penny evans - anti-war song by steve goodman

[Gato Moteado]

Run time: 02:54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6W_a2U-bIU   Posted on YouTube: October 08, 2006 By YouTube Member: jguth3 Views on YouTube: 46513   Posted on DU: January 31, 2007 By DU Member: Gato Moteado Views on DU: 831

 
i got to see steve when i lived in chicago. i've been a huge fan ever since that day.

he died of leukemia in 1984.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. you're very lucky to have seen him . . .

. . . i've seen Prine. Wish I could've seen them together.

Thanks for the post.

[Gato Moteado]

2. yeah, i've seen prine a bunch......

i know the two go together....when you mention one you almost always have to mention the other. both were great songwriters and great friends, but there was a huge difference between the two artists. steve was more than just a writer, he was an amazing performer. i never saw a guy who could play guitar with the zest and enthusiasm he did. he gets unfairly pigeon-holed as a folk artist, but his music transcended folk music. he played a lot of jazz, swing and tin pan alley stuff and those styles creeped their way into a lot of his songs.

he was the reason i started playing the guitar and the reason i want to smash my guitars into little pieces in frustration.

i wish there was a healthy cache of unreleased video footage of steve on youtube. most of the clips are from the dvd of his austin city limits appearance. the penny evans clip was one i had never seen.

here's a clip from that same show where he does a swing version of red, red robin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8b_Uus3A7g

hardly seems like a guy battling with leukemia.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. You just made my day.

Wow. I've got recordings of him doing that Tin Pan Alley stuff. Doesn't compare to watching him tear up a Gibson, with my own two eyes . . . my God. What an brilliant guy, with such an ebullient spirit. He could play and sing anything he wanted to.

Then there's songs like "I could teach you to dance". It's mostly air. Arguably even more challenging to play something like that.

I don't know why the hell I never went to see him . . .

Moreover, I don't know why I never developed any kind of sense of urgency. People that are dying . . . occasionally wind up having more fun than the majority of us.

Thank you again, Gato.

--Gato

[Gato Moteado]

6. did you ever hear him tear up "sin to tell a lie" on one of his studio albums?

normally i like his live stuff better than his studio stuff because kristofferson produced a lot of his studio stuff and really schmaltzed it up. the live stuff usually seemed way better. but there's a version of just him and an acoustic guitar doing "sin to tell a lie" and it's unbelievable.

also, check out michael smith from chicago....he wrote "the dutchman". i took guitar lessons from his wife at the old town school of music and she showed me how to play that song. pick up a michael smith cd when you get a chance.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

7. yes i do!!!

It's out of this world.

(I also have Fats Wallers's version from the thirties--it's obvious that Steve G. had heard that.)

Yes, that's one of the greatest recordings ever. Joyous, outrageous performance . . . I always have to listen to it over and over, it's so damned good. It's like being on a train going 110 miles an hour.

Interesting about Smith, and you having taken lessons from his wife.

[Redstone]

3. It hurt to lose him. Same as with Jim Croce.

Redstone

[Gato Moteado]

5. yeah, i remember the day goodman died......

....it was right near the end of the '84 season and the cubs looked like they were on their way to the world series. steve passed away and the cubs followed suit shortly in san diego.

:(