Red Pajamas Records
| Red Pajamas Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | Oh Boy Records |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Founder | Steve Goodman, Al Bunetta |
| Distributor(s) | Ryko Distribution (US), Fusion III (Canada), Proper Music Group (UK), I.R.D. (Italy), Shock Records (Europe), Elite Imports (NZ) |
| Genre | American folk, Americana, Country music |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Official website | Red Pajamas Records on stevegoodman.net |
Red Pajamas Records is an independent American record label. It was founded in 1982 by Chicago singer-songwriter Steve Goodman with help from 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-winning Unfinished Business, were released posthumously in 1984 and 1987. Red Pajamas Records continues to operate under the management of Oh Boy Records, which is owned by Goodman's friend John Prine. Red Pajamas continues to release archival live performances by Goodman as well as compilations and reissues of his earlier material. The label has also released three recordings of tribute performances by Goodman's friends.
Between 1971 and 1980, singer-songwriter Steve Goodman recorded first on the Buddah label, then on Asylum. During this time he wrote and recorded such enduring songs as "City of New Orleans", a 1972 Top 20 hit for Arlo Guthrie and a 1984 #1 Hot Country Single for Willie Nelson; and "You Never Even Call Me By My Name", which was made famous by David Allan Coe 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.
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 it won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
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