Customer Reviews

Somebody Else's Troubles

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Growing up in Wisconsin amid the folksingers and protesters who over the decades have become middle-aged Prairie Home Companion afficionados, I met Steve (and his scruffy sidekick whom I later learned was John Prine) while going to college in Madison, Wisconsin and moonlighting (literally) as a lighting designer in college music venues. Steve had an energy and wit that pervaded all of his music. Like my fellow yankee from Lilburn, GA, I hand out Steve's CDs to cherished friends, doing my small part to keep the music flowing. I was pleased to see John Prine in concert recently, still doing some of the old songs in honor of his best friend. The Ballad of Penny Evans, about a war widow of the Vietnam era - rings as cutting and fresh now, in the context of the current conflict, as it did then. Enjoy this album, and buy more - Artistic Hair is one of my personal favorites - for your friends.

I bought this album when it came out, since I recognized him as the author of "City of New Orleans". I burned it to CD years ago, and still listen. I just listened to it a minute ago, now I'm ripping the CD into iTunes for my iPod. "Ballad of Penny Evans" still makes me shudder. What a master he was. And what a cast of superstars played on this album.

"Baby, I ain't never heard you play no blues". Nowadays, B.B. King needs to wear a life-jacket.


Don't think, just buy it.

I've been looking for a copy of this recording for almost 2 years! This is in my top five all-time favorite records - and I remember the Beatles! Steve Goodman's songwriting ability was monumental. He had it all - humor, heart, and soul. He was taken from this life far too early. If you like singer-songwriters like John Prine, Arlo Guthrie or Loudon Wainwright (remember him?), you'll absolutely love this. There is no song sweeter than 'The Dutchman', none more heart-wrenching than 'The Ballad of Penny Evans'. And if 'The Vegetable Dance' doesn't make you laugh out loud, you need to see a doctor!

I thought I'd lost this group of songs forever. My old old LP wore out years ago and I have been searching for a replacement ever since. This is Steve Goodman at his best. The Dutchman makes me cry; Chicken Cordon Bleus makes me laugh, the Lincoln Park Pirates makes me shudder as I recall the tactics of those charismatic Charm School Graduates and every song in between is entitled to every bit as much praise.

I just wanted to add to all those ParrotHeads out there (Jimmy Buffett fans) that you'll see a very young Jimmy Buffett on the cover of this cd (I think I remember him using the name "Marvin Gardens") I've loved this album for almost 30 years now.

As an old friend of Steve's, it was hard to believe his immense talent. I knew him before he could even play guitar and we stayed in touch right up to his far too early demise. To this day, his friends in Chicago still get together to listen to his music- heart warming, very funny, and very real. Buy this album today. It's wonderful.

OK, that sounds hokey, but how do you write a one-line review of an album like this? "The Dutchman" has to be one of the sweetest, most poignant love songs ever written, and "The Ballad of Penny Evans" has not lost any of its strength over the decades even if it is clearly a song of the Vietnam War. Yet you'll roll on the floor over "Chicken Cordon Blues," "The Vegetable Song," or the classic "I'm My Own Grandpa," and all Chicagoans will identify with "The Lincoln Park Pirates" (you might have their equivalent in your town). We lost a marvel too young when Steve died.

I saw Steve a number of times on Boston and Cambridge in the early 70s. Once he played Symphony Hall in Boston, it was sold out and you could have heard a pin drop. He held the audience spellbound.

This is one of his earlier albums and contains a good mix of funny, sad, sentimental, and just entertaining songs.

Steve's version of The Dutchman is my all-time favorite song. I know he didn't write it, but it is such an exquisite song that it chokes me up almost forty years later. (His live version of this song is also great and includes some of the finest guitar playing you'll ever hear.)

Steve was the quintessential artist for me. He was only a few years older than me and I was hugely into folk and acoustic music back then, and still am. I felt like his music spoke directly to me.

Listening to this album is like putting on an old pair of worm slippers. Comfortable.

This a GREAT Album by a GREAT artist at the top of his game. Steve Goodman deserves to be remembered as a great songwriter, singer and performer. "Somebody Else's Troubles", "Lincoln Park Pirates", "The Ballad Of Penny Evans", "Six Hours Ahead of the Sun",and "Song For David" rank right up there with his best known tune, "The City of New Orleans". I also love his renditions of "The Dutchman" and "The Loving of the Game". This album was as great as any of those by the better known singer songwriters of the 70's like his friend John Prine or Jackson Browne. These songs don't sound out of date 40 years after this album was released. It is a must have for anyone who loves Jackson Browne's "For Everyman", James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James", Bob Dylan's "Blood On The Tracks", Ian Matthews' "If You Saw Through My Eyes", Neil Young's "Harvest", " Paul Simon's "There Goes Rhymin' Simon", Elton John's "Madman Across The Water", Graham Parson's "Grievious Angel", Joni Mitchell's "Blue", Linda Rhonstadt's "Heart Like A Wheel", Emmylou Harris' "Luxury Liner" or "John Prine".

I knew Steve Goodman (and Brad Ellis) and his demented sidekick, John Prine, from my days as a bartender at the Earl of Old Town in 1970.

It is difficult for me to describe the beauty, the craftsmanship, the honesty, the hilarity of Steve's music. As Brad notes in his review, Steve died way too young.

I guarantee you will not be disappointed if you buy this album. I am on my forth copy now, since I keep giving them away to my friends, some of whom don't know and believe in the genius of Steve Goodman.

I also highly recommend "No Big Surprise", the compilation album of almost all of Steve's songs and performances.