Music Review: Doobie Brothers - The Very Best Of The Doobie Brothers
Published February 24, 2007
This weekend I plan to attend a reunion, along with several of my old classmates, with my high school journalism teacher from way back in the seventies. I haven't seen Miss Mootafes (who miraculously is still alive) in something like thirty five years, and I'm actually very excited about the meeting.
You see, Miss Mootafes (who we affectionately used to call "Miss Moo") was one of the first people I can remember that had a significant influence on my decision to pursue writing. She encouraged me, saying I actually had what she called a "gift." The thing is though, in addition to being the best damned teacher I remember from high school, she also had to be something of a saint to have put up with my type of shenanigans. Because "gifted" as this particular student may have been, I was also somewhat incorrigible and quite prone to getting myself in trouble.
I ran with the group of kids that anyone who went to high school in the seventies will remember as the "rockers." We were that long-haired, loutish bunch who blended with the stoner crowd, but separated ourselves by the music we listened to. Where the stoner kids preferred the spacier sounds of Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead, rockers were all about the volume championed by bands like Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Alice Cooper. For those in need of a reference point, I would highly recommend renting a DVD of the scarily accurate film, Dazed And Confused.
So on a typical Friday night, as a bunch of us would pile into our buddy's 65 Mustang for the weekend cruise, it was bands like this that were in heavy rotation on the 8-track tape deck. Every once in awhile however, the tape broke and you had to rely on the AM radio.
This is where the Doobie Brothers come in.
During the early seventies while Tom Johnston was still the engine driving the creative bus, there was simply not a rock band on earth whose songs played better on AM than the Doobie Brothers. In the seventies, when the 8-track tape broke, the Doobies were golden.
For us rocker kids, the Doobie Brothers were kind of like that perfect middle ground. While they were never as loud and adventurous as Zeppelin, or as bizarre (for the time) as Alice, they had perfectly serviceable guitar riffs. These were mostly played by Johnston and fellow guitar slinger Patrick Simmons. Plus they had a biker's sort of edge about them, which gave them the necessary sort of outlaw cred they needed — despite AM radio being their primary medium.
- Music Review: Doobie Brothers - The Very Best Of The Doobie Brothers
- Published: February 24, 2007
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Pop, Music: Original, Music: Classic Rock and Oldies
- Writer: Glen Boyd
- Glen Boyd's BC Writer page
- Glen Boyd's personal site
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Thanx Pico. The McDonald era was of course what it was. Some damn fine songs, but it just wasn't the same. Plus anything where Kenny loggins is involved (with the songwriting in this case) will have me pretty much throwing up the sign of the cross). The songs themselves however hold up quite well. Thanx for the comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
-Hlen
In the interest of fairness, on my review (btw, nice work, Glen) yes I made a Viagr@ joke about McDonald but I also said there were some good songs from his tenure. I tend to have a good one-liner in my review and it takes on a life of its own. More people were interested in a throwaway line about The Lovin' Spoonful or the male drug/McDonald than any of the other stuff I said. Which, you know, I can live with but I think I ought to at least be clear on it. Wait... that's my article. Let's talk about yours.
Yours is almost as good as mine- I kid, I kid. Geez. This is what happens when I get to the computer before my caffeine. Well done, Glen.
I'm not so thrilled about the Kenny Loggins collaborations , either. If I had this CD, "What A Fool Believes" would never get played. I've heard it plenty of enough times, thank you very much.
It's kinda cool to get perspectives of the Doobie Brothers and their hits from two different generations. Both you and DJR have some good takes on the subject. You know, maybe you guys should make a series out of that ;&)
Thanx so much DJR.
Being the "rockologist" I tend to fancy myself as, I confess that your "throwaway" line about the Lovin Spoonful got to me a little too -- somebody like the Beau Brummels just would have fit the sentiment you were trying to express a bit better. That said, I thought that your review was spot on, which is a big part of the reason I held my own up for a few days (well that and the fact that my computer was f**ked up and in the shop).
So backatcha DJR.
You only got thing backwards though. Your review was actually almost as good as...mine. LOL---
-Glen
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Enjoyed your write-up, Glen. The Brothers were indeed one of those bands you didn't mind dominating AM radio back in the day.
The horn charts and soft rock numbers were there before Mike entered the scene; For Vices they brought in the Memphis horns and "South City Midnight Lady" (which I see they wisely put in this collection) is one of Simmons' best ever ballads. Stampede featured a Motown cover that became a hit and soul icon Curtis Mayfield even arranged a track. So I believe the Doobies were already headed toward MM territory; bringing him on board wasn't so much signaling a change in direction than acknowledging it.
IMO, I don't think that McDonald's entrance was such a bad thing; he actually contributed some good tunes as you pointed out. Rather, it's the loss of Johnston hurt them; if they had albums consisting of 3-4 of Johnston's, McDonald's and Simmon's best compositions, then maybe there wouldn't have been the filler that have plagued their LPs after Streets.