SOUTHERN STEEL BIO In the early 1970’s, an ad appeared in the Miami Herald: "Original bands wanted for new record label". After submitting an 8-song demo tape, Southern Steel was chosen as the first and only group to be signed by Earth Records. Southern Steel was: Jim Goodman (guitars, lead vocals, songwriter) Spike Warner, ( vocals, guitars) Ed Ocean (vocals, lead guitar) Steve Clark (vocals, bass) and Greg Orsini on drums. Their studio master "Get On Through" was one of the first productions by Craig Leon. (Hall of fame producer of many music icons spanning The Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, Rodney Crowell, Pavarotti, James Galloway, The Royal Philharmonic, on and on) The band played road gigs and college concerts in Florida, Tennessee, and Ohio. Southern Steel was featured on a Miami public TV series "Fusion" and could be seen in Billboard magazine ads. They were quickly establishing a cult following and moved to Nashville, TN 1974. On the verge of success, SS was approached by a rival management company to sign with them. Although SS made no commitment, this party began approaching record labels as their new management. Negations broke down between Earth Records and interested major labels. Bob Fieden/Arista Records was prepared to offer a long term recording contract, but rescinded, telling Jim Goodman that Arista could not sign a major contract to a band with management dissention. In the spring of 1975 Arista signed The Outlaw Band instead. Their 1st album was released in late August, and peaked at #13 on the Billboard charts. Soon after, the album is certified Gold, and they embark on a coast-to-coast tour with The Doobie Bros. *Southern Steel is left without a finished master, no contract and no management. The group split up shortly thereafter, financially unable to survive. 35 years later, three original Southern Steel members reunite to celebrate Jim’s 60th birthday. We laid down tracks for seven songs at Cathouse Sound in Sacramento, CA and a 16 track live recording at the birthday party 9/10/11. We were joined by several artists including Jim’s son Josh Goodman. The new album (Southern Steel Rides Again) is a tribute to days past and music still to come, and dedicated to fallen brother’s Steve Clark and Will Akridge. Craig Leon has stayed in touch, and remains live and well in England. He will of course get a copy of the album along with our best wishes. Jim Goodman, Ed Ocean, Greg Orsini