Best of the Doobies

Doobie Brothers

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KHW
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,707 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Doobie Brothers' career is best be divided into two camps. The band originally started out as a good-time party band, as their name implies, churning out a string of rock hits like "Jesus Is Just Alright," "Take Me in Your Arms," and "Black Water." The guitar intro to "China Grove" is a rock classic, lending itself to every bar band in the world. There was something infectious about the early hits--strong melodies, great harmonies, and a genre-bending beat lifted the songs above the ordinary. That rollicking, rocking edge was all but abandoned when Michael McDonald joined. McDonald brought an urban, white-funk feel to the band, as best exemplified by "It Keeps You Runnin'" and "Takin' It to the Streets." Best of The Doobies draws more heavily upon the hits before his arrival, which, to many, should make the collection almost perfect. --Steve Gdula

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC Rock 'N' Roll from the 70's!!!! :), April 19, 2001

By	Robert J. Schneider (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!!!! :)

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars underrated 70's group, January 14, 2000

By	retrowens (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Greatest Hits CD of all time, October 22, 2001

A Kid's Review

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).