Southern Pacific was an American

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

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 A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the film '' Pink Cadillac'' starring

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

and

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...

, 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 Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

History

The band was formed in 1983 with former

Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

members

Keith Knudsen Keith A. Knudsen ( ; February 18, 1948 – February 8, 2005) 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 ...

and

John McFee John McFee (born September 9, 1950, Santa Cruz, California) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long-time member of The Doobie Brothers. Biography Some of McFee's early and non-Doobie ...

and bassist

Jerry Scheff Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''. Biography Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...

. Additional founding members include

Tim Goodman Timothy Goodman (born September 10, 1950) 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 ar ...

on vocals and keyboardist

Glen Hardin Glen Dee Hardin (born April 18, 1939) is an American piano player and arranger. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, and Ricky Nelson. Career Hardin was born in Wellington, ...

. The group signed with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

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 Stuart Alden Cook (born April 25, 1945) is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work in the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Career Cook, along with Doug Cliff ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

, 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 Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's " Pink Cadillac". Goodman left after the second album to pursue a solo career and was replaced by David Jenkins (formerly of

Pablo Cruise Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul (name), Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer *Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * ...

) 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 Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was a founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic rock genre. Biography Erickso ...

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 ''

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''.) The group disbanded and Warner Bros. released their ''Greatest Hits'' album in 1991. After Southern Pacific's breakup, Knudsen and McFee 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 Douglas Raymond Clifford (born April 24, 1945) is an American drummer, best known as a founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revival for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. After the group disbanded in late 1972 ...

with the group Cosmo's Factory (now

Creedence Clearwater Revisited Creedence Clearwater Revisited is an American rock band formed in 1995 by bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug "Cosmo" Clifford, former members of Creedence Clearwater Revival, to play live versions of that band's music. Overview Much of Creeden ...

). 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 Burnin' Daylight was an American country music band composed of Marc Beeson (lead vocals, guitar), Kurt Howell (keyboards, vocals), and Sonny LeMaire (bass guitar, vocals). Howell was formerly a member of Southern Pacific, and LeMaire a former memb ...

. This group also included former

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

member Sonny LeMaire and Nashville songwriter Marc Beeson. Southern Pacific's four studio albums were reissued in 2003 by specialty label

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists, including Paul Butterfield, Cactus, Herbie ...

in two double-CD packages. Cook was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

with Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1993. Both Knudsen (posthumous) and McFee were inducted with the Doobie Brothers in 2020.

Reunion concert

On July 12, 2013, Southern Pacific performed a reunion concert at Chain Reaction in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

Band members

Timeline

ImageSize = width:500 height:300 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:65 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1983 till:1992 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1983 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1983 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:g value:green legend:Guitars id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:01/01/1985 layer:back at:01/01/1986 at:21/07/1988 at:01/01/1990 PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Tim Goodman from:start till:01/01/1987 color:voc bar:Tim Goodman from:start till:01/01/1987 color:g width:3 bar:David Jenkins from:01/01/1987 till:01/07/1989 color:voc bar:David Jenkins from:01/01/1987 till:01/07/1989 color:g width:3 bar:John McFee from:start till:end color:g bar:John McFee from:01/07/1989 till:end color:voc width:3 bar:Glen D. Hardin from:start till:01/07/1986 color:key bar:Kurt Howell from:01/07/1986 till:end color:key bar:Kurt Howell from:01/01/1987 till:end color:voc width:3 bar:Jerry Scheff from:start till:01/07/1986 color:b bar:Stu Cook from:01/07/1986 till:end color:b bar:Keith Knudsen from:start till:end color:dr

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Music videos

Album appearances

References

*Goldsmith, Thomas. (1998). "Southern Pacific." In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 497–498.

External links

Allmusic profile AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

br>CMT.com profile
{{Authority control Country music groups from California Musical groups from San Francisco Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Warner Records artists Creedence Clearwater Revival The Doobie Brothers