Red Pajamas Records is an independent American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. It was founded in 1982 by Chicago singer-songwriter

Steve Goodman Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denver, ...

and his manager Al Bunetta. Between 1983 and his death in 1984, Goodman released two albums on Red Pajamas: ''Artistic Hair'' and ''Affordable Art''. Two more, ''Santa Ana Winds'' and the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning ''Unfinished Business'', were released posthumously in 1984 and 1987. Red Pajamas Records operates under the management of

Oh Boy Records Oh Boy Records is an independent American record label founded in 1981 by singer John Prine, his manager Al Bunetta, and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kris ...

, which is owned by Goodman's friend

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

. Red Pajamas releases archival live performances by Goodman, compilations, and reissues of his earlier material. The label has also released three recordings of tribute performances by Goodman's friends.

Origin

Between 1971 and 1980, singer-songwriter Steve Goodman recorded first on the Buddah label, then on

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

. During this time he wrote and recorded such enduring songs as "

City of New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...

and a 1984 #1 Hot Country Single for

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

; and "You Never Even Call Me By My Name", which was made famous by

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly i ...

in 1974. Following the release of the album ''Hot Spot'' in 1980, his contract with Asylum ended and Goodman moved to Seal Beach, California. Goodman had been suffering from leukemia for more than ten years, and around this time he came out of remission. Performing was difficult and he wanted to record again, but not with a major label. He decided to create his own label, and Red Pajamas Records was born with the assistance of Goodman's long-time manager Al Bunetta.

Early releases

For Goodman's first release on Red Pajamas, Bunetta and Dan Einstein edited a series of bootleg live performance tapes. As Goodman's manager, Bunetta had been confiscating these tapes for years from concertgoers who didn't have permission to record Goodman's shows. The resulting album ''Artistic Hair'' was released in 1983. The title refers to the cover photo, which shows Goodman's chemotherapy-induced hair loss. At first, Red Pajamas Records was a mail-order business, with Goodman and his wife Nancy receiving orders for ''Artistic Hair'' and shipping copies themselves at a rate of 5 or 6 per day. When Goodman's condition improved he went back into the studio and recorded three more albums. ''Affordable Art'', with both live and studio cuts, was released in 1983, but then Goodman died in September 1984. ''Santa Ana Winds'' was released posthumously late in 1984. The appropriately titled ''Unfinished Business'' was released in 1987, and in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

it won a

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1991 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. As ...

Later releases

The next two Red Pajamas releases of Goodman's music were compilations drawn from the earlier Asylum material, followed by a two-disc retrospective with both live and studio cuts (''No Big Surprise''.) In 1996 ''The Easter Tapes'' was released, a live album edited from a series of performances taped by DJ

Vin Scelsa Vincent Anthony Scelsa (born December 12, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American broadcaster who was at "the forefront of the FM radio revolution" as the host of several Freeform (radio format), freeform radio show, radio programs, the best ...

at New York radio station

WNEW-FM WNEW-FM (102.7 FM, ''NEW 102.7'') is a hot adult contemporary formatted radio station, licensed to New York, New York and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are located at the Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manha ...

in the 1970s. The next five releases were reissues of the Asylum albums from 1975 to 1980. In 2000, another live album of a concert from the 1980s was released (''Live Wire'') and critics called it a treasure. In 2003, Red Pajamas released a video containing two of Goodman's performances on the TV program

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show t ...

from 1977 and 1982. The video included interviews with Goodman and others. A 2006 audio release featured Goodman in a 1978 concert at Chicago's Earl of Old Town, and included musicians

Corky Siegel Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel (born October 24, 1943) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and cl ...

on harmonica, Hugh McDonald on bass,

Jethro Burns Jethro is a male given name meaning "overflow". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''Yithrô''. People named Jethro * Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), mandolin player in satirical country music duo Homer and Jethro * Jethro Franklin ( ...

on mandolin, and composer

David Amram David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings.

on pennywhistle and percussion. In 2008, the label released an Extended Play CD titled ''The Baseball Singles'' containing 4 Goodman songs with baseball-themed lyrics, including " Go, Cubs, Go." The latest release, in 2013, was ''Don't Blame Me'', a live concert from 1973.

Tributes

Red Pajamas has produced three tributes featuring friends of Goodman, two on audio and one on video. The first was 1986's ''Tribute To Steve Goodman'', with Prine,

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

Fred Holstein Fred Holstein (December 9, 1942 – January 12, 2004) was an American folk music singer. Holstein was a prominent figure in the Chicago folk music scene in the 1960s through 1980s. He co owned two clubs in the Old Town and Lincoln Park neighbo ...

Bonnie Koloc Bonnie Koloc (born February 6, 1946) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, actress and artist. She was considered one of the three main Illinois-based folk singers in the 1970s, along with Steve Goodman and John Prine forming the "trinity ...

and others. Next was '' My Old Man'', compiled ten years later by Goodman's daughter Rosanna. The album includes interpretations of Goodman's compositions by her friends

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

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and others, and includes Rosanna's own delivery of the title tune, which was written by her father Steve about her grandfather Bud. The third tribute is the 2007 DVD ''Larger Than Life'', a fundraiser for the

Old Town School of Folk Music The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists. Founded by Folk musicians Frank Hamilton and Win Stracke, and Dawn Greening, the School opened in the ...

featuring Arlo Guthrie,

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

and John Prine.

Discography

References