"Riding on the City of New Orleans,/Illinois Central Monday morning rail/Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,/Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail./All along the southbound odyssey/The train pulls out at Kankakee/Rolls along past houses, farms and fields./Passin' towns that have no names,/Freight yards full of old black men/And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles." Steve Goodman "City Of New Orleans" 1970
That above is the first verse of what I consider the best contemporary train song written, if not one of the best train songs period. Simple words that evoke a whole lot more then what appears on the page, spelling the end of an era. The airplane and people's desire to get from one place to another with no thought but the destination in mind was the death knell of train as a means of mass public transportation.
But our romantic love affair with the train hasn't ended. Arlo Guthrie has convinced Amtrak to run the City of New Orleans along its old route one more time for a benefit tour of concerts he's doing to raise money for the post hurricane relief. The pity of it is that the man who wrote this song, Steve Goodman, isn't around to see her take another run.
Mr. Goodman died of Leukemia September 20th 1984 after struggling to beat it for years. I was fortunate enough to have seen him in concert in the late 1970's at the Mariposa Folk Festival on the Toronto Islands during one of his remissions. My memories of that show are of a strong clear voice ringing out across a lawn covered with people, singing about subjects as diverse as sexual preferences and towing companies:
" There are men who love women who love men, there are women who love women now and then there are men who love men because they cannot pretend to be men who love women who love men." Steve Goodman "Men Who Love Women Who Love Men" 1977
It's funny because Mr. Goodman has been on my mind somewhat lately, what with the above mentioned tour by Arlo Guthrie, and the fact that I just finished reviewing Arlo's latest concert disc where he of course performed "City of New Orleans". Somehow or other the universe seems to have been reading my mind because I opened the inbox on my email this morning and staring back up at me from the subject line of one letter were the words Steve Goodman biography.
Article comments
1 - Larry McLean
I would have been at Mariposa on The Toronto Islands, sitting on the the grass listening to Steve Goodman when you were there. I believe I saw him there twice. I might even have your picture as I shot a lot of pictures . A few friends and I would take a cooler full of food and a second full of gin tequila and various mixes and herbs. We'd find a decent spot on the ground during the show before Steve and others took the stage. By the end of his set we would be in the middle of a sea of people stretching dozens of yards on either side and behind.
I saw him twice again. I had front row center seats at Massey Hall. Steve did the whole show with a huge white cowboy hat on. I saw him again at Ontario Place on the revolving stage. A great, great time, both shows. He always seemed to be having more fun playing for us then we did listening to him. I think he'd have had fun just playing in a living room!
I came across Clay a couple of years ago following a Steve Goodman string on the net. We've written back and forth and I've sent him some slides from Mariposa. I'm really looking forward to seeing his book. I live in Toronto and ECW Press is not far from my home. Perhaps I'll dive their dumpster from time to time to see if I can find an advance copy!
Larry McLean
Toronto
2 - Tommy Grills
I was a young boy of 16 when my dad Lee Grills booked Steve Goodman into the Nugget Pizza Palace in Rochester NY. My dad absoluty adored Steve and the feeling was mutual. Steve played 5 nights and returned sometime later to do a double bill with the NY rock and roll emsemble lead by Micheal Kamen.
Steve after hearing those guys borrowed an electrc guitar and did a 2 hr set of 50s music with The band backing him totally unrehearsed totally off the cuff and the packed house collectivly peed its pants in giddyness.
We spent New years of 1975 @ Steves' apt in chicago I was 19 and had started my journey as a blues musician and Steve drove me around Chicago giving me a tour of where he grew up and then going to meet his Dad. All I can say is that everything about Steve is true, in his private life and public life Steve lived it to the fullest.
I saw he and John Prine write music together and after showing Steve a BB King lick I had just learned Steve gave me a pignose amp on the spot. I get chills everytime I hear City of New Orleans because I feel Steves spirit. People like him only come around once in a lifetime.
God Bless ya Brother I still hold you in my heart.
Tommy Grills
3 - Mike Erlindson
Is that the Larry Mclean's from Molson's on Fleet Street? Ping me at the address above.