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.
1980
