Customer Reviews

Best of the Doobies

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Oh man, I remember this album from when my older brother bought it back in 1976. It was great then and is great now. Sure, I do prefer the Tom Johnston songs to the Michael McDonald ones, but even the MM songs are still pretty damn good!

The Doobies back in the '70's, as has already been described in other reviews, were a good-time party bar 'n' biker band (as opposed to the late 70's/early 80's when they metamorphosed into a studied jazz/R&B band). Although I do like some of their later songs (specificallly "What A Fool Believes" and "One Step Closer"), this collection is by far better than "Best Of The Doobies , Volume 2."

From the opening hard-rock crunch known as "China Grove" (still the bitchin'-est song the Doobies have EVER done- I mean, come on, who HASN'T seriously played air-guitar to THIS one??) to the soaring harmonies of "Long Train Runnin'" to the jazzy "Takin' It To The Streets" to the acoustic-driven "Listen To The Music" and "Black Water" (which was actually THE very first song I ever heard by The Doobie Brothers, and which made me think that they were a country group), every song on here is a 70's classic. The Doobies were extremely diverse in their music, from the backwater country sound of "Black Water" to their great version of the Holland-Dozier-Holland 60's classic "Take Me In Your Arms."

If you get only ONE Doobie Bros. CD, then THIS IS THE ONE TO GET!!!! :)

I wasn't even born when this album came out, but it's my favorite of all time. It has never left my cassette deck. You have Hard Rock with songs like China Grove, Without You and Jesus is Just Alright. You have catchy, acoustic rock with Long Train Runnin' and Listen to the Music. You've got fast driving rock with Rockin' Down The Highway, and Take Me In Your Arms And country/folk/rock classics in South City Midnight Lady, and the immortal #1 hit Black Water. Michael McDonald's tunes are so different, yet Takin' It To The Streets is a great boogie song as well as the emotional It Keeps You Runnin'. If you think you can find a better collection of songs to show off a band - any band, you must be living a dream. My only complaint is that Sweet Maxine, Another Park Another Sunday, and I Cheat The Hangman are not on here, but the Old LP's couldn't hold that many minutes of song. All I can say is that if you like classic rock, there's only one thing to do - "Listen to the Music" of The Best of The Doobies (one of the first albums in history to recieve the Diamond Award signifying 10 million copies sold).

This is one of the best 70's cd's that I own. I bought this cd about 2 years ago and it hasn't got old yet and I don't think it will. I think the Doobie Brothers were underrated as a rock band. They deserve all the credit they can get if you ask me. All the songs on this album are great. This is some of the best driving music that I've ever heard. The Michael Mcdonald songs are good but I like Tom Johnston's music better. "Listen to the Music" and "Rockin' Down the Highway" are two of my all time favorites. Even the songs that were just minor hits like "South City Midnight Lady" are good. I recommend anyone who likes The Doobie Brothers or just good old classic rock to get this album.

1976's The Best Of The Doobies culls together the band's hits from their first era of 1971-76. Most of the tracks are from the Tom Johnston & Patrick Simmons led era including the classic "China Grove", the number one hit "Black Water", the rolling "Jesus Is Just Alright" and the pure AM Gold of "Listen To The Music". Michael McDonald joined the band in 1976 for the end of this first era and contributes two songs, the brilliant "Takin' It To The Streets" and "It Keeps You Running". If you are a fan of the more rocking version of the Doobies, then this album is for you.

This disc has been around since I was a kid and it helped form what was the best of AM/FM radio in the 70`s.Not too heavy,not too folky but good enough music to play at any time for any occasion.
Every song is great,sweet harmonies and great playing make this an absolute classic.If you ask me,South City Midnight Lady is one of the most beautiful songs they ever did.Buy it for someone you love or for the rock and roll fan in your life and pass those good times along.

I'm a new passenger on the Doobie Brother bandwagon, but I must say I'm glad I jumped aboard. The music on this city, to me, epitomizes rock n roll--music that is pure, honest, and downright fun.

Such tunes as "China Grove," "Listen to the Music," "Black Water," "South City Midnight Lady," and "Take Me In Your Arms" are undeniable classics. In fact, this entire album is a classic--great music from a great band. BEST OF THE DOOBIES represents rock n roll as it should be--the way the Doobie Brothers did it.

Headbands, sunglasses, bellbottoms, "right on brother", this was cool music of the seventies. The music has an interesting combination of energy and spunk. Who can't listen to "Listen to the Music" and not smile or "Long Train Runnin" and not start tapping your feet.

No collection of 70's rock n roll music is complete without these wonderful songs. The older I get, the better this music sounds. I just love this stuff.

this was the first full length CD that I ever bought and it is still going strong. It is one of the few discs that I can listen to straight through if I wanted to, although "It Keeps You Running" usually gets skipped over.

There is no better way to open a CD than with "China Grove" and "Long Train Runnin'". "South City Midnight Lady" was a surprising highlight for me and "Without You" deserves a tip of the ol' hat too. All of the big hits leading up to the Michael McDonald led spiral downward into schlocky cheese are here. You need vol 2 for that soft rock and disco stuff. This is still mostly hard rocking, biker rock that begs to be blasted from whatever equiptment you happen to have.

Great sound quality and even better music. This ought to be in every classic rock CD collection.

There isn't a single track on this 'Best of' that isn't a good song in its own way. At first, I bought this record for the recent hits with a lot of airplay (China Grove, Takin' it to the Streets, etc.), but I ended up liking the older tracks even more (South City Midnight Lady, Take Me in Your Arms) because they are so much more earnest, and seem so much more... down-to-earth and real.

It may take more than several listens to fully enjoy the breadth of the quality of the Doobies' music. I really like this CD, and what I ended up liking most about it were the 'mystery tracks' that I hadn't heard yet!

How often is it that you buy a CD and end up liking it more for the songs that you didn't know about yet than for those that you did??

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS-BEST OF THE DOOBIES: This early career retrospective was mostly Tom Johnston's baby, as was the Doobie Brothers band itself, until blue eyed soul man Michael McDonald took over the reins...he dominates the vastly inferior followup "best of". Johnston wrote, sang gritty lead, and played guitar on the quintessential singalongs CHINA GROVE, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, and LONG TRAIN RUNNIN', known to most listeners as something along the lines of "Without Love-Where Would You Be Now". He also pulled off TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS (ROCK ME), quite possibly the most soulful white man cover of a MOTOWN ditty ever waxed. Toss in a couple of twanger tunes from Pat Simmons (including the chart topping BLACK WATER) and just enough McDonald so that his fans won't feel cheated, and you truly have THE BEST OF THE DOOBIES. This is just the thing for ROCKIN' DOWN THE HIGHWAY!

RATING: FIVE DOOBIES