The Doobie Brothers - The Warner Bros. Years 1971-1983 (2016) [TR24][OF]

As one of the most popular California pop/rock bands of the '70s, the Doobie Brothers evolved from a mellow, post-hippie boogie band to a slick, soul-inflected pop band by the end of the decade. Along the way, the group racked up a string of gold and platinum albums in the U.S., along with a number of radio hits like "Listen to the Music," "Black Water," and "China Grove." The roots of the Doobie Brothers lie in Pud, a short-lived California country-rock band in the vein of Moby Grape featuring guitarist/vocalist Tom Johnston and drummer John Hartman. After Pud collapsed in 1969, the pair began jamming with bassist Dave Shogren and guitarist Patrick Simmons. Eventually, the quartet decided to form a group, naming themselves the Doobie Brothers after a slang term for marijuana. Soon, the Doobies earned a strong following throughout Southern California, especially among Hell's Angels, and they were signed to Warner Bros. in 1970. The band's eponymous debut was ignored upon its 1971 release. Following its release, Shogren was replaced by Tiran Porter and the group added a second drummer, Michael Hossack, for 1972's Toulouse Street. Driven by the singles "Listen to the Music" and "Jesus Is Just Alright," Toulouse Street became the group's breakthrough. The Captain and Me (1973) was even more successful, spawning the Top Ten hits "Long Train Runnin'" and "China Grove." Keith Knudsen replaced Hossack as the group's second drummer for 1974's What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, which launched their first number one single, "Black Water," and featured heavy contributions from former Steely Dan member Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Baxter officially joined the Doobie Brothers for 1975's Stampede. Prior to the album's spring release, Johnston was hospitalized with a stomach ailment and was replaced for the supporting tour by keyboardist/vocalist Michael McDonald, who had also worked with Steely Dan. Although it peaked at number four, Stampede wasn't as commercially successful as its three predecessors, and the group decided to let McDonald and Baxter, who were now official Doobies, revamp the band's light country-rock and boogie. The new sound was showcased on 1976's Takin' It to the Streets, a collection of light funk and jazzy pop that resulted in a platinum album. Later that year, the group released the hits compilation The Best of the Doobies. In 1977, they released Livin' on the Fault Line, which was successful without producing any big hits. Johnston left the band after the album's release to pursue an unsuccessful solo career. Following his departure, the Doobies released their most successful album, Minute by Minute (1978), which spent five weeks at number one on the strength of the number one single "What a Fool Believes." Hartman and Baxter left the group after the album's supporting tour, leaving the Doobie Brothers as McDonald's backing band. Following a year of auditions, the Doobies hired ex-Clover guitarist John McFee, session drummer Chet McCracken, and former Moby Grape saxophonist Cornelius Bumpus, and released One Step Closer (1980), a platinum album that produced the Top Ten hit "Real Love." During the tour for One Step Closer, McCracken was replaced by Andy Newmark. Early in 1982, the Doobie Brothers announced they were breaking up after a farewell tour, which was documented on the 1983 live album Farewell Tour. After the band's split, McDonald pursued a successful solo career, while Simmons released one unsuccessful solo record. In 1987, the Doobies reunited for a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, which quickly became a brief reunion tour; McDonald declined to participate in the tour. By 1989, the early-'70s lineup of Johnston, Simmons, Hartman, Porter, and Hossack, augmented by percussionist and former Doobies roadie Bobby LaKind, had signed a contract with Capitol Records. Their reunion album, Cycles, went gold upon its summer release in 1989, spawning the Top Ten hit "The Doctor." Brotherhood followed two years later, but it failed to generate much interest. For the remainder of the '90s, the group toured the U.S., playing the oldies circuit and '70s revival concerts. By 1995, McDonald had joined the group again, and the following year saw the release of Rockin' Down the Highway. But the lineup had once again shifted by the turn of the new millennium. In 2000, the band – Hossack, Johnston, Knudsen, McFee, and Simmons – issued Sibling Rivalry, which featured touring members Guy Allison on keyboards, Marc Russo on saxophone, and Skylark on bass. The late-'70s incarnation of the band – Simmons, Johnston, McFee, and Hossack (with Michael McDonald guesting on one track) – reunited once again to put out World Gone Crazy in 2010. The band-assisted documentary Let the Music Play: The Story of the Doobie Brothers followed in 2012, the same year Hossack died of cancer. In early 2014, the Doobie Brothers – this time featuring McDonald, Johnston, Simmons, and McFee – announced they were returning to the studio to record an album filled with country versions of their greatest hits, featuring such Nashville stars as Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Zac Brown, Sara Evans, and Chris Young. Called Southbound, the album appeared in November. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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One of the most inauspicious debuts by a major rock group, this subdued slice of country boogie might be called the missing link between Moby Grape and the later, revved-up Doobies of "Listen to the Music." Only a handful of West Coast hippies bought this record originally, but it lays the blueprint for the Doobies' future radio-friendly sound: chugging rhythm guitar, stretched-out harmonies, Tom Johnston's joyful R&B vocals, and Patrick Simmons' acoustic picking. A muffled mixing job helped keep this album in the morgue, which is sad, because "Nobody" and "Greenwood Creek" rate with some of Johnston's best tunes, and they deserve issuance on a definitive Doobie Brothers compilation. Review by Peter Kurtz

TRACKLIST
01. Nobody (3:29)
02. Slippery St. Paul (2:14)
03. Greenwood Creek (3:05)
04. It Won't Be Right (2:40)
05. Travelin' Man (4:28)
06. Feelin' Down Farther (4:20)
07. The Master (3:31)
08. Growin' a Little Each Day (3:22)
09. Beehive State (2:44)
10. Closer Every Day (4:21)
11. Chicago (1:43)


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Toulouse Street was the album by which most of their fans began discovering the Doobie Brothers, and it has retained a lot of its freshness over the decades. Producer Ted Templeman was attuned to the slightly heavier and more Southern style the band wanted to work toward on this, their second album, and the results were not only profitable – including a platinum record award – but artistically impeccable. Toulouse Street is actually pretty close in style and sound at various points to what the Eagles were doing during the same period, except that the Doobies threw jazz and R&B into the mix, as well as country, folk, and bluegrass elements, and (surprise!) ended up just about as ubiquitous as the Eagles in peoples' record collections, especially in the wake of the singles "Listen to the Music" and "Jesus Is Just Alright." But those two singles represented only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what this group had to offer, as purchasers of the album discovered even on the singles – both songs appear here in distinctly longer versions, with more exposition and development, and in keeping with the ambitions that album cuts (even of popular numbers) were supposed to display in those days. Actually, "Listen to the Music" (written by Tom Johnston) offers subtle use of phasing and other studio tricks that make its seemingly earthy, laid-back approach some of the most complex and contrived of the period. Johnston's "Rockin' Down the Highway" shows the band working at a higher wattage and moving into Creedence Clearwater Revival territory, while "Mamaloi" was Patrick Simmons' laid-back Caribbean idyll, and the title tune (also by Simmons) is a hauntingly beautiful ballad. The band then switches gears into swamp rock for "Cotton Mouth" and takes a left turn into the Mississippi Delta for a version of Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Don't Start Me Talkin'" before shifting into a gospel mode with "Jesus Is Just Alright." Johnston's nearly seven-minute "Disciple" was the sort of soaring, bluesy hard rock workout that led to the group's comparison to the Allman Brothers Band, though their interlocking vocals were nearly as prominent as their crunching, surging double lead guitars and paired drummers. And it all still sounds astonishingly bracing decades later; it's still a keeper, and one of the most inviting and alluring albums of its era. Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Listen to the Music (3:47)
02. Rockin' Down the Highway (3:20)
03. Mamaloi (2:31)
04. Toulouse Street (3:20)
05. Cotton Mouth (3:43)
06. Don't Start Me to Talkin' (2:45)
07. Jesus Is Just Alright (4:35)
08. White Sun (2:30)
09. Disciple (6:45)
10. Snake Man (1:38)


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The Doobie Brothers' third long-player was the charm, their most substantial and consistent album to date, and one that rode the charts for a year. It was also a study in contrasts, Tom Johnston's harder-edged, bolder rocking numbers balanced by Patrick Simmons' more laid-back country-rock ballad style. The leadoff track, Johnston's "Natural Thing," melded the two, opening with interlocking guitars and showcasing the band's exquisite soaring harmonies around a beautiful melody, all wrapped up in a midtempo beat – the result was somewhere midway between Allman Brothers-style virtuosity and Eagles/Crosby & Nash-type lyricism, which defined this period in the Doobies' history and gave them a well-deserved lock on the top of the charts. Next up was the punchy, catchy "Long Train Runnin'," a piece they'd been playing for years as an instrumental – a reluctant Johnston was persuaded by producer Ted Templeman to write lyrics to it and record the song, and the resulting track became the group's next hit. The slashing, fast-tempo "China Grove" and "Without You" represented the harder side of the Doobies' sound, and were juxtaposed with Simmons' romantic country-rock ballads "Clear as the Driven Snow," and "South City Midnight Lady." Simmons also showed off his louder side with "Evil Woman," while Johnston showed his more reflective side with "Dark Eyed Cajun Woman," "Ukiah" and "The Captain and Me" – the latter, a soaring rocker clocking in at nearly five minutes, features radiant guitars and harmonies, soaring ever higher and faster to a triumphant finish. Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Natural Thing (3:18)
02. Long Train Runnin' (3:27)
03. China Grove (3:15)
04. Dark Eyed Cajun Woman (4:13)
05. Clear as the Driven Snow (5:19)
06. Without You (4:59)
07. South City Midnight Lady (5:29)
08. Evil Woman (3:20)
09. Busted Down Around O'Connelly Corners (0:49)
10. Ukiah (3:02)
11. The Captain and Me (4:48)


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The Doobies team up with the Memphis Horns for an even more Southern-flavored album than usual, although also a more uneven one. By this time, Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, and company had pretty well inherited the mantle and the core (and then some) of the audience left behind by Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty, with Johnston songs like "Pursuit on 53rd Street," "Down in the Track," and "Road Angel" recalling pieces like "Travelin' Band," while Simmons' "Black Water" (their first number one hit) evoked the softer side of the "swamp rock" popularized by CCR. Actually, in some respects, given the range of instruments employed here, including an autoharp (courtesy of Arlo Guthrie) and viola, the songs on the original LP's first side suffer somewhat from a sameness that makes What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits a little less interesting than the albums that preceded it. The original side two had a lot more variety, which is as good as any full album the band ever recorded: Simmons' "Tell Me What You Want (And I'll Give You What You Need)" and Johnston's "Another Park, Another Sunday," which both outdo the Eagles and Poco at their respective country-rock games (and keep a certain soulful edge, too), Simmons' lyrical, ethereal, slightly spacy "Daughters of the Sea," and the very spacy, shimmering instrumental "Flying Cloud" (written by bassist Tiran Porter). In all, despite the weakness of its original first side, it's got a lot more to offer than the single hit, and has at least six numbers (out of 12) that rate with the better album tracks the group has ever done. Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Song to See You Through (4:08)
02. Spirit (3:16)
03. Pursuit on 53rd Street (2:34)
04. Black Water (4:15)
05. Eyes of Silver (2:59)
06. Road Angel (4:48)
07. You Just Can't Stop It (3:30)
08. Tell Me What You Want (and I'll Give You What You Need) (3:55)
09. Down in the Track (4:16)
10. Another Park, Another Sunday (4:28)
11. Daughters of the Sea (4:35)
12. Flying Cloud (2:00)


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Talk about greatness – the Doobie Brothers, with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter added to their lineup, delivered their best album to date helped by a fairly big hit, though "Take Me in Your Arms" never did anything close to its predecessors despite some chords and modulations that recalled "Black Water" ever so slightly. Stampede's virtue was its musicianship, which, in addition to new member Baxter, was also showcased in the guises of some impressive guests. The Doobie Brothers' rootsiest album to date, Stampede was virtuoso soulful countrified rock of a gritty nature, crossing over into blues as well as reaching back to a raw, traditional rock & roll sound that wouldn't have sounded too out of place 20 years earlier. That was the opener, the searing "Sweet Maxine," which just might've made a good single with an edit or two to bring it down to three and a half minutes; the record gets better with the bouncing "Neal's Fandango," which is highlighted by lyrical as well as instrumental acrobatics on the verses and a delicious guitar and piano break. "Texas Lullaby" is one of the prettiest pieces of country rock (though it's a little more "Western rock") to come out of the genre since the Byrds and the Beau Brummels had treaded into it eight years earlier, and gets a magnificently soulful performance from Tom Johnston. And speaking of soul, Curtis Mayfield is the arranger on Johnston's hard-driving "Music Man." The group strips down to its acoustic basics for "Slat Key Soquel Rag," which could have been an outtake from the group's self-titled debut album; Maria Muldaur is the guest vocalist on "I Cheat the Hangman," representing Patrick Simmons' songwriting at its most ethereal. Baxter's "Précis" was the group's nod to classical and Spanish guitar technique, and "Rainy Day Crossroad Blues" provides guest artist Ry Cooder with a gorgeous canvas on which to paint his slide guitar licks. And the album lands with its feet firmly in 1970s-style roots rock on "I've Been Workin' on You" and "Double Dealin' Four Flusher." Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Sweet Maxine (4:24)
02. Neal's Fandango (3:08)
03. Texas Lullaby (5:00)
04. Music Man (3:31)
05. Slack Key Soquel Rag (1:52)
06. Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While) (3:40)
07. I Cheat the Hangman (6:37)
08. Precis (0:59)
09. Rainy Day Crossroad Blues (3:46)
10. I Been Workin' on You (4:26)
11. Double Dealin' Four Flusher (3:29)


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The group's first album with Michael McDonald marked a shift to a more mellow and self-consciously soulful sound for the Doobies, not all that different from what happened to Steely Dan – whence McDonald (and Jeff Baxter) had come – between, say, Can't Buy a Thrill and Pretzel Logic. They showed an ability to expand on the lyricism of Patrick Simmons and Baxter's writing on "Wheels of Fortune," while the title track introduced McDonald's white funk sound cold to their output, successfully. Simmons' "8th Avenue Shuffle" vaguely recalled "Black Water," only with an urban theme and a more self-consciously soul sound (with extraordinarily beautiful choruses and a thick, rippling guitar break). "Rio" and "It Keeps You Runnin'" both manage to sound like Steely Dan tracks – and that's a compliment – while Tiran Porter's hauntingly beautiful "For Someone Special" was a pure soul classic right in the midst of all of these higher-energy pieces. Tom Johnston's "Turn It Loose" is a last look back to their earlier sound, while Simmons' "Carry Me Away" shows off the new interplay and sounds that were to carry the group into the 1980s, with gorgeous playing and singing all around. Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Wheels of Fortune (4:57)
02. Takin' It to the Streets (3:52)
03. 8th Avenue Shuffle (4:44)
04. Losin' End (3:47)
05. Rio (3:51)
06. For Someone Special (5:05)
07. It Keeps You Runnin' (4:17)
08. Turn It Loose (3:57)
09. Carry Me Away (4:07)


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Livin' on the Fault Line fell between two of the Doobie Brothers' biggest-selling records. The album had no hit singles, and one-time leader Tom Johnston kept a markedly low profile (this would be his last record with the group, not including a later reunion). Despite this, Livin' on the Fault Line contains some of the most challenging and well-developed music of the band's career, with Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald really stepping to the fore. There's a vague mood of melancholia running through the songs, as well as a definite jazz influence. This is most obvious on the title track, which has several instrumental passages that showcase the guitar abilities of Simmons and Jeff Baxter. Similarly, "Chinatown" is a spooky mood piece not unlike the smooth fusion of late-period Steely Dan or Little Feat. But "Echoes of Love" and "Nothin' But a Heartache" are both intelligent, glistening pop songs that confirm Simmons and McDonald as first-rate tunesmiths. The record slips a little at the end, with a plodding R&B song and a Piedmont guitar instrumental thrown in as filler. Overall, though, this is a chapter in the Doobie Brothers' history that deserves a second look. Review by Peter Kurtz

TRACKLIST
01. You're Made That Way (3:37)
02. Echoes of Love (2:58)
03. Little Darling (I Need You) (3:27)
04. You Belong to Me (3:05)
05. Livin' on the Fault Line (4:49)
06. Nothin' But a Heartache (3:08)
07. Chinatown (4:59)
08. There's a Light (4:14)
09. Need a Lady (3:27)
10. Larry the Logger Two-Step (1:18)


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With Tom Johnston gone from the lineup because of health problems, this is where the "new" Doobie Brothers really make their debut, with a richly soulful sound throughout and emphasis on horns and Michael McDonald's piano more than on Patrick Simmons' or Jeff Baxter's guitars. Not that they were absent entirely, or weren't sometimes right up front in the mix, as the rocking, slashing "Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels" and the bluegrass-influenced "Steamer Lane Breakdown" demonstrate. But given the keyboards, the funky rhythms, and McDonald's soaring tenor (showcased best on "What a Fool Believes"), it's almost difficult to believe that this is the hippie bar band that came out of California in 1970. There's less virtuosity here than on the group's first half-dozen albums, but overall a more commercial sound steeped in white funk. It's still all pretty compelling even if its appeal couldn't be more different from the group's earlier work (i.e., The Captain and Me, etc.). The public loved it, buying something like three million copies, and the recording establishment gave Minute by Minute four Grammy Awards, propelling the group to its biggest success ever. Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Here to Love You (3:28)
02. What a Fool Believes (3:40)
03. Minute by Minute (3:28)
04. Dependin' on You (3:43)
05. Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels (3:31)
06. Open Your Eyes (3:17)
07. Sweet Feelin' (2:44)
08. Steamer Lane Breakdown (Instrumental) (3:27)
09. You Never Change (3:30)
10. How Do the Fools Survive (5:17)


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This album shows the difference between highly competent musicianship and true inspiration, and what each can deliver. The group's weakest album to date, One Step Closer is only a failure in relative terms. At the outset of the group's shift toward a more soulful sound, it might have gotten by in much the same way that, say, the Bee Gees' Mr. Natural failed commercially but was given a "pass" by critics, their record label, and, perhaps most importantly, the band itself. But coming off of the multi-Grammy winning Minute by Minute, One Step Closer was a serious letdown, despite the presence of a modest hit in "Real Love" and platinum record award-level sales. The band seemed to lack sufficient new inspiration for a whole album, a fact emphasized by the near-complete withdrawal of Patrick Simmons as a songwriter – his "No Stoppin' Us Now," co-authored with Michael McDonald and Christopher Thompson, is one of the better tracks and it's not remotely as strong as the output on earlier records. The title song, co-authored by Keith Knudsen and John McFee, is similarly a relatively uninspired successor to earlier compositions. McDonald is able to pick up some of the slack, along with saxman (and new member) Cornelius Bumpus, but overall the songs and the performances just don't measure up. It's more the quality of a set of demos in progress, and it was clear to all concerned that they were out of ideas. The Doobies spent the next two years touring and capitalizing on a decade's brilliant music-making before announcing their split. Review by Bruce Eder

TRACKLIST
01. Dedicate This Heart (4:07)
02. Real Love (4:19)
03. No Stoppin' Us Now (4:41)
04. Thank You Love (6:24)
05. One Step Closer (4:12)
06. Keep This Train a Rollin' (3:29)
07. Just in Time (2:46)
08. South Bay Strut (Instrumental) (4:04)
09. One by One (3:45)


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With the benefit of hindsight, the name of this album should more accurately be "Farewell Tour: The Michael McDonald/Warner Brothers Years." That's because the Doobie Brothers made a relatively successful comeback in 1989 (without McDonald) on a different label and have continued to tour sporadically through the 90s and '00s. Oddly, there are no songs from the outfit's final Warner studio album, One Step Closer, included here. As a live rendition of greatest hits, this doesn't measure up since so many classics, such as "It Keeps You Runnin'," "Another Park," "Another Sunday," and "Rockin' Down the Highway" are M.I.A. Only co-founder Patrick Simmons remains from the original lineup, although Tom Johnston, who wasn't touring with the act at the time, makes a guest appearance for the final two tracks, "China Grove" and "Long Train Runnin'." Why he doesn't contribute vocals to "Listen to the Music," a tune tied to his distinctive tenor, is unclear, but McDonald's husky voice doesn't do the peppy tune justice. The rest is a professional, unmemorable, trawl through the McDonald blue-eyed soul hits, most of them nearly indistinguishable from the studio versions. Simmons brings some much needed rootsy folk-blues to the mix with spirited if somewhat rote rendition of "Black Water," and a nod to the band's bluesy past with an Allman Brothers-styled take on Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me Talkin'." It seems that McDonald leaves the stage for these performances, since his contributions are inaudible. One new track is included in the form of McDonald's forgettable "Olana," a studio version of which ultimately showed up on the Doobie Brothers' four-disc box. The only energy or spontaneity exhibited here is on the jaunty six-minute take of "Long Train Runnin'" where the group opens up for some jamming. Otherwise, this is a contract-fulfilling double album (boiled down to a single CD) that was, not surprisingly, removed from print and finally resuscitated for hardcore fans, the only ones who would be interested, as a digital-only release in 2009. Review by Hal Horowitz

TRACKLIST
01. Slippery St. Paul (0:54)
02. Takin' It to the Streets (4:48)
03. Jesus Is Just Alright with Me (4:41)
04. Minute by Minute (4:43)
05. Can't Let It Get Away (4:00)
06. Listen to the Music (3:41)
07. Echoes of Love (2:53)
08. What a Fool Believes (4:05)
09. Black Water (4:27)
10. You Belong to Me (3:30)
11. Slack Key Soquel Rag (2:02)
12. Steamer Lane Breakdown (3:58)
13. South City Midnight Lady (5:56)
14. Olana (2:59)
15. Don't Start Me Talkin' (2:48)
16. Long Train Runnin' (6:16)
17. China Grove (3:42)


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