FM 1970's broadcasts, liner notes by host [[Vin Scelsa]]
|-
|2000||''Live Wire''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-015||Live at Bayou Theater, early 1980s
|-
|2006||''Live at the Earl of Old Town''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-017||Live, August 1978
|-
|2013||''Don't Blame Me''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-019||Live, April 1, 1973, Chicago
|-
|2020||''Live '69''||Omnivore||OV-369||Live, November 10, 1969, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
|-
|2021||''It Sure Looked Good on Paper''||Omnivore||OV-413||20 previously unreleased solo and full band studio demos
|}

===Compilation albums===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Title
! Label
! Number
! class="unsortable" | Comments
|-
|1976||''The Essential Steve Goodman''||Buddah|| BDS-5665-2||2 LP compilation, 20 cuts from ''Steve Goodman'' and ''Somebody Else's Troubles''
|-
| rowspan="2"|1988||''The Best of the Asylum Years, Volume One''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-006||Compilation
|-
|''The Best of the Asylum Years, Volume Two''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-007||Compilation
|-
| rowspan="2"|1989||''City of New Orleans''||Pair Records (Buddha)<ref name="Buddha">The spelling of Buddah Records changed to "Buddha" around this time</ref>||PCD-2-1233||Single CD compilation, 19 cuts from ''Steve Goodman'' and ''Somebody Else's Troubles''
|-
|''The Original Steve Goodman''||Special Music (Buddha)<ref name="Buddha"/>||SCD-4923||Compilation, 8 cuts from ''Steve Goodman'' and ''Somebody Else's Troubles''
|-
|1994||''No Big Surprise – The Steve Goodman Anthology''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-008||2 CD compilation (1 studio, 1 live)
|-
|2008||''The Baseball Singles''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-018||Compilation EP with 4 baseball-themed cuts
|}

===Videos===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Title
! Label
! Number
! Formats
! class="unsortable" | Comments
|-
|2003||''Steve Goodman: Live From Austin City Limits''||Red Pajamas||RPJ-500||VHS, DVD|| 1977 & 1982 live shows with [[John Prine]] and [[Kenneth C. Burns|Jethro Burns]], plus interviews
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Eals, Clay. ''Steve Goodman: Facing the Music''. ECW Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-55022-732-1}}.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060630071721/http://www.stevegoodman.net/ Official site]
*{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1988|label=Steve Goodman}}
* {{discogs artist|Steve Goodman}}
* {{IMDb name|3081396}}
*[http://clayeals.com/ ''Steve Goodman: Facing the Music''] Biography by Clay Eals, May 2007

{{Steve Goodman}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Country Song}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Steve}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
[[Category:Deaths from leukemia in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Folk musicians from Chicago]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Jewish American songwriters]]
[[Category:Lake Forest College alumni]]
[[Category:Old Town School of Folk musicians]]
[[Category:Singers from Chicago]]
[[Category:Chicago Cubs]]
[[Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Jewish folk singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:Country musicians from Illinois]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Illinois]]