Artist:     Steve Goodman

Album:     Steve Goodman: Live ‘69

Label:     Omnivore Recordings

Release Date:     4.03.20

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Steve Goodman had risen from the dead, or so it seemed. In penning the fascinating liner notes to the late folk singer-songwriter’s new archival concert recording Live ’69, Rich Warren recounts how he’d initially learned Goodman was at death’s door. Leukemia was ravaging his body, and the news hit Warren like a ton of bricks so soon after falling for Goodman’s moving “Song for David,” as played by another Chicago folk singer, Bonnie Koloc, for WFMT’s program The Midnight Special.

Later, Warren watched Goodman play an engaging set at the Chicago folk institution the Earl of Old Town, not knowing it was, indeed, him. They met afterward, and a dumbfounded Warren, still trying to process seeing Goodman alive and well, asked the spirited young artist—saved by an experimental miracle drug—if he could record him live at the Earl. Goodman’s electrifying revival hit the Chicago folk scene like a bolt of lightning, causing it to catch fire with Koloc, Fred Holstein and eventually John Prine fanning the flames. Warren, who went on to work at WFMT, was caught up in the conflagration, even going so far as to convince the University of Illinois to host a Goodman performance at the school’s 1,800-seat auditorium. It was a Monday, the first day of mid-term exam week, as Warren recalled. Only about 100 people showed up, he wrote.

Armed with rudimentary recording technology, Warren was the engineer who pristinely captured the sounds of the experience. In a cavernous hall with wonderful acoustics, the lively and energetic Goodman ran through well-chosen covers and standards that ranged from his rollicking and good-natured version of Bob Dylan’s “Country Pie” and vigorously strummed takes on Willie Dixon’s “You Can’t Judge a Book By Its Cover” and Terry Gilkyson’s lonesome train song “Fast Freight,” to stark acapella readings, steeped in melancholy, of traditional dirges “Byker Hill” – an old mining chant – and “John Barleycorn.” In contrast, lively, sunny covers of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” with a slight kiss of bluegrass, and Terry Fell’s speeding “Truck Drivin’ Man” feature Goodman and pal Bob Hoban harmonizing vocally to the rafters with carefree, unabashed joy and imperfect charm.

Ever the funny and charismatic showman, accompanied by Hoban on bass and violin, Goodman lets out a few whoops and hollers on occasion, and his sparkling humor shines through in easy stage banter, a truncated rendering of Tom Paxton’s sarcastic “Ballad of Spiro Agnew,” and a jaunty, jumping swing through Mike Smith’s “Wonderful World of Sex.” Taking his own sweet time, Goodman brings out an extended and resonant rendition of William Harris’ “Bullfrog Blues” that turns dangerous, comedic and somewhat sad in a study of romantic infidelity and its painful fallout. It crawls along with a slow, spare groove that would surely catch the attention of everyone within earshot, as would the entirety of the well-curated Live ’69, its sonic clarity and definition, warmed by a soft, sympathetic echo, honoring a performance that should have taken place in a packed house.

—Peter Lindblad