CD - Doobie Brothers: Very Best Of

OK, this 2CD has got very little to do with what the Shades site usually features - links to R&B, blues and soul are tenuous at best. But the Doobies have always struck the Primer as a very honest band, a not so secret pleasure, so indulge us!

And when we say an honest band, we're talking about the incarnation of the band up to and including the "Stampede" album released in 1975. Tracks such as 'Listen To The Music', 'Jesus Is Just Alright', 'Rockin' Down The Highway', 'Long Train Runnin' and 'China Grove' were all great slabs of radio friendly southern(ish) rock. They also produced a good version of the Holland Dozier Holland penned 'Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me), the first tenuous R&B link! Album tracks such as 'South City Midnight Lady'. 'Another Park, Another Sunday' and 'I Cheat The Hangman' added variety to the mix, although the latter does have a tendency to come over more than a little Crosby, Stills and Nash!.

When Michael McDonald joined the group, the supposedly greater soul influence just grated, detracting from the real strengths of the group and creating a kind of pseudo blue-eyed soul. McDonald isn't really the soul singer that many will have you believe anyway. At least we only get the best of this period on this collection, including the admittedly fine rendition of 'Little Darlin' I Need You' (link number two) and the excellent 'What A Fool Believes'.
After the McDonald era, they returned circa 1989 with Tom Johnston back at the helm and immediately turned the corner with some trademark classic boogie such as 'The Doctor', 'South Of The Border' and their version of the Isley's 'Need A Little Taste of Love' (a third tenuous R&B link appears) from "Cycles". 1991's "Brotherhood" followed, and while it was hardly revolutionary, it certainly echoed those honest songwriting qualities that were prevalent in the early 1970s.

The Doobies most successful commercial period was clearly the one with MacDonald calling the shots. But buy this double CD for the songs that best represent the band - the melodic boogie of the early to mid 70s and the return to form from 1989 onwards.

February 2007