Pacific Ocean
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1967-68) - Eddie James (aka Edward James Olmos) -- vocals, keyboards - Kent Henry (aka Kent Henry Plischke) (RIP 2009) -- lead guitar - Fred Rivera -- bass, backing vocals
line up 2 (1968) NEW - Toney Carrubba (aka Tony Carr) -- bass, backing vocals (replaced Fred Rivera) - Kent Henry (aka Kent Henry Plischke) (RIP 2009) -- lead guitar NEW - Ron Hensley -- keyboards - Eddie James (aka Edward James Olmos) -- vocals, keyboards - Steven Johnson -- drums, percussion
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- Blues Image (Kent Henry) - Charity (Kent Henry - Eddie James and the Pacific Ocean - Genesis (Kent Henry and Fred Riviera) - Steppenwolf (Kent Henry |
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Genre: soul Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Purgatory Company: VMC Catalog: VS 135 A/B Year: 1968 Country/State: Los Angeles, California Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: promo sticker on back cover Available: SOLD Catalog ID: SOLD 5113 Price: SOLD $100.00
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To be honest, I bought this album based on the psych-ish cover and the fact the Steven Vail's VMC label released a couple of decent albums including a classic pop-psych set by The David. The fact there were almost no credits or liner notes should have given me caution, but I simply wasn't paying much attention. I didn't even take note of the fact most of the nine tracks were covers.
As Eddie James and the Pacific Ocean, by 1967 namesake/singer/keyboardist James, guitarist Kent Henry, drummer Steven "Rusty" Johnson and bass player Fred Riviera were beginning to attract some attention playing the mid-'60s LA club scene. Unfortunately, by the time the band got around to signing a record deal Kent and Rivera had jumped ship joining Jac Ttanna in Genesis (not to be confused with the British progressive band). James (aka future film star James Elmore Olmos) and Johnson quickly recruited bassist Toney Carrubba and keyboard player Ron Hensley as a replacements.
Whatever expectations I initially held were
set aside the first
couple of times I played 1968's self-produced "Purgatory".
In case you were wondering the album title doesn't appear on the album sleeve,
ra
"Purgatory" track listing: 1.) 16 Tons (Merle Travis) - 3:15 rating: **** stars I've got to admit their "rocked up" version of Merle Travis' country classic "16 Tons" was really good. Anyone familiar with Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit version will recognize the basic melody, but their effort to drag it into a rock arrangement was pretty impressive. Steven "Rusty" Johnson's drums were impressive. The song also appeared as the "B" side on their "My Shrink" 45. 2.) The Road To Hell (Tony Harris) - 2:52 rating: **** stars It's hard for me to draw a line between actor Edward James Olmos and Eddie James' awesome rock voice. How can they be the same individual? Talk about someone living a multi-disciplinary life. Powered by a great Toney Carrubba bass line "The Road To Hell" was a nice slinky rocker that abruptly slipped into Bobby Pickett "Halloween" territory at the end. Since the song was penned by producer Harris, you can't consider the song to be a band original. 3.) My Shrink (Tony Harris - Eddie James - Tony Carrubba) - 2:03 rating: **** stars Powered by some impressive fuzz guitar "My Shrink" was a great slice of garage rock. Co-written by James and Carrubba with an assist from former Eastfield Meadows producer Tony Harris, it was also the album's lone original tune. Given how good the performance was you had to wonder why VMC didn't let them record more original material. Given the risqué lyrics it was interesting VMC tapped it as the album's second single.
- 1968's "My Shrink" b/w "16 Tons" (VMC catalog number V 738 A/B)
4.) Subterrarrean Homesick Blues (Bob Dylan) - 2:44 rating: **** stars Every late-'60s album seemingly had a Dylan cover and this was no exception. To their credit, their cover slowed the song down and injected a far more pop oriented sound. Dylan fans were probably appalled, but I found it enjoyable. 5.) Tracks of My Tears (Marvin Tarplin - Warren Moore - William Robinson, Jr.) - 3:14 rating: **** stars Their arrangement of this Motown classic was a major surprise. Covers of "Tracks of My Tears" are a dime a dozen; few coming close to the original. Powered by James' soulful voice, this "rocked up" version was one of the best Motown covers I've come across. Extra star for Carrubba's wonderful bass lines and the tasty lead guitar.
(side
2) Their remake of The Chamber Brothers' "I Can't Stand it" was easily the album's hardest rocking number. James' dynamic vocal gives you a taste of what the band's live shows must have been like - shame nobody was filming when James jumped across the stage, crashing into Johnson's drum kit, knocking himself out and leaving Johnson with a shattered shoulder. The song was released as their first single.
- 1969's "I Can't Stand It" b/w "I Wanna Testify" (VCM catalog number V 732 A/B)
2.) I Wanna Testify (Daron Taylor - George Clinton) - 3:09 rating: **** stars The more you hear it the better James voice gets - soulful, gritty and capable of rockin' out. Another awesome cover with Kent's squealing guitar and sweet backing vocals. The song was also tapped as the "B" side to their debut "I Can't Stand It" 45. 3.) 99 1/2 (Wilson Pickett) - 4:10 rating: *** stars There wasn't anything wrong with their energetic cover of Wilson Pickett's "99 1/2" but it didn't reach the same level of enthusiasm as the other remakes. Maybe it has something to do with the fact I've heard so many versions of this soul classic. 4.) Mickey's Monkey (Eddie Holland - Brian Holland - Lamont Dozier) - 4:10 rating: **** stars Powered by some awesome Ron Hensley organ (not sure if he was playing a Continental, Farfisa, or Vox) their remake of the Motown classic "Mickey's Monkey" was ... well nothing short of amazing. Hearing James start the song by blowing his voice out was startling. Hard to not start moving to this one !!!
So this little tidbit showed up in my inbox the other day:
"Just wanted to let you know that Eddie James is none other than Tony and Oscar nominee, Golden Globe and Emmy-winner Edward James Olmos and he sings the lead vocals and plays keyboard."
Dawn Hickerson webmaster of OlmosPerfect.com, an Edward James Olmos fansite January 2011
Her website has a page devoted to Pacific Ocean which is worth taking a look at just for the band photos: http://olmosperfect.com/edward-james-olmos-pacific-ocean.html
I haven't read it, though it looks interesting, but drummer Johnson has written a book about the band - "Walk, Don't Run: A Rockin' and Rollin' Memory".
© Scott R. Blackerby December
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ther on the inner
label. Anyone
expecting something similar to The David's pop-psych moves was
going to be surprised and perhaps disappointed. So here's the bad
news. Most of the nine tracks were covers of pop and soul hits that were
"toughened up" for a rock audience. Imagine Vanilla Fudge without the
pretence, keyboard overkill and dirge tempos and you'd be in the right aural
neighborhood. Okay, okay their cover of Wilson Pickett's "99
1/2"
sounded like a Fudge track. By all rights the results shouldn't have
been any better than most of the Vanilla Fudge catalog, but that's where the album
got kind of strange. Lead singer Eddie
James was actually quite
good and backed by the band's stabbing guitars and cool keyboards
these guys turned in some first-rate covers. Hard to believe it, but their
versions of The Miracles "Tracks of My Tears" was killer. Similarly
covers of The Chambers Brothers' "I Can't Stand It", The Parliament's
"I
Wanna Testify" and Major Lance's "Mickey's Monkey" were almost as
good. Elsewhere, judging by the lone original "My Shrink", VMC missed
out by not insisting the band record more original material. Certainly not
life changing, but a very pleasant surprise ... Shame they never
got a chance to record a follow-on album.
