Saturday, April 25, 2009

The Doobs Are A Habit, Not A Vice



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I'm all about listening to a tune from my past that doesn't get a lot of airplay. The Doobie Brothers' South City Midnight Lady is another example. It's from their breakout album The Captain and Me, with two of their more popular hits China Grove and Long Train Runnin' as the songs most likely to be on the radio today. The Doobs really showcase their skills on this one.




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This video is about an offroad trip and just happens to use the song in question - I Cheat the Hangman from Stampede. This song just sends chills down my spine - it has an emotional impact on me even all these years later.

I don't profess to know much at all about music. Never played an instrument or studied any form thereof. All I know is what I like to hear. The Doobie Brothers were, and still are, pop music. Britney Spears is pop music. Milli Vanilli cranked out pop music.

But, during an almost five year period from April 1971 to March 1976, the various members cranked out six high quality albums that helped define the term classic rock. They also toured to support those albums. No wonder some were burned out and had health problems - even I realize that is a lot of work. These guys were (and still are, by the way) good. They posses actual skills. Their music has worn well over the years, which is more than can be said about some of their "competition."

And I still say Michael McDonald ruined the band in the long run.

2 comments:

drjim said...

yeah, that's one of my favorite DB songs, too, along with "Another Park, Another Sunday".

Jerry in Texas said...

It is a shame what happened to the Doobies. If you leave your core audience and go for a "new sound", it always turns out badly for the band. It happened to REO Speedwagon, Styx, Chicago, Alice Cooper. But even if you stay true to form, the audience grows tired of you: Three Dog Night, The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive.