Some of the most fascinating music in America has folk origins. Before contracts and patents took over the music industry, things worked off an honor system of sorts, which admittedly got more complicated the more music was commercialized. However, the sharing of songs and borrowing of melodies helped give rise to some of the most prolific music of our day.
Chicago singer-songwriter Steve Goodman is a prime example. On the way to New Orleans with his wife aboard the Illinois Central train to visit her grandmother, he was inspired by the gorgeous scenery to pen a tune in homage to the landscape. According to Songfacts, Goodman recorded it for his 1971 self-titled debut album after he learned the train line was set to be decommissioned. He released “City of New Orleans” as a single in 1972, but it ultimately didn’t go anywhere under his recording.
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That same year, he met fellow troubadour Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie, and reportedly begged him to listen to the song. Guthrie agreed to listen to it in a Chicago bar for as long as it took for him to finish his beer, and consequently, completely fell in love with it. He asked if he could take a stab at recording it, and when he did, it shot up to No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dolly Parton even sang it in 1976 on her show Dolly.
In 1984, Willie Nelson retooled the song and took it all the way to No. 1. That year, the tune won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song, and since that is primarily a songwriting category, it was bestowed upon Goodman posthumously. Tragically, Goodman died that same year Nelson recorded it, on September 20, 1984, at the age of 36 after battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Goodman’s career inspired many artists. “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” was co-written by Goodman but became a massive hit for David Allan Coe, as did his “Go Cubs Go,” which remains an iconic anthem written for the Chicago Cubs. As Goodman lived with his cancer diagnosis for over a decade, he originally wrote “A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request,” but it was deemed too dark by the league.
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