Southern Pacific

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Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific (left to right: Knudsen, Cook, McPhee, Howell), 1989.
Background information
Origin	United States
Genres	Country
Years active	1983-1991
Labels	Warner Bros. Records, Wounded Bird Records
Associated acts	The Doobie Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tim Goodman Burnin' Daylight, Pablo Cruise
Former 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 ran 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.

History

Formed in 1983 with former Doobie Brothers members Keith Knudsen and John McFee, bassist Jerry Scheff, Tim Goodman on vocals, and keyboardist Glen Hardin, they signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1984. Their debut album Southern Pacific was released the following year. Scheff left after the debut album 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". Tim Goodman left after the second album to pursue a solo career and was replaced by David Jenkins (formerly of Pablo Cruise) in time for the production of the group's third album Zuma in 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. 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. 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). Tim Goodman continued to tour and record with 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.

Band members

Discography

Albums

Singles

• ^A"All Is Lost" peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.

Soundtrack Discography

• Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987): "Shoot for the Top" performed by Southern Pacific.

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
• CMT.com profile