The transformation of The Doobie Brothers from a "biker-bong-boogie" band to a "yacht rock" band came in 1974 with the arrival of Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (who I once read gained that sobriquet because he never changed his socks) and Michael McDonald from Steely Dan and the departure of founding member Tom Johnston due to illness in 1975. With McDonald came a different, more sophisticated sound, more keyboard oriented than the dual lead guitars of Johnston and Patrick Simmons. The height of their popularity came in the mid-’70’s and early ’80’s.
| # | Song | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Black Water” | From their 1974 release What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, this started as a riff Patrick Simmons was playing in the studio. Producer Ted Tempelman liked it and suggested Simmons write a sing around it. It reached #1 on the Hot 100 in 1975. |
| 2 | “Takin’ It To The Streets” | Title track from their 1976 album, it was written by Michael McDonald, who also sang lead vocal. It reached #13 on the Hot 100 and #7 in Canada. |
| 3 | “What A Fool Believes” | Written by McDonald and Kenny Loggins, it also appeared on Takin’ It To The Streets and featured McDonald on lead vocals. It was one of the few non-disco songs to reach #1 on the Hot 100 in 1979 and was also #1 in Canada. |
| 4 | “Real Love” | From the 1980 album One Step Closer and written by McDonald and Patrick Henderson, it’s their third highest-charting single behind “Black Water” and “What A Fool Believes.” It reached #5 on the Hot 100. |
| 5 | “You Belong To Me” | Written by McDonald and Carly Simon, a studio version appeared on their 1977 album Livin’ On The Fault Line. Simon’s version of the song appeared on her 1978 album Boys In The Trees peaked at #6 on the Hot 100 and earned her the Grammy for Best Female Vocalist in 1979. A live version appeared on The Doobies’ 1983 album Farewell Tour and peaked at #69. |
The Doobie Brothers, your Five For Friday, September 11, 2020.
Of all their songs…I like this one the best…love the backup vocals and the call back.
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“Black Water,” you mean?
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Oh yes…I’m sorry John. Yes Black Water. We play China Grove but I like this one much better
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It’s a nice acoustic number….
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One of the best groups ever, IMHO!
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That’s a general consensus. They came along at a time when we needed groups like them.
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Great songs. I can sing along (poorly and loudly) with joy.
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That’s the spirit!
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Excellent work.
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Thanks!
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Reblogged this on Mike's Other Place and GOLCH CENTRAL.
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Thanks!
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cool tunes mine will be up shortly.If you want to add this likny that i have on my blog this one is for wordpress just copy and paste it to you posting (if I had your email address I would have sent it to ya that way) //www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=mjgolch&postid=11Sep2020&meme=11922
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Couldn’t get this to work. WordPress.com doesn’t allow Javascript…
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I grabbed the wordpress installed one for ya. Bummer maybe I should have grabbed the wordpress.com one. try it from here: http://www.blenza.com/linkies/wizard.php?meme=1848
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This is one of those “greatest hits” groups for me. I liked a lot of their songs, but never cared to listen to an entire album. I don’t know why, they were very good.
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I know exactly what you mean, and now with Spotify and other streaming services, I don’t even have to buy the album…
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