Monday, August 09, 2010

The Singer Not the Song

From 1968, please enjoy Los Angeles rock-and-soul band Pacific Ocean and a very much of its time cover of Tennessee Ernie Ford's clasic "16 Tons."




Actually, even though the album is kind of interesting and the band probably deserved to be better known on its own merits, the reason I bring them up at all is because I was stunned to discover that their frontman is now a VERY famous actor; I had no idea at all he'd had a prior career as a credible rocker. And as is usually the case at times like this, I'll be awarding a coveted PowerPop No-Prize to the first reader who guesses who it is without Googling.

Two hints:

The band was interracial (from LA, remember).

The band was initially billed as Eddie James and Pacific Ocean.

12 comments:

mister muleboy said...

I had to google, so I offer no name.

B ut you're right -- too damned cool. Credible indeed.

goomba said...

Michael Parks?

steve simels said...

Wow -- that wouldn't have occurred to me, and it would have been very cool indeed. But no, somebody much better known than Parks.

¡barangus!™ said...

Sam Jackson?

Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary said...

I was gonna say Samuel L. Jackson. Day-um!

steve simels said...

Is SLJ that old?

Anyway -- not him.


Hint: Big sci-fi hero of late.

FD13NYC said...

OK, let's cut to the chase here, Edward James Olmos is the virtuoso we're looking for.

steve simels said...

No-Prize on its way via planaria caravan as we speak.
:-)

Ken J Xenozar said...

Wow. That IS pretty cool. Nice track.

Anonymous said...

sounds a tiny but cool bit like The Band at certain moments in their career. Great crossover from Appalachia to R'n'B.

AP

Unknown said...

Eddie James: Edward James Olmos?

Unknown said...

Oops. FD13NYC beat me to it.

(I had originally bypassed all the comments in order not to be influenced by other people's guesses and gone straight to the "Leave your comment" section. I had no idea that someone had already grabbed that coveted imaginary prize.)