Steve Goodman

And the sons of Pullman porters, and the sons of engineers

Ride their fathers’ magic carpets, made of steel

And mothers with their babes asleep, are rockin’ to the gentle beat

And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel

Welcome to another Musical Tree! Today we are going to look at a folk artist who wrote one of the most popular Americana songs ever, influenced the name of a popular TV show still on the air today, and wrote a song that has become the victory anthem for a major league baseball team. So, let’s dive into the fascinating career of Steve Goodman!

Steve Goodman was born in 1948 on the north side of Chicago to a middle-class family. He began writing and performing songs as a teenager and formed his first band, called ‘The Juicy Fruits’, during his freshman year at the University of Illinois. He left college after one year to pursue a career in music and headed to New York. His stay in New York was brief and he returned to Chicago to resume his education. While doing so he landed a couple of regular gigs in Chicago and began to attract a loyal following. 

In 1971 Steve’s songs first appeared on an album, titled ‘Gathering at the Earl of Old Town’, referencing the name of the Old Town Club where he had been a regular performer. Later that year he was playing in a bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson. Kris was impressed with Steve and he introduced him to Paul Anka. Anka brought Steve to New York to record some demos, which resulted in Steve getting a recording contract. Steve returned to Chicago, where a chance encounter would launch Steve Goodman’s career.

It was while Steve was performing as a regular at the Quiet Knight that he saw Arlo Guthrie and he asked Guthrie if he could play him a song. Guthrie wasn’t interested, but said that if Steve bought him a beer he would listen to the song for as long as it took him to finish his beer. The song that Steve Goodman played for Arlo Guthrie was ‘City of New Orleans’. Needless to say, Guthrie liked the song and asked Steve if he could record it. 

Arlo Guthrie’s version of ‘City of New Orleans’ became a top 20 hit in 1972 and earned Steve Goodman enough money to make music a full-time career. Steve got the idea for the song after travelling from Chicago to southern Illinois on the Illinois Central Railroad to visit his wife’s family. 

‘City of New Orleans’ is perhaps the most Americana song that’s ever been written. A song lamenting the closing of a railroad line at a time when America was going through a huge transition itself—Americans were still grappling with the tumultuous decade of the 1960’s, getting out of the Vietnam War, and wondering what impact the 1960’s actually had on their everyday lives. Americans had used train travel throughout the 20^th century as a way to expand across the country, yet trains were now being replaced by airplanes as the preferred method of travel. ‘City of New Orleans’ guides you through America’s heartland from Chicago to Memphis to New Orleans, all the while lamenting the passing of the railways as a metaphor for a wistful America trying to come to grips with the recent past while hesitantly facing the future. 

‘City of New Orleans’ would go on to be recorded by numerous artists, including Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Chet Atkins, Lynn Anderson, and Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson’s version would go on to win a Grammy for Best Country Song of the year in 1985. The song even had international success when the Dutch artist Rudi Carrell released a version in German titled ‘Wann wird’s mal wieder richtig Sommer?’ (‘When Will There be a Proper Summer Again?’) with altered lyrics, that stayed on the German charts for over 14 weeks. Who knew?! The song would also inspire ABC to name their new morning show – a competitor to NBC’s ‘The Today Show’ – after a line in the song’s chorus, ‘Good Morning America’. 

Steve Goodman would go on to have minor success in the years after ‘City of New Orleans’. He found a kindred soul in musician John Prine and the two collaborated on many songs, including the song ‘You Never Even Called Me by My Name’ which was a country hit for singer David Allen Coe. Prine refused to take credit for co-writing the song, so Steve bought Prine a jukebox from the song’s royalties as a way to express his gratitude. 

As the 1970’s came to an end, Steve Goodman was still performing and creating music. Steve never stopped loving or singing about his native Chicago and often these songs could be pretty funny. A lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, in the early 1980’s he wrote ‘A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request’, a humorous song about a lifetime Cub fan tortured by the team’s many failures. Then Cubs GM Dallas Green heard the song and thought it was too depressing so in response Steve wrote ‘Go Cubs Go’, a song that was frequently played on Cubs broadcasts and since 2007 has been the Cubs victory song that is played over the PA at Wrigley Field after every Cubs victory. After the Cubs (finally!) won the World Series in 2016, the song actually briefly cracked the Billboard charts. 

In 1984, four days before the Cubs clinched their first post-season birth in 39 years, Steve Goodman died from leukemia. He was just 36 years old. Throughout his battle with the disease he kept his sense of humor intact, giving himself the nickname ‘Cool Hand Leuk’. He had been asked to perform the national anthem at the Cubs first post-season game. Jimmy Buffett was asked to fill in and dedicated the National Anthem to Steve Goodman. In 2006 Steve’s daughter Rosanna released an album titled ‘My Old Man’, featuring various artists covering her Dad’s songs. 

Steve Goodman may be gone but his legacy will endure, through the Mississippi darkness rolling down to the sea. The rhythm of the rails will continue to be felt for generations to come. Go Cubs Go!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Musical Tree! Feel free to leave suggestions for future articles in the comments. Don’t forget to subscribe to be notified via email when there is a new post. 

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