Live at the Earl of Old Town

Steve Goodman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Red Pajamas
• ASIN: B000HIVJ5A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,889 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Lincoln Park Pirates

2. Red, Red Robin

3. Three-Legged Man

4. I'll Fly Away

5. Grand Canyon Song

6. Men Who Love Women Who Love Men

7. What Have You Done for Me Lately

8. I Gotta Hand It to You

9. The Family Tree

10. Truck Driving Man

11. The Auctioneer

12. Lost Highway

13. City of New Orleans

14. Let's Give a Party

15. Rockin' Robin

16. When the Cubs Go Marching In

17. Old Smoothies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great., November 28, 2006

By 

B. Stanley (Shorewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at the Earl of Old Town (Audio CD)

Since the only review here asks for someone to review this album. I will endeavor to do so. However, I'm far from a Steve Goodman expert, but living near Chicago for most of my life I'm familiar with his work.

This is an acoustic, mostly solo set recorded in 1978. While I initially worried about listening to a set from which nothing has seen the light of day in 28 years, the audio quality is extremely good. Nothing to worry about there.

The performance is a typical set of Goodman's songs, which usually fall into either good-natured ribbings or sentimental portraits (and sometimes a combination of the two). Songs like the one he borrows from Shel Silverstein (Three-Legged Man) also seem a natural fit for his repetoire.

Goodman apparently had robins on the brain that day as he covers "When the Red, Red Robin Goes Bob, Bob, Bobbing Along" and "Rocking Robin" toward the beginning and end of the concert. (It seems the disc runs in the chronological order of the set). He also does a fairly bluesy rendition of the country classic "Lost Highway".

Goodman doesn't address the audience much between songs, nor does he banter with Jethro Burns (mandolin) or Corky Siegel (harmonica) who show up for a few numbers.

Goodman's rendition of his own "City of New Orleans" is a very different interpretation of the Arlo Guthrie version that made it famous.

He ends with an updating of "When the Saints Go Marching In" with lyrics celebrating (usually) then-current Chicago Cubs players and the state of baseball in the city of Chicago. Goodman's enthusiasm when he stops singing and mostly shouts his battle cry of the north-side team carries the audience and the listener along with him.

Following such a celebratory upbeat climax, Goodman goes against all performance wisdom by closing with a sad, slow song. It's crazy, but it works. "Old Smoothies" a sweetly melancholy portrait of the writer and his grandparents watching senior citizens skate in an ice show, reduces the attentive listener to tears.

It must have been a great night in August of '78 at the Earl of Old Town and for those of us too young to have been there, this goes a long way to explaining the following Steve Goodman had.

I buy lots of albums, so it's rare that play one more than once after I first get it. This album is an exception, and it's one of the best live albums I've ever heard.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally! Better Than Ever - A New Release!, March 1, 2007

By 

Willie Boy - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Live at the Earl of Old Town (Audio CD)

Friends I can't say enough about this show and its intelligent laughter.

The glorious guitar of an accurate string flicker filling the smiles in the room. you can feel the aura of the crowd and Steve all as one.

A really beautiful show and one of the best releases to date.

Grand sound that lingers through the corridors of your mind.

thanks for this new release!

always waiting for the next one!

Support Steve Goodman and Family

Buy the albums - they're ALL great!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steve Goodman - Live at the Earl of Old Town, March 16, 2007

By 

Dr. Charles Klein "Chuck Klein" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Earl of Old Town (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful recording of what must have been a great series of shows. Steve's infectious manner and enthusiasm come through with flying colors. Some of the songs may not be as technically excellent as the studio versions, but Steve was at his best with a live audience, and the Earl was his home base. For the Steve Goodman afficianado who, like me has pretty much everything Steve ever did, this cd is a welcome addition to the collection..............Chuck Klein