Steve Goodman Guitar Lessons: Folk and Country Songs You Can Play

Steve Goodman only lived to be 36, but the Chicago singer-songwriter left behind some of the best-loved folk and country songs of the 1970s.

He wrote “City of New Orleans,” which Arlo Guthrie took onto the pop charts and Willie Nelson carried to No. 1 on the country chart, and he co-wrote songs with his friend John Prine, including “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.”

On this page you’ll find six Steve Goodman lessons that I’ve arranged and taught, from the train song that made his name to Michael Peter Smith’s tender “The Dutchman.” Each lesson shows you the chords, the rhythm pattern and the picking touches that give his songs their warmth.

City Of New Orleans was written by Steve Goodman in 1970 after riding the Illinois Central Railroad’s passenger train of the same name, which ran from Chicago to New Orleans.

Goodman recorded it first on his 1971 self-titled debut album, produced by Kris Kristofferson and Norbert Putnam. After Arlo Guthrie heard him play it in a Chicago club, Guthrie recorded it for his 1972 album Hobo’s Lullaby, and it reached No. 18 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on the adult contemporary chart.

Willie Nelson’s 1984 version went to No. 1 on the country chart, and it earned Good

How Much Tequila Did I Drink Last Night is a good-natured morning-after confession that Steve Goodman wrote with his close friend John Prine. It appears on Affordable Art, one of the last albums Goodman made before his death from leukemia in September 1984, released on his own Red Pajamas label.

Prine, who also wrote and sang on the album’s duet “Souvenirs,” shares the writing credit here. DownBeat called the song slight but charming, and Rolling Stone said it makes you wonder whether Goodman could have had a successful career as a Nashville songwriter. Goodman also produced John Prine’s 1978 album Bruised Orange. The track runs about two and a half minutes, and it wasn’t a chart hit.

Did I Drink Last Night" has been performed by various artists over the years, further demonstrating the song's enduring appeal.

The 20th Century Is Almost Over was co-written by Steve Goodman and his friend John Prine, and it’s a gently funny look at how fast time slips away.

The chorus ends with the reminder that it’s happening “all over this world,” so everyone shares the same ticking clock. Goodman first released it on his 1977 album Say It in Private, produced by Joel Dorn, and Pete Seeger reportedly plays banjo on the recording.

Prine never recorded it himself, but Johnny Cash cut it in 1980, and The Highwaymen, made up of Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, recorded it in 1985. The song opens in 1899, when everyone sang “Auld Lang Syne,” and asks where the century went.

The Dutchman was written in 1968 by Chicago songwriter Michael Peter Smith, who had never visited the Netherlands. The song follows an elderly Amsterdam couple, the gentle Dutchman and his devoted wife Margaret, as he drifts away from her while she tends to him with unconditional love.

Smith’s song reached a wide audience when Steve Goodman made it the opening track of his second album, Somebody Else’s Troubles, released in 1972.

Goodman had been performing it live before he recorded it. Smith later asked Irish singer Liam Clancy to sing it, and Clancy recorded it with Tommy Makem in 1983. Jerry Jeff Walker, Suzy Bogguss and Celtic Thunder have also recorded it. Smith died in 2020 at age 78.

You Never Even Called Me By Man Name started as a joke between friends. Steve Goodman wrote it with John Prine in a New York hotel room in 1971, and Prine, thinking it was a goofy novelty, asked to be left off the credits. Goodman put it on his 1971 debut album as a tongue-in-cheek parody of country clichés.

David Allan Coe later told Goodman the song wasn’t truly a country song because it left out mama, trains, trucks, prison and getting drunk, so Goodman added a closing verse that included all five, and Coe called it the “perfect country and western song.” Coe’s recording went to No. 8 on the country chart in 1975, and Doug Supernaw also recorded it in 1994.

You're The Girl I Love is a sweet, direct love song from Steve Goodman’s 1977 album Say It in Private, where it’s the second track on side one, right after “I’m Attracted to You.”

Joel Dorn produced the album, which Goodman recorded at Regent Sound Studios in New York for Asylum Records, and he plays guitar on all but one of its songs. A contemporary review called the record serious, with lyrics that are direct and to the point, and praised how smoothly the two opening love songs fit together.

The album also includes “My Old Man,” Goodman’s tribute to his father, and “The 20th Century Is Almost Over,” which he co-wrote with John Prine.

Kirby Swinemar is an acoustic guitar instructor, performer and song arranger who has taught online for 21 years and created more than 4,000 original acoustic guitar lessons. He specialises in song-based acoustic guitar instruction, rhythm guitar techniques, and creating full-sounding solo arrangements that help beginner and intermediate players move beyond basic strumming.

Explore more of Kirby's work at Kirby's Guitar Lessons, watch his performances and tutorials on his YouTube Channel or follow him on Facebook. You can also learn more about his teaching background on the About Me page.