Steve Goodman

If a smart journeyman like Goodman were consistently great, he'd be a genius, not a smart journeyman, and on one side the smart, slick songs attract interest without commanding it. But side two is a tiny folkie tour de force, drily reworking genre expectations so that we mourn Mayor Daley, sort of, bid a jolly farewell to our century, sort of, and know that Goodman's father is dead for real. (Grade: B)