A Conversation with Billy Goodman (continued)

PM: I really do like that opening song that I ended up getting on, "Johnny Anonymous." That's a very anthem-like song. What's the story behind the song?

BG: Well, I had the pleasure of meeting Johnny Thunders before he died. He came to see me play in New York. He was a really complicated kind of--let me rephrase that--he was an interesting guy. [laughs] Very deep, good sense of humor, didn't take himself seriously. But he was a real legend in New York City. I didn't know that when I met him. We ended up hanging out. He had a little problem that I tried to help him out with, and he died in New Orleans before we could finish a song called " Johnny Anonymous." So, many years later, I was able to finish this song, and it's kind of like my story about Johnny--my time with Johnny.

What happened was--Johnny was a career heroin addict. I got him down to a rehab in Baltimore that a friend of mine knew about. A friend of a friend. I took Johnny down on the train. I mean, a lot of people dispute this, but I was there.

PM: Right.

BG: I took him down on the train. We put him in this place in Baltimore where this friend--an ex-Green Beret--ran the rehab. Johnny did get clean, and he stayed clean for, I think, about a month. Then he called me up one night and said, "Listen, I just want to thank you a lot for helping me out, but I don't think this is gonna work out for me, this sobriety thing."

PM: Wow.

BG: He said, "You know, I just don't think I can make it. But you were the one guy that I really liked, hanging around these type of people, and I just wanted to thank you." I said, "Well, what's up? You sound like you're saying goodbye or something." He goes, "Well, I've gotta go to Tokyo. I've gotta do some shows over there.  When I get back though, if you want, we can finish up this song I've been working on called 'Johnny Anonymous.'"

PM: Unbelievable.

BG: He went to Tokyo, and before he came back to New York, he made some kind of stop over in New Orleans. They said he laid his guitars and red suit down on the bed and overdosed.

PM: Wow, and all that stuff ended up in the verses of the song.

BG: Oh, yeah.

PM: That's amazing. Yeah, and although you and I won't name any names, we both know that he's not the only famous musician you helped into the rooms, but that's another story.

So before this scenario developed stateside, we ought to tell the readership the likes of what you've been up to in recent years in Europe, 'cause a lot of singer/songwriters who read Puremusic, or the fans of that kind of music, don't really have much of a picture of what it's like to be an American singer/songwriter in Europe. How has it been for you, and what's your picture of it?

BG: Well, I'd always heard stories about Big Bill Broonzy and other blues musicians making it in maybe the Paris scene or the Europe scene--sounded cool to me, you know? It was pretty hard to make a living here playing folk blues, which was basically what I really do--folk blues and singer/songwriter music. I knew a guy in Philadelphia, Jerry Ricks--who just recently passed away.

PM: Really? He passed away?

BG: Yeah. He said, "Go over to Germany and get yourself a blues chick." [laughs] I thought that was pretty funny. I knew two people in Europe--a girl in France and a Deadhead in Heidelberg. I went over with $75 and a Stratocaster and it didn't work out for me in France, but I ended up staying in Heidelberg with this Deadhead, Norbert. It's a hard scene to break into, the European scene. My experience was, you had to leave your happy home, go there, live there, start out playing in people's backyards, at barbecues. One thing leads to another, you get your first gig. If you're good, the word of mouth gets out--another person hires you. The Germans are good people to play for because they're thoughtful and they're consistent. They'll pay you at the end of the night, which is important. [laughs]

PM: Yeah.

BG: They're culture vultures in Germany. Germany, Austria and Switzerland--this is the best place for making money doing the gigs, I think. France and Italy are more interesting, perhaps, but trickier getting in and out, getting your money.

PM: Yeah, because the French and the Italian, to say it in a certain way, they're more self-focused. The Germans, the Swiss are more like other-focused--what do you got? We're interested in the culture of it. The French and the Italian people are more interested in their own cultures.

BG: The French and the Italians think they're doing you a favor by hiring you. [laughs] The Germans have the opposite approach.

PM: That's really interesting.

BG: But the lifestyle in France and Italy is so--what can you say--

PM: They know how to live.

BG: They know how to live, man.

PM: So would you say that this rash of recording and touring with Kimock has you thinking about returning to your homeland on a more permanent basis, or will you be going back and forth from Europe to the States, or what's the plan?

BG: Well, like yourself, I was able to get an Irish passport by having an Irish grandparent. I'm lucky enough to have two passports--American and Irish--and no, I really like Europe. I like the style of living there, so I won't give up residence in Europe, but I will probably come over to America more now because you can get lost in the Europe thing and you kind of lose your presence in America. I'm planning on kind of a half-and-half thing.

PM: Some of the Nashville songwriter types, friends of mine, have got a little scene rolling--I don't know how lucrative it is--in Scandinavia. Have you checked that out much yet, or do you plan to?

BG: I've played in Denmark and Finland and Sweden. It's just a damn long way away from Heidelberg, Germany.

PM: It is. I don't think a lot of people have a sense of that. How far is it by train, for instance?

BG: You've gotta fly to Scandinavia. It's just too damn far to drive, or train effectively. But the Scandinavians have a good economy and it's a really great scene. It can be pretty spread-out in Sweden, for instance, but it's a real good scene in Scandinavia. I really wanna get up there more in the summer months. It's not an easy scene to break into, but it's doable.

PM: Now, where do they fit in culturally? Are they more like the Germans--that is, very interested in what you've got to offer? Or more like the Italians and the French that are more interested in just their lifestyle and their music, and you're kind of there at their whim?

BG: I see the Scandinavians more like Americans. They're easy-going and they seem to have a better idea of what's happening in America than the other countries in Europe, if you ask me.

PM: And they're so responsible for so much of the pop music scene and also the software that's coming out. Sweden and Denmark are very in on the drum software, the recording software, and just very cutting edge rock and roll-wise.

BG: You know, they say there are seven million people in Sweden and seven million bands or something like that. [laughs]

PM: Right, exactly.

BG: Plus, they all speak English up there.

PM: Right. I've been sounding to myself like I'm knocking the French, but that's not really what I mean at all, because they do have a lot of interesting music of their own. It's just that when you and I played in Germany, we would often see a room full of people staring at us like we were from another planet, with interest.

BG: France and Italy have got it going on so hard. They're at it too--they don't need anything. They've got it all. But they are socked away there in the European continent and they love American music, whereas the Scandinavians, they don't have the food culture and the slow lifestyle--nor do the Germans--that you find in France and Italy. I love France and Italy. I would love to get to play there more. It's just harder to make good money.

PM: Right. Speaking of money, how was this run--you did a run with Steve Kimock and friends on the west coast. How many dates did you play out there? How were the shows and how was it received and all that?    continue

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