As the son of folk legend Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie worked hard to carve an identity of his own. In the 1960s, Arlo was best known as a singer of novelty tunes like the draft dodger tale “Alice’s Restaurant” and “Comin’ into Los Angeles,” a spoof of drug trafficking.
By 1972, Guthrie hoped to finally shed his folkie image and establish himself as a rock artist with the release of his second album, Hobo’s Lullaby. That album would yield Guthrie’s only top twenty hit, a track that would become his signature song: “The City of New Orleans.” The nostalgic look at America’s railroads was written and first recorded by folk singer Steve Goodman.
Goodman, then a struggling singer-songwriter from Chicago, wrote “The City of New Orleans” on a train trip to southern Illinois with his wife Nancy. As Nancy slept, Goodman took out a sketch pad and wrote down what he observed in the train cars and from the window.
“I went down to the club car and ended up playing cards with a couple of old men,” Goodman said. “Everything in the song happened.”
Goodman often performed at the Quiet Knight, a Chicago bar where he once opened for Kris Kristofferson, who became a Goodman fan. Kristofferson introduced Goodman to Paul Anka, who bought Goodman a plane ticket to New York to record some demos, which led to a contract with Buddah Records.
It was at the Quiet Knight that a happy accident led to Goodman performing “The City of New Orleans” for Arlo Guthrie.
To celebrate their first anniversary, the Goodmans went to the Quiet Knight to see Arlo Guthrie perform. Dick Harding, the club’s owner, brought Goodman backstage, handed him Guthrie’s guitar and had Goodman play “The City of New Orleans” for Arlo.
Guthrie seemed unimpressed but asked Goodman to send him a tape of the song and its lead sheet (a written version of the melody, lyrics and harmony). Guthrie told Goodman biographer Clay Eals, “Goodman was just a little guy with a song. There’s thousands of little guys.”
The lead sheet would rest on Guthrie’s piano at home in Massachusetts for months; in the meantime Goodman recorded “The City of New Orleans” for his debut album on Buddah.
By 1972 Guthrie had rediscovered the tune, which he recorded at Amigo Studios in North Hollywood. Producer Lenny Waronker gathered session greats like guitarist Ry Cooder, pianist Jim Dickinson, drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Chris Ethridge to back Arlo. Waronker and Guthrie disagreed on the song’s tempo; Guthrie wanted a faster rock arrangement to distinguish his take from Goodman’s folk style; Waronker favored a more laid-back approach.
A late night session finally produced a take that was satisfactory to both Guthrie and Waronker, but a few days later they realized the tempo was now too slow. Engineer Donn Landee came up with a solution: he sped the song up slightly.
“It had a kind of rickety sound to it sped up, like toy musicians were playing it,” Waronker told Dan Daley. “We did it because it was a way around what was becoming a depressing tempo… it gave the track the charm.”
More than a year later, Goodman met Guthrie in England as “The City of New Orleans” gained popularity. “You know, I never had a hit record, Steve, never thought it’d be that one either,” Arlo said, “but I sure am glad for both of us.”