CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
“City of New Orleans” is a folk song written by Steve Goodman, describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans on the Illinois Central Railroad’s City of New Orleans in bittersweet and nostalgic terms. Goodman got the idea while traveling on the Illinois Central line for a visit to his wife’s family. While at the Quiet Knight bar in Chicago, Goodman played “City of New Orleans” for Arlo Guthrie, and he asked to record it. The song was a hit for Guthrie on his 1972 album Hobo’s Lullaby, and is now more closely associated with him. (More from Wikipedia)
The article by Allmusic (by William Ruhlmann) on Arlo Guthrie opens with: “Is it possible to be a one-hit wonder three times?” The whole idea of course is nonsense. True, Arlo’s only Top 40 hit was “City of New Orleans” in 1972, one of the great train songs. Arlo writes most of his own music, though this song was written by Steve Goodman.
(May 2012)
