The other week, after posting a bunch of songs by Phil Ochs, I posted a wonderful cover of one of his songs, "When I'm Gone," here by Sarah Lee Guthrie, daughter of Arlo and granddaughter of Woody. When finding that, I also came across another recording of hers performing Steve Goodman's great song, "The City of New Orleans." And my immediate reaction when I saw it was great pleasure of her singing a Steve Goodman song. It was only after the audience started applauding when she started it, which initially surprised me -- other than, how nice, they're applauding a Steve Goodman song -- that it finally kicked in that they were applauding because it was a song her father made famous! Okay, I'm sometimes slow on the uptake, but that's due here to my great love of Steve Goodman songs. I like her version very much, though it's more sweet than I prefer with the song, that I think has a driving quality to it, like the rhythm of a train. But given that one of the original lines in the song is "Riding their father's magic carpet made of steam / the rhythm of the train is all they dream," having a sweet, wistful interpretation is certainly appropriate. (By the way, Arlo Guthrie changed that line -- I believe with Steve Goodman's approval, though Goodman always sang it his original way -- -""Riding their father's magic carpet made of steel / the rhythm of the train is all they feel.") So, backed up by Jeremy Irion, here from 2015 is Sarah Lee Guthrie with "The City of New Orleans." As a bonus, here is Arlo Guthrie in 2019 singing lead in with his memorable rendition of "The City of New Orleans," along with his daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie singing backup. Because of the gentleness of her voice, and the fact that she is, after all, singing backup, his lead vocal predominates. But it's a wonderful performance to have a record of.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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