I know that I’m asking how deep is the ocean?
The Doobies had so many great lineups of musicians. The band name is really a franchise where fantastic and talented people visited for a few years.
Do you have a favorite member of the band or lineup that appears on an album?
What’s your favorite Doobie Brothers albums?
Perhaps we can narrow down the top ten albums and I’ll post a new thread with poll for the fans choice of best album?
I’m partial to the Skunk Baxter, Patrick Simmons, Keith Knudson (drums) and Michael McDonald lead vocals years.
Minute by Minute 1978 is my personal favorite album. Closely followed by Takin it to the Streets 1976.
Livin on the Fault Line 1977 is very good artistically but it wasn’t a great commercial project. A lot of casual fans wouldn’t remember it. It was more of a concept album.
All three albums had basically the same lineup of musicians. Skunk left after Minute by Minute in 1978 and McDonald left after One Step Closer in 1980.
My favorite album is The Captain And Me, but my favorite line-up is the one from Stampede, after Jeff Baxter came on as a full time defense consultant guitarist.
Any album or lineup without Michael McDonald. He ruined the Doobies, turned a rock band into a pop music group.
I always fondly remember South Ciry Midnight Lady on The Captain And Me. That’s my favorite album with Tom Johnston.
Most of the early Doobies albums are very good.
Midnight Lady is one of the few Doobie songs that I play. Most of their hits requires at least a 3 piece band to adequately cover. The Doobies had several guitars on stage. But Lady sounds really nice on one guitar. Everyone recognizes the song from the chords. I love jamming with a friend that does the lead on that song.
Mine too. Not sure how it could be otherwise.
Reminds me of Steely Dan.
Two guys and then a never-ending procession of others playing with them (and by design…Becker and Fagen were perfectionists and constantly looked for the ideal musician to play just one song).
A few years ago Rhino released a box set with quadraphonic and high-resolution mixes of Toulouse Street, The Captain & Me, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, and Stampede on Blu-ray. Even on my modest surround system the sound is just fantastic. The price has gone sky-high on the secondary market, but if you’re a fan and have capable hardware you might want to keep an eye out for a deal somewhere.
I first came across the Doobies with “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits” when it was new, but first really listened to them when “Takin’ It to the Streets” came out. McDonald got a lot of criticism (at least among my friends) at the time because of the change from a bar band to more soft rock.
“Takin’ It to the Streets” is my favorite album, but I also love the earlier stuff. Saw them in concert on the “Minute by Minute” tour in 1978. Tickets were $7.50.
So, yeah. To answer the question, I love the Doobies up until Takin’ It to the Streets, and every lineup til then (even McDonald). I don’t think he ruined the band, but it did…evolve, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I saw a interview with Skunk Baxter. He explained that he felt the Doobies were at their peak when he left. He’d done as much with the band as possible.
He moved on with session work for other bands. But still loves his prior work with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers.
I have his solo album Speed of Heat from 2022. It’s interesting and has two Steely Dan covers. Theres one song with Michael McDonald. I don’t listen to the album regularly.
I don’t know their albums, but since The Captain and Me was referenced, I checked and it has Long Train Running and China Grove, so I’ll agree with that choice.
The Doobie Brothers with Michael McDonald is essentially a different band – I don’t know how many earlier band members stuck around, but the sound and groove are totally different. Worse, in my opinion, but certainly different.
Listen to the Music, which is on a different album from China Grove, etc., is much more like those than any McDonald track.
Since we’re talking about the Doobie Brothers, if you listen to the music in Listen to the Music, you’ll find that there’s a single, repeated piano note (an E, I think) that goes almost all the way through the song. Kind of a cool Easter Egg – once you hear it, you’ll never miss it.
Michael McDonald is a good instrumentalist & can sing harmonies very competently.
But there is just something about the timbre of his voice that GRATES on me. Like chaulk screeching on a blackboard. Just a personal response…
One Doobie Brothers-related question I’ve never found an answer to: What is the connection (if any) between “Listen To The Music” and Peter Frampton’s “Doobie Wah”?
They sound so much alike. Frampton’s song was released a couple of years later and at first I thought it was an obvious rip off and wondered if the Doobies would file a plagiarism suit (à la "Taurus" vs “Stairway To Heaven”)
Nothing ever happened on that front. In fact the Doobies and Peter seem to be on good terms. During the pandemic they posted a “social distanced” version of Let It Rain on Youtube and have toured together recently.
I remember the first time I heard the fantastic song “I Cheat the Hangman.” Never occurred to me that it might be from the Doobies, who personified a certain type of chugging guitar rock that I really liked. I later learned that it came from Stampede. I couldn’t name another song on the album, but Hangman is one those hidden gems that people talk about. Or, in this case, never talk about.
I don’t have any Doobie Brothers albums but I do have Frampton Comes Alive, and have wondered this myself. Is Doobie Wah anything more than a (tongue-in-cheek?) homage to the Doobies?
Sounding alike, and with the later song referencing the other artists by name in the title, can it BE any more obvious that it was all intentional?
Same key (E), very similar chord inversions. Obviously a tribute, but I’m guessing a friendly one?
Most likely Frampton cleared it with the Doobies before he put it out.
San Jose designated the “Doobie Brothers House” as a historic landmark a few years ago. It’s where the band started when Tom Johnson lived there while attending San Jose State. It’s about 5 minutes away, so just for grins I drove over this morning to take a picture. You can see the “historic marker” plaque in the lower right corner:
Tom’s health was a big concern. He probably wouldn’t have survived the 70’s as leader of The Dobbie Brothers
Michael McDonald last Doobie album was in 1980. The first Doobie farewell tour was in 1982. The live album was released in 1983.
Both men have returned and recorded for short periods.
I don’t have a favorite Doobie album. But, one of my all-time favorite songs is Another Park, Another Sunday. I could listen to that song over and over again.
I’ve never been a big Doobie Brothers fan and an even less of a fan of Michael McDonald.