Steve Goodman: “Artistic Hair” (1983/2019) CD Review

Steve Goodman will probably always be best known for writing “The City Of New Orleans,” which was a hit for Arlo Guthrie (and recorded by a lot of other artists, including John Denver and Judy Collins). But of course he wrote a lot of other excellent material in his short life, some of it covered by folks like Jimmy Buffett, David Allan Coe, and Red Molly. You can hear some of his original material on his live album Artistic Hair, which was released in 1983 (the year before he died) and re-issued last year in an expanded edition, with a lot of bonus tracks and new liner notes. On this release, he also shows just what he was able to do with other people’s material, including songs written by Shel Silverstein, Harry Woods and Felix Bernard. Joining Steve Goodman on this album are Jethro Burns on mandolin, David Amram on whistles, wooden flute and percussion, and Hugh McDonald on electric bass. This expanded edition includes new liner notes by Lee Zimmerman.

The album opens with an original tune, “East St. Louis Tweedle-Dee,” a good and humorous song that features some nice work on guitar. “If you’re going to East St. Louis, don’t you drink too much/Cut down that consumption, you shaky legged such-and-such.” That’s followed by “Let’s Give A Party,” a song written by Carl Martin and originally recorded by Martin, Bogan & Armstrong. At the beginning of the track, Steve Goodman teaches the audience the song, expecting them to sing along, which of course they do. He clearly had such a wonderful rapport with his audience. This track features some energetic guitar playing as well as a fun vocal performance. “I can’t dance/Scared to take a chance/I can’t dance/I’ve got ants in my pants.” Plus, there is some delightful work David Amram. This is a serious amount of fun, and the audience begins clapping along as well as singing. It becomes a celebration to rival the best of those religious revival meetings. “You buy the whisky, I’ll buy the beer.” Sounds good! Then he covers the holiday song “Winter Wonderland,” and I’ll certainly be adding this version to my Christmas playlist. He is picking out the lyrics as he goes, and adds “It’s kind of absurd/When you don’t know the words/To sing walking in a winter wonderland,” which gets a laugh and applause from the audience. Yet it is a totally sweet rendition featuring a wonderful guitar part.

Steve Goodman delivers a playful and rocking tune about that strange strain of humanity that imitates the King, “Elvis Imitators,” which he wrote with Mike Smith. The audience goes pretty wild during this one, just like the crowd described in the song, giving us the sense that Steve Goodman must have put on one hell of a good show. I’m sorry I did not get the chance to see him. In introducing “Tico Tico,” he says, “Here’s a little instrumental we can all sing” a line that made me laugh aloud. This track features some seriously impressive playing. We then get a heartfelt and gentle rendition of the traditional song “The Water Is Wide,” featuring beautiful work from David Amram. Steve Goodman follows that with a jazzy, completely enjoyable rendition of Harry Woods’ “Red Red Robin.” This is a song I always thought of as a children’s song, but Steve Goodman makes it kind of exciting, and there is some more impressive work on guitar. “I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song.” Well, all right!

Steve gets into the blues with “Chicken Cordon Bleus,” a song he wrote with Paula Ballan and Toni Mandel, and which was originally included on his 1972 LP Somebody Else’s Troubles. The crowd is clearly excited to hear it, applauding the moment he begins the lyrics. And it sounds like Steve is enjoying himself. You can hear a laugh in his voice at times. There are plenty of funny lines, such as “My stomach is empty, and all I’ve got is food for thought” and “Now this stuff is so strange, the cockroaches moved next door,” as well as a joke about being regular. That is followed by a sweet original number titled “Old Fashioned,” which was included on his 1975 LP Words We Can Dance To. “But have no fear/I will still be here/When love comes back in style.” He then delivers a great version of “The City Of New Orleans,” and as he begins it he mentions that Arlo Guthrie recorded it and “saved my ass.” That is followed by a delicious cover of Shel Silverstein’s “Three-Legged Man,” a song Shel released as a single in 1969. “Every time I turn around, he is just one foot behind” is such a goofy line, but I can’t help but love it. The original album then concludes with “You Never Even Call Me By My Name” (here listed as “You Never Even Called Me By My Name”), a song Steve Goodman wrote with John Prine, and one that was also recorded by David Allan Coe. This track features different musicians backing Steve Goodman, including W.S. Holland on drums and Jimmy Tittle on electric bass. It’s a funny song about all the clichés in country songs, and includes that great line “Ever since the dog got drunk and died, and mama went to prison.”

Bonus Tracks

This special expanded edition contains ten bonus tracks, all of which were recorded live, most of them in the 1970s. These tracks were previously included on No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology, which was released in 1994. The bonus tracks begin with an original song, “The I Don’t Know Where I’m Goin’, But I’m Goin’ Nowhere In A Hurry Blues,” recorded in 1976. The crowd is clearly excited to hear this song. The verse about the horse always makes me smile, particularly when he sings “That horse had the I don’t know where I’m goin’, but I’m goin’ nowhere in a hurry blues.” The additional lines about Patty Hearst are funny. And when he mentions Richard Nixon, someone in the crowd can’t help but let loose a disapproving sound. That’s followed by another fun original number, “Lincoln Park Pirates,” recorded in 1977, and then a cover of Mike Smith’s “Wonderful World Of Sex.” This is a delightful song, and its line “I dig you more than I dig root beer” is one I appreciate. This recording is from a show he performed in Philadelphia in 1983. He jokes about forgetting the lyrics, even mentioning that Mike Smith would be embarrassed if he knew. But he doesn’t say that; he sings it. By the way, another version of this song is included on Steve Goodman’s Live ’69, which was released in April of this year.

There is a full band rendition of “Men Who Love Women Who Love Men,” with a joy and energy to the playing and some nice stuff on keys and sax. This is a song that was included on his 1979 LP, High And Outside, and this version predates that album’s release. “Now there are those who make love for pay/And there are those who make love anyway/Over in the bar with a bottle of scotch/There are those who would rather just watch.” It’s a perfect choice to follow “Wonderful World Of Sex,” keeping with a certain theme, and this version becomes a good jam. That’s followed by a cover of “The Auctioneer” recorded in 1981. In his introduction, Steve Goodman mentions learning this song to play for Steve Martin’s crowd when he opened for the comedian, but he clearly learned this song long before those shows, for it was included on Live ’69, and he didn’t open for Steve Martin until 1978. Anyway, the vocal work on this song is always impressive.

One of the most delightful tracks is “The Broken String Song.” Steve is about to play a song about robins, but breaks a string, and improvises a song about the string, even asking someone to go into his guitar case to get a string for him. I’m so glad this is included. It’s always interesting to see how different folk singers deal with filling up the time when a string needs to be replaced. Some do a song a cappella, some tell a story, but this is perhaps the best way of dealing with the broken string trouble I’ve ever heard. The audience even claps and sings along. That’s followed by an unusual, bluesy rendition of “I’ll Fly Away.” Steve then gets jazzy with a cool rendition of “It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie,” recorded at the same show that gave us that version of “Wonderful World Of Sex.” We then get a second rendition of “You Never Even Called Me By My Name,” this one from a show in 1981. There is a funny section in the middle where he offers a variety of noises in place of other instruments, and then says he’s seen his name in the phone book. The disc ends with a cover of “Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes.” It’s a delightfully silly song, and there is a bit of unintended humor as well when the word “bloom” is sung rather than “boom.” This recording is from 1978. “Her teeth were like the stars above because they come out every night.”

CD Track List

1. East St. Louis Tweedle-Dee
2. Let’s Give A Party
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Elvis Imitators
5. Tico Tico
6. The Water Is Wide
7. Red Red Robin
8. Chicken Cordon Bleus
9. Old Fashioned
10. City Of New Orleans
11. Three-Legged Man
12. You Never Even Called Me By My Name
13. The I Don’t Know Where I’m Goin’, But I’m Goin’ Nowhere In A Hurry Blues
14. Lincoln Park Pirates
15. Wonderful World Of Sex
16. Men Who Love Women Who Love Men
17. The Auctioneer
18. The Broken String Song
19. I’ll Fly Away
20. It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie
21. You Never Even Called Me By My Name
22. Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes

This expanded re-issue of Artistic Hair was released on July 19, 2019 through Omnivore Recordings.