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Book Cover for: Steve Goodman: Facing the Music [With Access Code], Clay Eals

Steve Goodman: Facing the Music [With Access Code]

Clay Eals

Silver Medal Winner:Independent Publisher Book Awards -Biography (2008)
Steve Goodman wrote "Good mornin' America, how are ya" into the nation's consciousness, becoming one of the most respected singer/songwriters of the 1970s and early 80s. With warmth and wit, he charmed better-known peers, top critics, and countless fans. Yet this 5-foot-2 troubadour nearly lost his chance at adult life. Diagnosed with leukemia at age 20, Goodman kept it a secret for 16 years as he sang for a generation that assumed it would live forever.

This biography scrutinizes a theme that Goodman knew all too well: when death is imminent, we grasp that life is about connecting with others. Goodman's childhood, the untold full story of "City of New Orleans," his launching by the unlikely duo of Kris Kristofferson and Paul Anka, his teaming with "wild and crazy" Steve Martin for more than 200 shows, his landmark recordings and two Grammy awards all get extensive attention in this biography. The book delves into his personal and professional life, drawing on over 850 original interviews with Goodman's family, childhood and adult friends, and a diversity of celebrities.

"From the cradle to the crypt, it's a mighty short trip," Goodman wrote in a song shortly before his 1984 death. This biography verifies that the universality of his work -- hilarious, political, romantic, or all three rolled into one -- resonates deeply in today's musical firmament.

Book Details

  • Publisher: ECW Press
  • Publish Date: May 15th, 2007
  • Pages: 800
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.96in - 8.06in - 1.85in - 4.07lb
  • EAN: 9781550227321
  • Categories: Genres & Styles - Pop VocalMusic

About the Author

Clay Eals has written for several regional newspapers, including the Portland Oregonian. He is the editor of West Side Story, and the author of Every Time a Bell Rings, a biography of Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu in It's a Wonderful Life. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Praise for this book

"Goodman fans-- there are many in Canada, where he often performed-- will enjoy the tales here." -- "Globe and Mail"
"Goodman fans--there are many in Canada, where he often performed--will enjoy the tales here." --"Globe and Mail"
"Goodman fans-there are many in Canada, where he often performed-will enjoy the tales here." -"Globe and Mail"
"He was just an irrepressible impish jukebox of songs and energy." --Bonnie Raitt
"More than a biography,"" "Facing the Music" is a labor of love." --The Associated Press
"The definitive biography of the beloved Chicago singer-songwriter." --"Chicago Sun-Times"
"More complete and detailed than anyone could have expected. . . . Exhilarating and enlightening." --"Sing Out!"
"Nineteen chapters containing over seven hundred pages of detailed and informative, nay, jaw-dropping biographical text." --FolkWax
"This loving biography . . . becomes so interesting that you want to slow down and savour every scene." "--Winnipeg Free Press"
"Eals . . . conducted more than 1,000 interviews, including . . . Goodman's high school classmate and friend Hillary Clinton." --OregonLive.com
"An exhaustive bio."" --Washington Post"
"Bursting with photographs, personal remembrances, and straightforward reportage, [this]is a hefty book that, when you hold it in your hands, looks and feels like an atlas of a human life." --"Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
"More than a biography", ""Facing the Music" is a labor of love." --The Associated Press
"An exhaustive bio." " --Washington Post"