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Welcome to The Steve Goodman Scrapbook.
Dedicated to the memory of the "Songwriter's Songwriter" and one of the most influential performers of the late twentieth century, although you probably would never know it. Steve Goodman was the performer who made Chicago, the Folk Music Mecca of the 1970's

Goodman's love for Baseball led to one of his biggest hits as he sang an ode to his beloved Chicago Cubs. It is a comic tragedy that his career would take off in 1969 when the Cubs would choke and fall to the New York Mets in their bid for a World Series Championship and then just as suddenly his life would end in 1984 when the Cubs once again choke and lose to the San Deigo Padres.

Here's a few things you might know:
Best Damn Country Song Ever Written:
He has been noted as writing the Best Country and Western song ever recorded (You Never Even Call Me By My Name). This song is probably the biggest hit that David Allan Coe ever had.

Best Damn Train Song Ever Written:
In the words of John Prine and Kris Kristoferson, he "wrote the best damned railroad song ever recorded." (City Of New Orleans) Which became one of the most successful songs of Folk Singer, Arlo Guthrie

Session Guitarist & Song Writer:
Jimmy Buffett has had success with several of Goodman's songs (Banana Republics, Frank and Lola, and This Hotel Room to name just a few.) Stevie also did a lot of the acoustic guitar work on the early Buffett albums. a prime example of his work is that fantastic strumming in Cuban Crime of Passion.

Chicago Favorites:
Steve wrote several songs about his home town. A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request is probably as famous as Harry Carey singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game( a song Steve also sings) Other Chicago Favorites were Lincoln Park Pirates, (which has nothing to do with swashbuckling but a lot to do with pillage and plunder), Daley's Gone, and the 1984 Cubs theme Go Cubs Go.

Lt. Gov. Quinn declares "Steve Goodman Day" in Illinois


CHICAGO – As Chicago Cubs fans awaited the first Wrigley Field home game of the 2007 National League Championship series, Lt. Gov. Quinn Friday paid homage to a legendary musician — and legendary Cubs fan — by declaring Steve Goodman Day in Illinois.


Quinn will be joined by Goodman’s mother, Minnette Goodman, Goodman’s close friend, longtime WGN radio and television host, Roy Leonard, and Goodman’s biographer, Clay Eals, author of Steve Goodman: Facing the Music, at a ceremony in the 15th floor Blue Room of the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago.
“Today, nearly a quarter century after Steve Goodman’s untimely death, his anthem 'Go Cubs Go' is played at Wrigley Field whenever the Cubs win at home,” Quinn said. “Tomorrow night, Cubs fans throughout our nation will be waiting to hear his voice resonating once more throughout the Friendly Confines, and they will pay homage to Steve Goodman’s talent and his undying faith in his home team by singing along.”


Goodman, born and raised in Chicago, was a singer-songwriter whose warm voice, engaging stage presence and masterful guitar playing made him an icon of the Chicago folk music scene of the 1970s. Best known for his enduring ballad, “City of New Orleans,” Goodman wrote intelligent, insightful and often wickedly funny lyrics that spoke to the heart of Chicago.


Whether he was eulogizing the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, skewering illegal car-towing services or — in two of his most popular tunes — expressing the bittersweet emotions of the often heartbroken but ever hopeful lifelong Cubs fan, Steve Goodman and his music were, most profoundly, Chicago’s very own.


The Chicago Cubs commissioned Goodman to write “Go Cubs Go” in early 1984, as the opening theme for WGN’s game broadcasts. At that time, Goodman — who had been battling leukemia for some 15 years — was better known for his wry song, “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request.” But with the bouncy, upbeat “Go Cubs Go,” Goodman expressed the undying optimism of Chicago’s North Side fans. His optimism proved well-founded: That very season – perhaps inspired by Goodman’s lyric, “the Cubs are gonna win today,” – the Cubs clinched the NL East Championship and made their first post-season appearance since 1945.


Sadly, Goodman did not live to see post-season play in Wrigley Field. He died at age 36 on Sept. 20, 1984, four days before the Cubs clinched the Division title — and 17 days before the Cubs blew a two-game lead and lost the NL pennant to the Padres.


This year, however, Cubs fans nationwide are raising their voices as Chicago’s North Side team makes its way to the World Series Championship.


“It’s a privilege to declare Steve Goodman Day in Illinois, to honor this great Chicago musician and Cubs fan,” Quinn said. “I know that even Cardinals and Sox fans will join me in celebrating the life and extraordinary talent of Steve Goodman.”
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Courtesy of:
Office of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph Street, Suite 15-200
Chicago, IL 60601
(ph) 312 814 8760

GO CUBS GO

Baseball season's on the way
Well you better get ready for a brand new day
The Cubs are gonna win today


CHORUS
They're singing, Go Cubs go, go Cubs go
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go Cubs go, go Cubs go
Hey Chicago what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today


They got the power, they got the speed
To be the best in the National League
Well, this is the year and the Cubs are real
So come on down to Wrigley Field


CHORUS
We're singing now Go Cubs go, go Cubs go
Hey Chicago what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go Cubs go, go Cubs go
Hey Chicago what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today


Baseball time is here again
You can catch it all on WGN
So step your feet and clap your hands
The Chicago Cubs got the greatest fans


CHORUS
Hear them singing now
Go Cubs go, go Cubs go
Hey Chicago what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today
Go Cubs go, go Cubs go
Hey Chicago what do you say?
The Cubs are gonna win today.
Steve left the world too soon to achieve the fame he deserved. His life ended in 1984, after a sixteen year fight with leukemia. For more information check out these sub-pages:

 

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Acknowledgments

It aint too hard to get along with Somebody Elses Trouble, and in this case several other people went through a lot of trouble so that I could bring you this page.

Thanks especially goes out to Chris Wilson, for allowing the page to exist at Hepcat Corner.

Most of all, I'd like to thank the gang at Red Pajamas, & Oh Boy Records especially Al Bunetta who have seen this site and encouraged me with kind words to keep up the good work.

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About The Scrapbook The scrapbook is dedicated to a man who didn't even believe in answering machines, so I have to wonder just what Stevie would think of the internet. I guess he'd approach it with both humor and apprehension. In any case from the inception of this project I've tried to keep it simple when it comes to HTML and the use of the WWW. I have purposely avoided frames, and java aplets, assuming that some people (hell even me, sometimes) can only view it with a text browsers, or perhaps are dialing in on a slow modem, or have a small monitor or a machine with limited RAM.

At the same time I wanted to make the page like a "Scrapbook" As such, I felt it was important to not make the "book" too organized. I've purposely made it so sometimes you have to go thru one page to get to another. I've also tried to throw in images when ever possible, even here I have opted to use Black & White photos to give that "scrapbook" feeling.

It also seemed to me that I should try and make it so that everytime you look at the book you could find something new. Because of this I've added hidden links to some of the images, which will bring you to other photos or perhaps a funny quote, or some off the wall tidbit. More and more of these "hidden tracks" will apear as the page develops.

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© 1995-2021 		  This web page provided courtesy of Church of Buffett, Orthodox.
Since 1995 over umteen thousand tie-dyed day glow souvenier shirt from Six Flags Over Burbank have been ordered

Tell me what you think about
The Steve Goodman Scrapbook

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