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Southern Pacific | |
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![]() Southern Pacific (left to right: Knudsen, Cook, McFee, Howell), 1989. | |
Background information | |
Origin | San Francisco, California, United States |
Genres | Country rock |
Years active | 1983–1991 |
Labels | Warner Bros., Wounded Bird |
Past members | Keith Knudsen John McFee Jerry Scheff Tim Goodman Glen Hardin Stu Cook Kurt Howell David Jenkins |
Southern Pacific was an American country rock band that existed from 1983 to 1991. They are best known for hits such as "Any Way the Wind Blows" (1989), which was used in the soundtrack for the film Pink Cadillac starring Clint Eastwood and Bernadette Peters, and "New Shade of Blue" (1988, their highest-ranking single on the country charts in November of that year). Southern Pacific was named New Country Group of the Year when they debuted and have been honored by having their name added to the Country Music Association's Walkway of Stars in Nashville, Tennessee.
The band was formed in 1983 with former Doobie Brothers members Keith Knudsen and John McFee and bassist Jerry Scheff. Additional founding members include Tim Goodman on vocals and keyboardist Glen Hardin. The group signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1984 through which their debut album, Southern Pacific was released the following year. Scheff left after the album debuted and was replaced by Stu Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revival, while Kurt Howell replaced Hardin on keyboards. Cook and Howell would join the others in the release of Killbilly Hill in 1986. This album would feature the cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac". Goodman left after the second album to pursue a solo career and was replaced by David Jenkins (formerly of Pablo Cruise) in 1987 in time for the production of the group's third album Zuma (1988) where their highest ranking single "New Shade of Blue" was included. Jenkins left after Zuma and the group remained a quartet for the final album County Line (1989) which included the single "Any Way The Wind Blows" that was used in the Pink Cadillac soundtrack and film that same year. Southern Pacific covered the Roky Erickson song "It's a Cold Night For Alligators" for the tribute album Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson . (Cook had produced more than a dozen of Erickson's songs in 1979, which became Erickson's album The Evil One .) [1] The group disbanded and Warner Bros. released their Greatest Hits album in 1991.
After Southern Pacific's breakup, Knudsen and McFee and Cook formed the super group, Jackdawg, and recorded one album that received critical acclaim. Subsequently both McFee and Knudsen returned to The Doobie Brothers (who had already reunited in 1987). Knudsen died in 2005 while McFee continues to tour with The Doobies. Cook toured with fellow Creedence Clearwater Revival band member Doug Clifford with the group Cosmo's Factory (now Creedence Clearwater Revisited). Goodman continued to tour and record with The Magic Music Band and his solo project, The Tim Goodman Band. Howell formed his own music group, called Burnin' Daylight. This group also included former Exile member Sonny LeMaire and Nashville songwriter Marc Beeson.
Southern Pacific's four studio albums were reissued in 2003 by specialty label Wounded Bird Records in two double-CD packages.
Cook was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1993. Both Knudsen (posthumous) and McFee were inducted with the Doobie Brothers in 2020.
1983–1986 |
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1986 |
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1987–1989 |
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1989–1991 |
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Title | Album details | Peak positions |
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US Country [2] | ||
Southern Pacific |
| 25 |
Killbilly Hill |
| 35 |
Zuma |
| 27 |
County Line |
| 42 |
Title | Album details |
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Greatest Hits |
|
Rhino Hi-Five: Southern Pacific |
|
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | ||
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US Country [4] | US AC [5] | CAN Country [6] | |||
1985 | "Someone's Gonna Love Me Tonight" | 60 | — | 40 | Southern Pacific |
"Thing About You" (with Emmylou Harris) | 14 | — | 14 | ||
"Perfect Stranger" | 18 | — | 24 | ||
1986 | "Reno Bound" | 9 | — | 19 | |
"A Girl Like Emmylou" | 17 | — | 19 | Killbilly Hill | |
"Killbilly Hill" | 37 | — | 20 | ||
1987 | "Don't Let Go of My Heart" | 26 | — | 27 | |
1988 | "Midnight Highway" | 14 | — | 16 | Zuma |
"New Shade of Blue" | 2 | — | 1 | ||
"Honey I Dare You" | 5 | — | 3 | ||
1989 | "All Is Lost" | — | 19 | — | |
"Any Way the Wind Blows" | 4 | — | 5 | Pink Cadillac (soundtrack) / County Line | |
"Time's Up" (with Carlene Carter) | 26 | — | 19 | County Line | |
1990 | "I Go to Pieces" | 31 | — | 17 | |
"Reckless Heart" | 32 | — | 23 | ||
"Memphis Queen" [7] | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Year | Video | Director |
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1986 | "Killbilly Hill" [8] | Ethan Russell |
1989 | "Any Way the Wind Blows" | — |
1990 | "I Go to Pieces" [9] | Gerry Wenner |
Year | Song | Album |
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1987 | "Shoot for the Top" | Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol |
1990 | "It's a Cold Night For Alligators" | Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Tribute to Roky Erickson |
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Creedence Clearwater Revival is the debut studio album by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released in July 1968, by Fantasy Records in the US. Featuring the band's first hit single, "Susie Q", which reached number 11 in the US charts, it was recorded shortly after the band changed its name from the Golliwogs and began developing a signature swamp rock sound.
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John McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long-time member of The Doobie Brothers.
Keith A. Knudsen was an American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for The Doobie Brothers. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie Brother John McFee. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers in 2020.
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"Reno Bound" is a song written by John McFee and Andre Pessis, and recorded by American country music group Southern Pacific. It was released in April 1986 as the third single from the album Southern Pacific. The song reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
"Honey I Dare You" is a song recorded by American country music group Southern Pacific. It was released in January 1989 as the third single from the album Zuma. The song reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song was written by David Jenkins, Stu Cook, John McFee, Dave Gibson, and Craig Karp.
"Any Way the Wind Blows" is a song written by John McFee and Andre Pessis, and recorded by American country music group Southern Pacific. It was released in June 1989 as the first single from the album County Line. The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was featured in the 1989 movie Pink Cadillac.
"A Girl Like Emmylou" is a song recorded by American country music group Southern Pacific. It was released in August 1986 as the first single from the album Killbilly Hill. The song reached number 17 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was written by group members Tim Goodman, John McFee, Stu Cook and Keith Knudsen.
Timothy Goodman is an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and producer who has recorded for RCA, Columbia Records and Warner Brothers and performed on numerous sessions for other recording artists.
The Evil One is a 1981 debut album by American psychedelic rock singer Roky Erickson with his band the Aliens, after his time with the band 13th Floor Elevators. The songs were recorded in 1979 with producer Stu Cook, former bass player of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Some material, such as the song Sputnik, was not released on the 1980 CBS Records U.K. release, but was included on the 1981 414 Records LP release in California, which was then included on the 1987 combined release by Restless Records in California. Cook played bass on two tracks, "Sputnik" and "Bloody Hammer."