The group takes its time over these five and a half minutes, and truth be told we wouldn’t be sorry if it lasted even a bit longer.ħ. Simmons’ vivid, cinematic lyricism is a highlight of this relaxed love song from The Captain and Me, a track filled with acoustic shimmer, back porch harmonies and weepy pedal steel accents from then-guest Baxter. “South City Midnight Lady” ( The Captain and Me, 1973) Simmons’ gruff(er) vocal roughens up the track’s yacht rock polish, and McDonald’s insistent piano hook blends with Baxter’s biting solos, straight out of Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy a Thrill playbook, to give the song a bit more muscle.Ĩ. “What a Fool Believes” and Minute By Minute‘s title track charted higher but this gem, a Simmons-McDonald co-write, offers a more genuine synthesis of Doobies old and new.

“Dependin’ On You” ( Minute by Minute, 1978) The Tom Johnston-penned track gets the Doobies’ fourth album, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, off to an easy start and follows a formula the group does so effectively - gentle, rootsy, melodic and soulful, this time with an accent of horns that adds to the R&B flavor of the choruses.ĩ. “Song To See You Through” ( What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, 1974) The group broke up in 1982 but founders Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons got back together five years later and have kept going ever since, with McDonald occasionally guesting.Ĭhoosing the 10 best Doobies songs is no easy task, but an immersion in the group’s catalog is a reminder of how diverse and sophisticated it’s been over all this time, and how genuinely overdue the Rock Hall honor is.ġ0.

The group hardly rode one lane, either, and the additions of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and, more importantly, Michael McDonald from the ranks of Steely Dan took the Doobies in a new direction that peaked with 1978’s Minute By Minute and earned the band and/or McDonald four Grammy Awards.

The Doobie Brothers Tell Bill Murray to Pay Up

Michael dooble singer