Steve Goodman

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Steve Goodman (July 25, 1948–September 20, 1984) was a Chicago folk music singer and songwriter.

Born on Chicago's north side, Goodman began writing and performing songs as a teenager, after his family had moved to the near north suburbs. While a student at Maine East High School [1] in Park Ridge, where he graduated in 1968, he began performing in Old Town and attracting a following[2]. By 1969, after a brief sojourn in New York City's Washington Square, Goodman was a regular performer at the well-known Earl of Old Town folk music club in Chicago, while attending Lake Forest College. During this time Goodman married Nancy Pruter and paid bills by writing advertising jingles.

It was also during this time that Goodman wrote many of his most enduring songs, including "City of New Orleans", the song which would become most associated with Goodman. "City of New Orleans" won Goodman a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1984 for Willie Nelson's version. Goodman's songs first appeared on a locally-produced record, Gathering at the Earl of Old Town, in 1971. Throughout his career, Goodman remained closely involved with the Old Town School of Folk Music, where he later met and mentored his good friend, John Prine.

In 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson, impressed with Goodman, introduced him to Paul Anka who brought Goodman to New York to record some demos; these resulted in Goodman signing a contract with Buddah Records.

Seeing Arlo Guthrie in a bar, Goodman asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed on the condition that Goodman buy him a beer first; Goodman played "City of New Orleans" which Guthrie liked enough that he asked for the right to record it. Guthrie's version of the song became a hit in 1972, and provided Goodman with enough financial success to make his music a full-time career. The song would become an American standard, covered by many other musicians including Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, and Willie Nelson.

In 1974, singer David Allen Coe achieved considerable success on the country charts with Goodman's "You Never Even Call Me By My Name", a song which good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics.

Goodman's success as a recording artist was more limited. Although known in folk circles as an excellent and influential song writer, his albums received more critical than commercial success. Ironically, one of Goodman's biggest hits was a song he didn't write – The Dutchman, written by Michael Peter Smith.

Goodman wrote and performed many humorous songs about Chicago, including two about the Chicago Cubs: "The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" and "Go, Cubs, Go." Others included "The Lincoln Park Pirates", about the notorious Lincoln Towing Company, 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 a slew of products 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.

Around the time Goodman's career began to take off, he was diagnosed with leukemia. The entire time he was writing and singing, he was also fighting cancer. On September 20, 1984, Goodman died at University of Washington Hospital in Seattle, Washington . Eleven days later, the Chicago Cubs, the baseball team Goodman rooted for and wrote two songs about, would play their first play-off game since 1945 at Wrigley Field. Goodman's ashes are buried under home plate at Wrigley Field.

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