#1241 – TALK BACKWARDS – 12/13/2019

It seems fitting that this being a Friday the 13^th we should showcase one of America’s true lost legends, Mr. Steve Goodman, at his most twisted. Goodman is best known as the writer of “the best damned train song ever written”: CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. He came up with the great songwriters of the late 60’s and early 70’s like John Prine, Jimmy Buffett, Jackson Browne, Jim Croce, Jimmy Webb, et al. Not only was he capable of writing serious songs (BANANA REPUBLICS, THE BALLAD OF PENNY EVANS), he wrote some of the most cleaver and hilarious songs I have ever heard (WATCHING JOEY GLOW, AIN’T NEVER HEARD YOU PLAY NO BLUES, YOU NEVER EVEN CALL ME BY MY NAME) including this one, from his 1980 LP “Hot Spot”. As you can tell from this clip, he’s a pretty fair picker, too. We lost Goodman after a long battle with cancer in 1984.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0niyTcxeqs

1980