It took several years, over a thousand interviews and a whole lot of reearch, but FACING THE MUSIC, Clay Eals‘ biography of folk singer Steve Goodman – best known for the song “City of New Orleans” – has landed on shelves courtesy Canadian-based publisher ECW Press. He tells the Seattle Times why the whopping 778-page biography had to be written.
“I wooed my wife with his songs,” Eals recalled to the paper during a recent interview from his home in Seattle. “I sent her tapes. I saw him perform. He was just the best.” As he began to talk to musicians, relatives and friends who knew Goodman, Eals became amazed at how many lives Goodman’s music touched. Eventually, the book ballooned to include 540 photographs and an 18-track CD of songs dedicated to Goodman. But 800 pages for a guy with a single hit song?
“Like many people, I thought of Steve Goodman and I thought, ‘OK, “City of New Orleans.” ‘ And I thought, ‘What else?’ ” said Jack David, head of ECW Press. But when he began to read Eals’ manuscript, he was enchanted by an opening chapter recounting a 1984 performance at a small nightclub in the Midwest where Goodman, gaunt and just months from death, captivated the audience. Time will tell how the book is received but Eals is more than satisfied. “This is going to sound silly or morbid, but I feel like I can die now,” Eals says. “I feel like this is the project I was meant to do.”