Steve Goodman: Facing the Music
by Clay Eals



Press Raves for "Facing the Music"

The Reviews and Stories You Can't Miss

  • Entertainment, Culture and More, "A Conversation with Clay Eals," by Steven Brodsky, 9-10-17, DelcoCultureVultures.com.
  • West Seattle Blog, "NPR today, updated book release ahead for ultimate Cubs fan Steve Goodman's biographer Clay Eals," Tracy Record, 10-29-16, West Seattle Blog.
  • West Seattle Herald, "Clay Eals book on Steve Goodman getting renewed attention as Chicago Cubs play the World Series," Patrick Robinson, 10-2916, West Seattle Herald.
  • Daily Herald, "Radio move from WGN fouls up 'Go, Cubs, Go' anthem," Burt Constable, 6-4-14, Daily Herald.
  • Snoqualmie Valley Record: "His Musical hero: Author Clay Eals explores American folk artist Steve Goodman's legacy with book, North Bend concert," by Carol Ladwig, 8-1-12: Snoqualmie Valley Record.
  • SnoValley Star, "Words, songs bring folk musician back to life," by Sebastian Moraga, 8-2-12, SnoValley Star.
  • Living Snoqualmie blog, "Author, Journalist and Encompass Communication Officer Clay Eals Brings His Biography, Music of Steve Goodman to Nursery at Mount Si," by Danna McCall, 8-2-12: Living Snoqualmie.
  • Sun Day, "Gone 500 miles when the day is done," by Moonlight Mojo Man, Algonquin, Illinois, 6-16-11: Sun Day.
  • West Seattle Herald/White Center News, "Pete Seeger tribute fills theater with nostalgia, hope and logs of people," story and photo by Steve Shay, 5-5-09: West Seattle Herald.
  • DorpatSherrardLamont blog, "Pete Seeger's 90th birthday hootenanny," story and photo by Jean Sherrard, 5-5-09: DorpatSherrardLamont.
  • West Seattle Herald/White Center News, "Pete Seeger's life to be celebrated at Admiral Theater," story and photo by Steve Shay, 4-23-09: West Seattle Herald.
  • West Seattle Blog, "Join Pete Seeger's multi-site 90th birthday bash at the Admiral," story and video by Tracy Record, 4-24-09: West Seattle Blog.
  • The Raizor's Edge blog, "Don't You Know Him, He's Your Native Son," review by Karen Raizor, 11-1-08: Raizor's Edge.
  • The Daily Herald, Chicago, Illinois, "World Series gone, Cubs gone; and that's not good, man," column by Burt Constable, 10-7-08: Daily Herald.
  • The Huffington Post, "Steve Goodman and the surprising story of 'Go, Cubs, Go'," column by Bob Ellsberg, 9-2-08: Huffington Post.
  • Long Beach Press-Telegram, Long Beach, California, "Bio gives music to a singer's life," story by Al Rudis, and a sidebar, "Q&A with Goodman biographer Clay Eals," by Al Rudis, both 7-20-08: Long Beach Press Telegram.
  • Major League Baseball.com, "Folk hero and Cubs fan remembered: Goodman bio highlights musician's love of Wrigley," story by Doug Miller, 7-14-08: mlb.com.
  • West Seattle Herald, Seattle, Washington, "Steve Goodman book wins medal for author Clay Eals," story by Camille Villanueva, 6-25-08: West Seattle Herald.
  • The Yummy List, Nashville, Tennessee, review by Holly Gleason, 5-5-08 (scroll down): Yummy List.
  • The Lovable Losers Literary Revue, Chicago, Illinois, " 'A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request': The Story Behind the Song," book excerpt, plus bonus excerpt on "Go, Cubs, Go," webmaster/editor Randy Richardson, 4-16-08: LLLR.
  • Spectrum Magazine, alumni quarterly for Lake Forest College, Illinois, "Steve Goodman Tribute Show," coverage of Nov. 19, 2007, event in LFC Chapel, editor Lindsay Beller, 4-08: Lake Forest College Spectrum.
  • The Washington Post, "He Wrote the Songs, and She Sings His Praises," lead item in The Reliable Source column by Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, 4-1-08: Washington Post.
  • Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Second chance at fame," article by Bill White, 3-18-08: entire article, and the wonderful graphic treatment by P-I artist John Nelson of the first page of the printed spread.
  • Bleed Cubbie Blue review by Al Yellon, 1-5-08: Bleed Cubbie Blue.
  • Dirty Linen: Folk & World Music magazine, December 2007/January 2008, book review by Michael Parrish: Dirty Linen.
  • The Republican, "Steve Goodman's legacy a group project," by columnist Tom Shea, Springfield, Massachusetts, 10-11-07: Tom Shea.
  • City Pages, "Please buy Clay Eals' wonderful Steve Goodman biography," review by Paul Demko, 10-5-07, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota: City Pages.
  • Chicago Tribune, column on "Go, Cubs, Go" by Eric Zorn, 9-27-07: Chicago Tribune.
  • FolkWax review by Arthur Wood, 8-2-07: FolkWax.
  • Associated Press feature by John Rogers, 8-2-07, appearing in and on more than 850 newspapers and Internet sites worldwide: Associated Press.
  • The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, "The little singer-songwriter who could ... until he couldn't," by Peter Feniak, 5-26-07: Globe and Mail.

    The Video and Audio You Can't Miss

  • Steve Goodman: A 10th Anniversary Bio/Concert at Folklife!, 5-29-17, YouTube.
  • NPR Weekend Edition Saturday, “Remembering Steve Goodman, The Folk Singer Who Immortalized The Chicago Cubs Anthem,” Scott Simon, 10-30-16, NPR
  • Syndicated show, Anything Goes!!, host Lise Avery, 10-8-12. Internet site: Anything Goes (two parts).
  • WCHE-AM, Steven Brodsky's "The Entertainment and Culture Show," West Chester, PA, 8-31-12, (download podcast). Internet site: WCHE-AM.
  • WGN-AM, Chicago, interview, 7-05-12: WGN-AM.
  • NBC Today, three-and-a-half-minute segment by Chicago bureau chief Mike Leonard on Steve Goodman and "Go, Cubs, Go," September 2008: NBC Today.
  • Lake Champlain Access Television, Burlington, Vermont, 30-minute interview by Rik Palieri, "Songwriters Notebook," 8-23-07. Part 1 of 11 parts is posted on YouTube: Songwriters Notebook. To see the other 10 parts, click on the box "More from this user." You also can find all 11 parts at the site of Rebecca Padula: Instant Coffeehouse.
  • WHYY 91 FM, Marty Moss-Coane's "Radio Times," Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 8-14-07: WHYY-FM.
  • WFDU 89.1 FM, Bill Hahn's "Traditions", Teaneck, NJ, 6-24-07: Listen to inteview (Part 1) and Listen to inteview (Part 2). Internet site: www.billhahnprogramnotes.blogspot.com.
  • KUOW-FM, Seattle, interview by Dave Beck on "The Beat," 6-8-07 (rebroadcast 10-4-07): KUOW-FM.
  • Fundamental Records review, Andy Pulliam, 6-11-07: Fundamental Records The Edge, Chicago, 70-minute podcast, 5-22-07: Andy Pulliam interview.
  • WGN-AM, Chicago, interview by Steve Cochran, 5-23-07: WGN-AM.
  • WMAQ-TV, Chicago, interview by Bob Sirott, 5-14-07: WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV.

    Other Print and Broadcast Coverage

  • Chicago Sun-Times, "Jimmy Buffett remembers the time he hung with Chicago's folk heroes," by Dave Hoekstra, 7-14-11: Chicago Sun-Times.
  • Radio Days and Nights in the Land of Demento blog, "A tribute to the life and times of Steve Goodman," by Robert Young and Steve Swain, 4-14-11: Demento.
  • Gloucester County Times, New Jersey, "Sometimes, it's all in who you know," column by Jim Six, 5-27-08: Jim Six.
  • The Admiral Tidings, West Seattle, Washington, event recap by Terry Teigen, pastor, Admiral United Church of Christ, 5-08: Admiral Tidings, church site: Admiral UCC.
  • The Nashville City Paper, Nashville, Tennessee, book review by Ron Wynn, 5-2-08: Nashville City Paper.
  • "Martin memoir credits Illinoisans' influence," a Chicago Tribune feature by Donald Liebenson on comedian Steve Martin's Illinois connections, including Steve Goodman, 3-9-08: Chicago Tribune.
  • Post-Holiday Clues: Books About Music, 1-4-08: Post-Holiday Clues blog.
  • Toronto Star, "Norm Hacking, 57, Singer-songwriter, poet," obituary by Greg Quill of artist who contributed to the Goodman bio's accompanying CD, 11-29-07: Hacking.
  • The North Country Druid Interviews, by Doc Longhair (Michael Levin), 11-18-07: Doc Longhair.
  • The American Interest, national magazine, "Train of Life," essay by Clay Eals, pages 132-135, 11/12-07: American Interest.
  • Daily Herald chain, serving North Side and northern suburbs of Chicago, "Revival of anthem gets fans through times like Game 2," column by Burt Constable, 10-5-07: Daily Herald.
  • Major League Baseball's Internet site, "'Go, Cubs, Go' a staple in Chicago," story by Marc Zarefsky, 10-5-07: Major League Baseball.
  • Associated Press story, "Go Cubs Go: Cubs anthem by late folk songwriter making a comeback," by Don Babwin, released 10-2-07, appearing in or on dozens of newspapers and Internet sites on 10-3-07, including USA Today, USA Today, and Boston Herald, Boston Herald.
  • Chicago Tribune, column on Goodman's ashes by Eric Zorn, 10-2-07: Chicago Tribune.
  • Chicago Tribune, "99 things every real Cubs fan should know," by Paul Sullivan Dan McGrath, Mark Jacob and Joe Knowles, including question on Goodman's ashes (go to page 3), 10-1-07: 99 things.
  • The Green Man Review, review by Gary Whitehouse, 9-26-07: Green Man Review.
  • Transcript of online conversation on The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), facilitated by David Gans, 9-5-07 to 9-19-07: The WELL.
  • The St. Croix Source, story by Eddie Huffman, focus on "Banana Republics," 9-16-07: St. Croix Source.
  • The Klezmer Shack blog, review by Ari Davidow, 9-10-07: Klezmer Shack.
  • Victory Review, "Notes from Portland" column by Dick Weissman, with added comment by Tom May, September 2007, page 17: Victory Music Review.
  • SingOut! magazine, review by Michael Tearson, Fall 2007: SingOut!.
  • The JT News, The Voice of Jewish Washington state, review by Diana Brement, 8-24-07: JT News.
  • Media Bistro, 8-15-07: Media Bistro.
  • Flash, the quarterly newspaper of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications, Summer 2007: Flash.
  • Steven Silver blog, 7-9-07: Steven Silver blog.
  • Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba, Canada, 7-8-07: Winnipeg Free Press and for more info on the reviewer, see Al Simmons.
  • Quarter Notes, newsletter of the Plank Road Folk Music Society, Downers Grove, IL, summer 2007: Quarter Notes.
  • Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho, 6-28-07: Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
  • Mark Folse blog, 6-28-07: Mark Folse blog.
  • The Music Box, online daily music magazine with 140,000 monthly readers, 6-24-07: The Music Box.
  • Oregon Quarterly, alumni magazine of the University of Oregon, Eugene. Excerpt of book printed in summer 2007 edition: Oregon Quarterly (PDF, requires Acrobat).
  • Seattle Times, 6-8-07: Seattle Times.
  • Oregon Daily Emerald, Eugene, Oregon, Q/A, 5-31-07: Oregon Daily Emerald.
  • WFUV-FM, New York City, 5-30-07: John Platt review.
  • Blind Lemming Chiffon blog, 5-28-07: Blind Lemming Chiffon.
  • Huntington, West Virginia, News, 5-27-07: David Kinchen review.
  • Richard Marcus' review, 5-25-07 (two urls for same review): Richard Marcus' online review.
  • Northwest Herald, suburban Chicago, 5-24-07: Tom Musick interview.
  • WBEZ 91.5 FM, Chicago, 5-minute essay, 5-16-07: Wally Podrazik essay.
  • Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri, 4-24-07: Back to Rockville Music Blog (The Kansas City Star).

    Advance Reviews

    Steve Martin

    "Wry, unpretentious and uplifting, Steve Goodman had a special presence with an audience. As this book recounts, he opened 200 shows for me, often for crowds of 10,000 or more. He was just one guy with a guitar, but in 30 seconds he would have them. It was amazing to see, and this biography captures every incredible detail."
    — Steve Martin

    Rich Warren

    "Clay Eals skillfully narrates the Dickensian life of Steve Goodman, one of the most exciting and refreshing acoustic performers to grace a stage. Meticulously detailed and carefully documented, this biography reads like a riveting novel. Goodmanís spirit and charm leap from its pages."
    — Rich Warren, host of "The Midnight Special," WFMT-FM, Chicago

    Roy Leonard

    This rich, warm and wonderful biography provides the reader with plenty of reasons to both laugh and cry. Steve Goodman was that rare individual who played the cards life dealt him without complaint or rancor, and Clay Eals, with his voluminous research, puts it all in perspective. Of special significance is the way that the author has woven the social, political and historical events of the times along with Steveís story to make a compelling and enjoyable narrative.
    — Roy Leonard, host of "The Roy Leonard Show," 1967-1998, WGN-AM Chicago



     
    ©2007-2023 by Clay Eals
    Web site by Valerie Magee of
    Header photos by Marlene Rosol, Andrew Czernek, and Marianna Samero. See uncropped photos on bonus photo page.