In 1977 , Goodman performed on Tom Paxton 's live album '' New Songs From the Briarpatch '' ( Vanguard Records ) , which contained some of Paxton 's topical songs of the 1970s , including " Talking Watergate " and " White Bones of Allende " , as well as a song dedicated to Mississippi John Hurt entitled " Did You Hear John Hurt ? " During the fall of 1979 , Goodman was hired to write and perform a series of topical songs for National Public Radio . Although Goodman and Jethro Burns recorded eleven songs for the series , only five of them , " The Ballad of Flight 191 " about a plane crash , " Daley 's Gone " , " Unemployed " , " The Twentieth Century is Almost Over " , and " The Election Year Rag " , were used on the air before the series was cancelled
plane crash
American Airlines Flight 191
Steve Goodman