STEVE GOODMAN
''HOT SPOT''
1980
33:17
1 Danger
Steve Goodman / Sean Kelly / Mike Smith 3:47
2 Bobby Don't Stop
Steve Goodman / Bill LaBounty 3:29
3 Sometimes Love Forgets
Michael Garvin / Bill LaBounty 4:25
4 Still Trying to Care
Peter Bunetta / Rick Chudacoff / Steve Goodman 4:05
5 Hit and Run Lover
Steve Goodman / Mike Smith 3:58
6 Trust Me
Steve Goodman 3:41
7 Part of Your Life
Steve Goodman / Harry Waller 3:39
8 Can't Find My Heart
Steve Goodman 3:38
9 Sdrawkcab Klat (Talk Backwards)
Steve Goodman / Mike Smith 2:35
Jeff Baxter/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Pedal Steel
Gary Brandt/Vocal Arrangement
Peter Bunetta/Drums, Finger Snaps, Handclapping, Percussion
Rick Chudacoff/Bass, Finger Snaps
Bill Elliott/Keyboards, String Arrangements
Alan Estes/Percussion
Amos Garrett/Guitar
Steve Goodman/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Bill Labamty/Vocals
Bill LaBounty/Vocals (Background)
Arno Lucas/Finger Snaps, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Brian Ray/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar
Jim Rothermel/Harmonica, Horn, Sax (Alto), Saxophone
Sid Sharp/Concert Master
Phoebe Snow/Vocals
Matthew Weiner/Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Hot Spot, Steve Goodman's seventh album overall, was also his fifth LP on what presumably was a five-record deal with Asylum Records. The first two albums on that deal had grazed the bottom of the charts and the next two had missed the charts entirely; Hot Spot may have constituted Goodman's last shot with a big label. He used that shot to try for a pop hit. The sound of the disc was very much in keeping with the style of pop/rock purveyed in Los Angeles recording studios in the late '70s and early '80s, an adult contemporary, radio-ready commercial approach that mixed in occasional disco rhythms and strings ("Bobby Don't Stop") with power ballads that often were arranged as duets ("Sometimes Love Forgets," featuring Phoebe Snow). The lyrical subjects ranged from romantic regret to romantic recrimination, and the overall effect was uninterruptedly smooth. Of course, that's not what one necessarily expected from Steve Goodman, the eclectic singer/songwriter, and he didn't really do it very well, sounding for the most part very restrained, even if he had written or co-written most of the songs. The session musicians were not among L.A.'s A-list, except for guitarist Jeff Baxter, but they came close enough. Still, one listen to "Sometimes Love Forgets," on which Snow turned in a typically memorable performance while Goodman just sounded embarrassed, indicated that this was a case of an artist trying, in a perfunctory manner, to be something he clearly was not. It wasn't until the last track, the jazzy novelty "Sdrawkcab Klat (Talk Backwards)," that it sounded like anybody was having any fun at all. And by then it was really too late. Not surprisingly, Hot Spot turned out to be Goodman's final major-label release.
BIOGRAPHY
courtesty of Wikipedia
Steve Goodman - July 25, 1948 - September 20, 1984
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Goodman began writing and performing songs as a teenager. By 1969, after a brief sojourn in New York City's Washington Square, Goodman was a regular performer at the well-known Earl of Old Town folk music club in Chicago, while attending Lake Forest College. During this time Goodman also married Nancy Pruter, and paid bills by writing and singing advertising jingles.
It was also during this time that Goodman wrote many of his most enduring songs, including "City of New Orleans", the song which would become most associated with Goodman. Goodman's songs first appeared on a locally-produced record, Gathering at the Earl of Old Town, in 1971.
In 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson, impressed with Goodman, introduced him to Paul Anka who brought Goodman to New York to record some demos; these resulted in Goodman signing a contract with Buddah Records.
Seeing Arlo Guthrie in a bar, Goodman asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed on the condition that Goodman buy him a beer first; Goodman played "City of New Orleans" which Guthrie liked enough that he asked for the right to record it. Guthrie's version of the song became a hit in 1972, and provided Goodman with enough financial success to make his music a full-time career. The song would become an American standard, covered by many other musicians including Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, and Willie Nelson.
In 1974, singer David Allen Coe achieved considerable success on the country charts with Goodman's "You Never Even Call Me By My Name", a song which good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics.
Goodman's own success as a recording artist was more limited. Although known in folk circles as a great song writer and highly influential, his albums received more critical than commercial success.
Goodman's singing career remained centered around the folk music clubs of Chicago, and Goodman wrote and performed many humorous songs about the city, including two about the Chicago Cubs: "The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" and "Go, Cubs, Go." Others included "The Lincoln Park Pirates", about the notorious Lincoln Towing Company, and "Daley's Gone," about Mayor Richard J. Daley. Another comic highlight is "Vegematic," about a man who falls asleep while watching late-night TV and dreams he ordered a slew of products he saw on infomercials. He could also write serious songs, most notably "My Old Man," a tribute to Goodman's father, Bud Goodman, a used car salesman.
Goodman was closely involved with the Old Town School of Folk Music, where he met and mentored his good friend, John Prine. Ironically one of Goodman's biggest hits was a song he never wrote; The Dutchman which he popularised, was written by Michael Peter Smith.
Around the time Goodman's career began to take off, he was diagnosed with leukemia. The entire time he was writing and singing, he was also fighting cancer. On September 20, 1984, Goodman died at University of Washington Hospital in Seattle, Washington . Eleven days later, the Chicago Cubs, the baseball team Goodman rooted for and wrote two songs about, would play their first play-off game since 1945 at Wrigley Field.
MORE BIOGRAPHY
BY ITUNES
Growing up in what he called "a Midwestern middle-class Jewish family," Steve Goodman began playing the guitar as a teenager. He was influenced by the folk revival of the early '60s and by country performers such as Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. After attending college in the mid-'60s, he turned to playing in Chicago clubs by night and writing commercial jingles by day. In 1971, he opened for Kris Kristofferson and was seen by Paul Anka, who financed demo recordings that led to a contract with Buddah Records and the release of Steve Goodman, which featured his train song "The City of New Orleans," a Top 40 hit for Arlo Guthrie in 1972 and now a folk standard. Goodman made a second album for Buddah, Somebody Else's Troubles (1973), then broke with the label, which went on to issue an outtakes record, The Essential Steve Goodman (1975). Goodman moved to the singer/songwriter-oriented West Coast label Asylum for his first charting album Jessie's Jig & Other Favorites in 1975, the same year that outlaw country singer David Allen Coe made the Top Ten of the country charts with a cover of his "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" from the Steve Goodman album. Goodman's subsequent Asylum albums were Words We Can Dance To (April 1976) (featuring "Banana Republics," popularized by Jimmy Buffett), Say It in Private (October 1977), High and Outside (February 1979), and Hot Spot (1980). None became a major commercial success, but Goodman established himself on the national club and festival circuits, frequently appearing with mandolin player Jethro Burns, formerly of the country duo Homer & Jethro. Goodman turned record producer for his friend and fellow Chicagoan John Prine on Prine's 1978 album Bruised Orange. In 1983, Goodman followed Prine in establishing his own independent label, Red Pajamas, which released the live Artistic Hair and Affordable Art (1984). Goodman died of leukemia after battling the disease for many years. Red Pajamas released Santa Ana Winds (1984) posthumously, as well as a double-disc LP drawn from a concert in his memory, A Tribute to Steve Goodman, which featured John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, and others. After a second posthumous release, Unfinished Business, Red Pajamas licensed the Asylum material and put out two Best of the Asylum Years compilations.
OFFICIAL SITE
''HOT SPOT''
1980
33:17
1 Danger
Steve Goodman / Sean Kelly / Mike Smith 3:47
2 Bobby Don't Stop
Steve Goodman / Bill LaBounty 3:29
3 Sometimes Love Forgets
Michael Garvin / Bill LaBounty 4:25
4 Still Trying to Care
Peter Bunetta / Rick Chudacoff / Steve Goodman 4:05
5 Hit and Run Lover
Steve Goodman / Mike Smith 3:58
6 Trust Me
Steve Goodman 3:41
7 Part of Your Life
Steve Goodman / Harry Waller 3:39
8 Can't Find My Heart
Steve Goodman 3:38
9 Sdrawkcab Klat (Talk Backwards)
Steve Goodman / Mike Smith 2:35
Jeff Baxter/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Pedal Steel
Gary Brandt/Vocal Arrangement
Peter Bunetta/Drums, Finger Snaps, Handclapping, Percussion
Rick Chudacoff/Bass, Finger Snaps
Bill Elliott/Keyboards, String Arrangements
Alan Estes/Percussion
Amos Garrett/Guitar
Steve Goodman/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Bill Labamty/Vocals
Bill LaBounty/Vocals (Background)
Arno Lucas/Finger Snaps, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Brian Ray/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar
Jim Rothermel/Harmonica, Horn, Sax (Alto), Saxophone
Sid Sharp/Concert Master
Phoebe Snow/Vocals
Matthew Weiner/Vocals (Background)
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Hot Spot, Steve Goodman's seventh album overall, was also his fifth LP on what presumably was a five-record deal with Asylum Records. The first two albums on that deal had grazed the bottom of the charts and the next two had missed the charts entirely; Hot Spot may have constituted Goodman's last shot with a big label. He used that shot to try for a pop hit. The sound of the disc was very much in keeping with the style of pop/rock purveyed in Los Angeles recording studios in the late '70s and early '80s, an adult contemporary, radio-ready commercial approach that mixed in occasional disco rhythms and strings ("Bobby Don't Stop") with power ballads that often were arranged as duets ("Sometimes Love Forgets," featuring Phoebe Snow). The lyrical subjects ranged from romantic regret to romantic recrimination, and the overall effect was uninterruptedly smooth. Of course, that's not what one necessarily expected from Steve Goodman, the eclectic singer/songwriter, and he didn't really do it very well, sounding for the most part very restrained, even if he had written or co-written most of the songs. The session musicians were not among L.A.'s A-list, except for guitarist Jeff Baxter, but they came close enough. Still, one listen to "Sometimes Love Forgets," on which Snow turned in a typically memorable performance while Goodman just sounded embarrassed, indicated that this was a case of an artist trying, in a perfunctory manner, to be something he clearly was not. It wasn't until the last track, the jazzy novelty "Sdrawkcab Klat (Talk Backwards)," that it sounded like anybody was having any fun at all. And by then it was really too late. Not surprisingly, Hot Spot turned out to be Goodman's final major-label release.
BIOGRAPHY
courtesty of Wikipedia
Steve Goodman - July 25, 1948 - September 20, 1984
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Goodman began writing and performing songs as a teenager. By 1969, after a brief sojourn in New York City's Washington Square, Goodman was a regular performer at the well-known Earl of Old Town folk music club in Chicago, while attending Lake Forest College. During this time Goodman also married Nancy Pruter, and paid bills by writing and singing advertising jingles.
It was also during this time that Goodman wrote many of his most enduring songs, including "City of New Orleans", the song which would become most associated with Goodman. Goodman's songs first appeared on a locally-produced record, Gathering at the Earl of Old Town, in 1971.
In 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson. Kristofferson, impressed with Goodman, introduced him to Paul Anka who brought Goodman to New York to record some demos; these resulted in Goodman signing a contract with Buddah Records.
Seeing Arlo Guthrie in a bar, Goodman asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed on the condition that Goodman buy him a beer first; Goodman played "City of New Orleans" which Guthrie liked enough that he asked for the right to record it. Guthrie's version of the song became a hit in 1972, and provided Goodman with enough financial success to make his music a full-time career. The song would become an American standard, covered by many other musicians including Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, and Willie Nelson.
In 1974, singer David Allen Coe achieved considerable success on the country charts with Goodman's "You Never Even Call Me By My Name", a song which good-naturedly spoofed stereotypical country music lyrics.
Goodman's own success as a recording artist was more limited. Although known in folk circles as a great song writer and highly influential, his albums received more critical than commercial success.
Goodman's singing career remained centered around the folk music clubs of Chicago, and Goodman wrote and performed many humorous songs about the city, including two about the Chicago Cubs: "The Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" and "Go, Cubs, Go." Others included "The Lincoln Park Pirates", about the notorious Lincoln Towing Company, and "Daley's Gone," about Mayor Richard J. Daley. Another comic highlight is "Vegematic," about a man who falls asleep while watching late-night TV and dreams he ordered a slew of products he saw on infomercials. He could also write serious songs, most notably "My Old Man," a tribute to Goodman's father, Bud Goodman, a used car salesman.
Goodman was closely involved with the Old Town School of Folk Music, where he met and mentored his good friend, John Prine. Ironically one of Goodman's biggest hits was a song he never wrote; The Dutchman which he popularised, was written by Michael Peter Smith.
Around the time Goodman's career began to take off, he was diagnosed with leukemia. The entire time he was writing and singing, he was also fighting cancer. On September 20, 1984, Goodman died at University of Washington Hospital in Seattle, Washington . Eleven days later, the Chicago Cubs, the baseball team Goodman rooted for and wrote two songs about, would play their first play-off game since 1945 at Wrigley Field.
MORE BIOGRAPHY
BY ITUNES
Growing up in what he called "a Midwestern middle-class Jewish family," Steve Goodman began playing the guitar as a teenager. He was influenced by the folk revival of the early '60s and by country performers such as Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. After attending college in the mid-'60s, he turned to playing in Chicago clubs by night and writing commercial jingles by day. In 1971, he opened for Kris Kristofferson and was seen by Paul Anka, who financed demo recordings that led to a contract with Buddah Records and the release of Steve Goodman, which featured his train song "The City of New Orleans," a Top 40 hit for Arlo Guthrie in 1972 and now a folk standard. Goodman made a second album for Buddah, Somebody Else's Troubles (1973), then broke with the label, which went on to issue an outtakes record, The Essential Steve Goodman (1975). Goodman moved to the singer/songwriter-oriented West Coast label Asylum for his first charting album Jessie's Jig & Other Favorites in 1975, the same year that outlaw country singer David Allen Coe made the Top Ten of the country charts with a cover of his "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" from the Steve Goodman album. Goodman's subsequent Asylum albums were Words We Can Dance To (April 1976) (featuring "Banana Republics," popularized by Jimmy Buffett), Say It in Private (October 1977), High and Outside (February 1979), and Hot Spot (1980). None became a major commercial success, but Goodman established himself on the national club and festival circuits, frequently appearing with mandolin player Jethro Burns, formerly of the country duo Homer & Jethro. Goodman turned record producer for his friend and fellow Chicagoan John Prine on Prine's 1978 album Bruised Orange. In 1983, Goodman followed Prine in establishing his own independent label, Red Pajamas, which released the live Artistic Hair and Affordable Art (1984). Goodman died of leukemia after battling the disease for many years. Red Pajamas released Santa Ana Winds (1984) posthumously, as well as a double-disc LP drawn from a concert in his memory, A Tribute to Steve Goodman, which featured John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, and others. After a second posthumous release, Unfinished Business, Red Pajamas licensed the Asylum material and put out two Best of the Asylum Years compilations.
OFFICIAL SITE
