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City of New Orleans (song)
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"City of New Orleans"
Single by Steve Goodman
from the album Steve Goodman
B-side
"Would You Like to Learn to Dance?"
Released
1971
Format
7"
Recorded
1971
Genre
Folk
Length
3:52
Label
Buddah
Songwriter(s)
Steve Goodman
Producer(s)
Kris Kristofferson, Norbert Putnam
"City of New Orleans" is a folk song written by Steve Goodman (and first recorded for Goodman's self-titled 1971 album), 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. The song has been recorded by numerous artists both in the US and Europe, including two major hit versions: first by Arlo Guthrie in 1972, and later by Willie Nelson in 1985.
An article in the September 2017 issue of Trains magazine chronicles the writing and recording of the song and includes a biographical sketch of Steve Goodman.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Arlo Guthrie version
1.1 Chart performance
1.2 Weekly charts
1.3 Year-end charts
2 Willie Nelson version
2.1 Chart performance
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Arlo Guthrie version[edit]
"The City of New Orleans"
Single by Arlo Guthrie
from the album Hobo's Lullaby
B-side
"Days Are Short"
Released
July 1972
Format
7"
Recorded
1972
Genre
Folk
Length
4:31
Label
Reprise
Songwriter(s)
Steve Goodman
Producer(s)
Lenny Waronker, John Pilla
While at the Quiet Knight bar in Chicago, Goodman saw Arlo Guthrie, and asked to be allowed to play a song for him. Guthrie grudgingly agreed, on the condition that if Goodman would buy him a beer, Guthrie would listen to him play for as long as it took to drink the beer.[citation needed] Goodman played "City of New Orleans", which Guthrie liked enough that he asked to record it. The song was a hit for Guthrie on his 1972 album Hobo's Lullaby, reaching #4 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and #18 on the Hot 100 chart; it would prove to be Guthrie's only top-40 hit and one of only two he would have on the Hot 100 (the other was a severely shortened and rearranged version of his magnum opus "Alice's Restaurant", which hit #97).
Chart performance[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
Chart (1972)
Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles [2] 11
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [3] 14
US Billboard Hot 100[4] 18
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[5] 4
Year-end charts[edit]
Chart (1972)
Rank
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [6] 45
Willie Nelson version[edit]
"City of New Orleans"
Single by Willie Nelson
from the album City of New Orleans
B-side
"Why Are You Pickin' on Me"
Released
July 1984
Format
7"
Recorded
October 1983
Genre
Country
Length
4:47
Label
Columbia
Songwriter(s)
Steve Goodman
Producer(s)
Chips Moman
Willie Nelson singles chronology
"To All the Girls I've Loved Before"
(1984) "City of New Orleans"
(1984) "Seven Spanish Angels"
(1985)
"To All the Girls I've Loved Before"
(1984) "City of New Orleans"
(1984) "Seven Spanish Angels"
(1985)
Steve Goodman won a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 27th Grammy Awards in 1985 for Willie Nelson's version, which was included on his 1984 album of the same name. It reached #1 on both the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the United States[7] and the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
Chart performance[edit]
Chart (1984)
Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[9] 30
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 3
Preceded by
"If You're Gonna Play in Texas
(You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)"
by Alabama Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single
November 3, 1984 Succeeded by
"I've Been Around Enough to Know"
by John Schneider
RPM Country Tracks
number-one single
November 10, 1984
See also[edit]
List of train songs
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Sanders, Craig. "Writing of 'City of New Orleans'". Trains 77(9):34-39.
Jump up ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
Jump up ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
Jump up ^ "Arlo Guthrie – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Arlo Guthrie.
Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 109.
Jump up ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 245.
Jump up ^ "Willie Nelson – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Willie Nelson.
Jump up ^ "Willie Nelson – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Willie Nelson.
External links[edit]
Original lyrics at the Wayback Machine (archived October 20, 2006)
Arlo Guthrie cover lyric version at the Wayback Machine (archived November 21, 2006)
Classic Tracks: Arlo Guthrie's "City of New Orleans"
[show]
v
t
e
Arlo Guthrie
Studio albums
Alice's Restaurant (1967)
Running Down the Road (1969)
Alice's Restaurant Soundtrack (1969)
Washington County (1970)
Hobo's Lullaby (1972)
Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973)
Arlo Guthrie (1974)
Amigo (1976)
One Night (1978)
Outlasting the Blues (1979)
Power of Love (1981)
Someday (1986)
Son of the Wind (1992)
Mystic Journey (1996)
Woody's 20 Grow Big Songs (2005)
Live albums
Arlo (1968)
Alice's Restaurant: The Massacree Revisited (1996)
Arlo Guthrie - Live in Sydney (2005)
In Times Like These (2007)
With Pete Seeger
Together In Concert (1975, live)
Precious Friend (1982)
More Together Again, Vol. 1 (1994)
More Together Again, Vol. 2 (1994)
Compilations
The Best of Arlo Guthrie (1976)
All Over the World (1991)
Important songs
"Alice's Restaurant"
"City of New Orleans"
"Massachusetts"
Films acted in
Alice's Restaurant (1969)
Renaldo and Clara (1978)
The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time! (1982)
Baby's Storytime (1989)
Roadside Prophets (1992)
Films composed for
Woodstock (1969)
Related
Discography
Woody Guthrie
Byrds of Paradise
The Muppet Show
Rising Son Records
Alice Brock
[show]
v
t
e
Willie Nelson singles discography
1950s
and
1960s
1957
"No Place For Me" / "Lumberjack"
1959
"Man With the Blues" / "The Storm Has Just Begun"
1960
"What a Way to Live" / "Misery Mansion"
"Nite Life" / "Rainy Day Blues"
1961
"The Part Where I Cry" / "Mr. Record Man"
1962
"Willingly" / "Chain of Love"
"Touch Me" / "Where My House Lives"
"Wake Me When It's Over" / "There's Gonna Be Love In My House"
"You Dream About Me" / "Is This My Destiny"
1963
"Half a Man" / "The Last Letter"
"Take My Word" / "Feed it a Memory"
1964
"How Long is Forever" / "You Took My Happy Away"
"Am I Blue" / "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight"
"River Boy" / "Opportunity to Cry"
"I Never Cared For You" / "You Left Me (A Long Time Ago)"
"Pretty Paper" / "What A Merry Christmas This Could Be"
1965
"She's Not For You" / "Permanently Lonely"
"Healing Hands of Time" / "One Day at the Time"
"I Just Can't Let You Say Goodbye" / "And So Will You, My Love"
1966
"One In A Row" / "San Antonio Rose"
"Colombus Stockade Blues" / "He Sits at my Table"
"I'm Still Not Over You"/ "I Love You Because"
1967
"The Party's Over" / "Make Way for a Better Man"
"Blackjack County Chain" / "Some Other World"
"San Antonio" / "To Make a Long Story Short"
1968
"Little Things" / " Sweet Memories"
"Good Times" / "Where Do You Stand"
"Johnny One Time" / "She's Still Gone"
1969
"Bring Me Sunshine" / "Don't Say Love or Nothing"
"I Hope So" / "Right or Wrong"
1970s
1970
"Once More With Feeling" / "Who Do I Know in Dallas"
"Laying My Burdens Down" / "Truth Number One"
1971
"I'm a Memory" / "Fire and Rain"
"Yesterday's Wine" / "Me and Paul"
1972
"Words Don't Fit the Picture" / "A Moment"
1973
"Shotgun Willie" (mono) / "Sad Songs and Waltzes"
"Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)" / "Devil in a Sleepin' Bag"
1974
"I Still Can't Believe You're Gone" / "Heaven and Hell"
"Bloody Mary Morning" / "After the Fire is Gone"(with Tracy Nelson)
"Sister's Comin' Home" (mono) / "Pick Up The Tempo"
1975
"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" / "Bandera"
1976
"Remember Me (When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming)" / "Time of the Preacher"
"I'd Have to Be Crazy" (mono) / "Amazing Grace"
"If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" / "The Sound in Your Mind"
1977
"Uncloudy Day" / "Precious Memories"
"I Love You A Thousand Ways" / "Mom and Dad's Waltz"
1978
"Georgia on My Mind" / "On The Sunny Side Of The Street"
"Blue Skies" / "Moonlight in Vermont"
"All of Me" / "Unchained Melody"
1979
"Whiskey River" / "Under the Double Eagle"
"September Song" / "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"
"White Christmas" / "Blue Christmas"
1980s
1980
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" / "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33"
"My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" / "Rising Stars"
"Midnight Rider" / "So You Think You're A Cowboy"
"On the Road Again"/ "Jumpin' Cotton Eyed Joe"(performed by Johnny Gimble)
1981
"Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" / "I Guess I've Come to Live Here in Your Eyes"
"Mona Lisa" / "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" / "Over the Rainbow"
"Heartaches of a Fool" / "Uncloudy Day"
1982
"Always on My Mind" / "The Party's Over"
"Let It Be Me" / "Permanently Lonely"
"Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning" / "Old Fords and a Natural Stone"
1983
"Little Old Fashioned Karma" / "Beer Barrel Polka"
"Why Do I Have to Choose" / "Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)"
"Take It to the Limit" / "Till I Gain Control Again"
"Without a Song"
1984
"City of New Orleans (Unedited version)" / "Why Are You Pickin' On Me"
1985
"Forgiving You Was Easy" / "You Wouldn't Cross the Street"
"Me and Paul" / "I Let My Mind Wander"
1986
"Living in the Promiseland" / "Bach Minuet in G"
"I'm Not Trying to Forget You" / "I've Got the Craziest Feeling"
1987
"Partners After All" / "Home Away From Home"
"Heart of Gold" / "So Much Like My Dad"
"Island in the Sea" / "There Is No Easy Way"
1988
"Nobody There But Me" / "Wake Me When It's Over"
"Spanish Eyes" (with Julio Iglesias) / "Ole Buttermilk Sky"
"Twilight Time" / "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"
1989
"Nothing I Can Do About It Now" / "If I Were a Painting"
"There You Are" / "Spirit"
"Is The Better Part Over" / "Mr. Record Man"
1990s
1990
"The Highway" / "Spirit"
"Ain't Necessarily So" / "I Never Cared For You" ("Ain't Necessarily So" also on CD Single)
1991
"The Piper Came Today" / "(I Don't Have a Reason) To Go To California Anymore" ("The Piper Came Today" also on CD Single)
"Ten With a Two" / "You Decide"
1993
"Graceland"
"Still is Still Moving to Me" / "Valentine"
1995
"Turn Me Loose and Let Me Swing"
1998
"I Never Cared for You"
2000s
and
2010s
2002
"Mendocino County Line" (with Lee Ann Womack) / "Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)" (Both single tracks released on CD and 7" record)
2003
"Wurlitzer Prize" (with Norah Jones)
"Beer for My Horses" (with Toby Keith)
2005
"I'm a Worried Man" (with Toots Hibbert)
"The Harder They Come"
2006
"You Don't Know Me"
"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other"
2008
"Gravedigger"
"You Don't Think I'm Funny Anymore"
2011
"The Scientist"
2012
"Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die"
"Just Breathe"
"Come On Back Jesus"
2013
"From Here to the Moon and Back" (with Dolly Parton)
"Grandma's Hands" (with Mavis Staples)
"It Won't Be Long" (with The Secret Sisters)
"Somewhere Between" (with Loretta Lynn)
2014
"The Wall"
"Bring It On"
"Laws of Nature"
"Who'll Buy My Memories"
2015
"It's All Going to Pot"
Book:Willie Nelson
Category:Willie Nelson
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=City_of_New_Orleans_(song)&oldid=794745932"
Categories:
American folk songs
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Buddah Records singles
Columbia Records singles
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Songs about trains
Songs written by Steve Goodman
Arlo Guthrie songs
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