Santa Ana Winds (album) explained

Santa Ana Winds
Type:studio
Artist:Steve Goodman
Cover:Santa Ana Winds (album).jpg
Released:1984
Studio:Alpha Studios, Burbank, California; WFMT Studio, Chicago, Illinois
Genre:Folk rock
Label:Red Pajamas[1]
Producer:Steve Goodman
Prev Title:Affordable Art
Prev Year:1984
Next Title:Unfinished Business
Next Year:1987

Santa Ana Winds is an album by the American musician Steve Goodman.[2] [3] Goodman finished the album a short time before his 1984 death of leukemia, and it was released posthumously on his Red Pajamas label.[4] [5] The album was reissued by Omnivore Recordings in 2019, with bonus tracks.[6]

Production

Santa Ana Winds was produced by Goodman.[7] [8] Emmylou Harris and Kris Kristofferson contributed to the album. The album cover was shot at El Mirage Lake.[9] "Face on the Cutting Room Floor" had been recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. "You Better Get It While You Can (The Ballad of Carl Martin)" was recorded at Chicago's WFMT studio, with Jethro Burns on mandolin.[9]

Critical reception

Robert Christgau called the album "a fitting testament to a likable artist who often went soft around the edges." The Chicago Tribune deemed it "a fittingly eclectic monument to one of the funniest, most intelligent and most courageous performers who ever picked up a guitar."[10]

AllMusic wrote that the album "is closer to a country album than anything else Goodman would ever make, and the sad tales of 'The Face on the Cutting Room Floor', 'Fourteen Days', and "'The One That Got Away' are the ones that carry the most weight." Reviewing a reissue, DownBeat praised the "jazz-infused reading" of "The Big Rock Candy Mountain".[11] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide considered it to be Goodman's "best collection, produced just the way his music ought to be."

Notes and References

  1. Book: Popoff, Martin. Goldmine Record Album Price Guide. September 8, 2009. Penguin. 9781440229169.
  2. Web site: Steve Goodman Biography, Songs, & Albums. AllMusic.
  3. News: Steve Goodman, Composer and Folk Singer, Dies at 36. September 22, 1984. The New York Times.
  4. Book: Sawyers, June Skinner. Chicago Portraits: New Edition. March 31, 2012. Northwestern University Press. 9780810126497.
  5. News: Tucker . Ken . Any mention of folk music just now raises the memory of Steve Goodman... . The Philadelphia Inquirer . 30 Sep 1984 . D4.
  6. News: Kogan . Rick . Let's play 2 (CDs) of Chicago's finest: Fans of the late Steve 'Go Cubs Go' Goodman get new musical treat . Chicago Tribune . 16 July 2019 . Arts + Entertainment . 1.
  7. News: Lewis . Randy . Sounding the Highs and Lows of Pop Music in 1984 . Los Angeles Times . 1 Jan 1985 . Calendar . 1.
  8. Albums: Pop . Billboard . Nov 24, 1984 . 96 . 47 . 64.
  9. Book: Eals . Clay . Steve Goodman: Facing the Music . 2006 . ECW Press . 664.
  10. News: Hurst . Jack . Santa Ana Winds Steve Goodman . Chicago Tribune . 20 Jan 1985 . Arts . 17.
  11. DownBeat Reviews. DownBeat.