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Rating: The second album from the Californian band stands as one of the classics in their rich discography (13 studio albums), containing three tracks that from here (1972) onwards will become almost permanent fixtures at their concerts. The "almost" can be omitted if we focus on the first of the three, namely the opener "Listen To The Music", always destined to serve as the sacrosanct final encore at any of their performances, otherwise, the fans won't leave the arena.
A true antithesis to punk, new wave, singer-songwriter, grunge depressions and so on, and perhaps for this reason, it was quite opposed in the convoluted and burdened Italy (where, in fact, I find they never intended to set foot to play in forty years of career!), our music can be followed and appreciated on two distinct levels: the first is superficial, popular, simple, typically for bikers, motorcyclists; here they have a good grasp of catchy choruses with explained choirs and rhythmic exuberance that, without focusing on a precise genre but shaking two, three, or four genres together, manages to make even certain grandmothers tap their feet.
The second level is for musicians: no particular virtuosity or solo concessions in sight; instead, it's the ability to arrange and the phenomenal rhythmic and harmonic results that arouse admiration in those who listen to music quite distinctly knowing what's happening among the instruments. Of course, in both cases, that taste for American music at 101% is indispensable... so American it seems naive when it is not at all, except from the perspective of the lyrics.
The step forward of "Toulouse Street" from the self-titled debut of the previous year is quite tangible. The songwriting takes flight, the variety of inspiration and arrangement does as well, and then the band gains agility and rhythmic nuances with the addition of a second drummer (and percussionist) to duet with the first; the electric guitars start to play more robust and decisive, rivalling the acoustics that had strongly dominated the first work.
The other ingredients already on point in the debut are the chorales in abundance as California demands, a bit of healthy old blues, the happy division of responsibility between Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons in terms of composition, lead vocals, and guitars.
The more prolific Johnston takes the lion's share by signing five pieces, including the mentioned and famous "Listen To The Music", the equally compelling "Rockin' Down The Highway" more electric and frenetic and also always requested and performed on stage, the effective "Disciple" which extends into a robust instrumental phase and then two brief and more routine episodes, the ballad "White Sun" that smells much like a leftover from the first album, and the brief, delightful acoustic blues "Snake Man" featuring Tom all alone, singing and playing arpeggios in a true homage to the style of the grandfather of all blues fathers: Robert Johnson.
The first song by Pat Simmons encountered in the lineup is also the least successful of the bunch: "Mamaloi" is a digression into the realms of reggae that will remain an isolated episode in the group's career, as is the fact that Pat is not for the occasion the lead voice of his piece, having entrusted it to his buddy Johnston perhaps to reciprocate his intervention on the bridge of the mega hit of his companion "Listen To The Music".
However, Simmons makes a resounding comeback, writing and singing the absolute gem of the work which is the ballad that gives it its title: a scarce three and a half minutes of marvelous fingerpicking arpeggio, a technique of which the still long-haired Pat is a master, on which the musician begins to sing about this crowded street of New Orleans, describing a heartfelt and magical melody, first by himself and then supported by the vocal harmonies of his companions... a gem!
Another super classic (in American terms) present on the album and then in many concerts of this band is the cover of "Jesus Is Just All Right", a gospel song (well, from the title you wouldn't have guessed...) by a certain Arthur Reid Reynolds, covered a few years earlier also by the Byrds, Yardbirds, Alexis Corner, and Ventures. No problem for the brilliant voices of the two guitarists and bassist Tiran Porter in recreating the piece's rich gospel choirs, but in addition, Johnston also intersperses a knotted guitar riff, the two drummers John Hartman and Michael Hossack work superbly, resulting in a beautiful rock version, which compared to the original adds an extreme danceability (for those not dulled by the fake music played by 99.9% of DJs, of course).
The other two covers present on the album are one excellent and one negligible: the ok one is titled "Don't Start Me To Talking", written in the fifties by bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson and recorded with his band of the time, which included Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers on guitars, Willie Dixon on bass, and Otis Spann on piano... Wow, what a lineup! Obviously, we're speaking of rock blues, given that half the fathers of this genre are involved. One could bet that for the Doobies, this track was one of the icebreaker pieces for their first rehearsals together, chosen to immediately play something simple and known but then survived up to the honor of album publication, given the effectiveness of the reinterpretation.
The last cover "Cotton Mouth" is taken from a strange country/folk/hippie and hyper-religious duo called Seals & Crofts, the first James S. being a guitarist and the second Dash C. a mandolinist, both then singers, composers, and also Texas natives.
Great album this one by the Doobie Brothers, among their three or four best: an effective snapshot of the band still very young, not so refined and expert and yet cheeky as in the years to come but already extremely savvy and above all incisive and compelling.Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Listen to the Music (04:48)
Don't you feel it growin', day by day
People gettin' ready for the news
Some are happy
Some are sad
Oh, we got to let the music play
What the people need is a way to make 'em smile
It ain't so hard to do if you know how
Gotta get a message
Get it on through
Oh now mama, don't you ask me why
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Well I know, you know better, everything I say
Meet me in the country for a day
We'll be happy
And we'll dance
Oh, we're gonna dance our blues away
And if I'm feelin' good to you and you're feelin' good to me
There ain't nothin' we can't do or say
Feelin' good
Feeling fine
Oh, baby, let the music play
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Like a lazy flowing river
Surrounding castles in the sky
And the crowd is growing bigger
Listening for the happy sounds
And I got to let them fly
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
Whoa-oh-whoa, listen to the music
All the time
05 Cotton Mouth (03:43)
James Seals, Dash Crofts
Red eyed momma keep cryin'
Blue eyed cat keeps a lyin'
Catfish keep his eye on the string
And that cotton mouth keep on windin'
Sing, sing, sing
Dark moon keeps hidin'
And 'gator, he keeps right on slidin'
And bull frog, he ain't mindin'
Oh, cotton mouth keep on windin'
Sing, sing, sing
Lightnin' bugs in bottles
They gimme all the light I need
And I'm seinin' bait for linin'
And that cotton mouth keeps on windin'
Sing, sing, sing
Oh, that big iron pot's a boilin'
And that red eyed momma keeps toilin'
And the crawdad meat's for dinin'
And oh, that cotton mouth keeps on windin', Lord
Sing, sing, sing
06 Don't Start Me to Talkin' (02:44)
Goin' down to rosie's
Stop at fanny may's
Gonna tell fanny what I heard her boyfriend say
Now don't you start me talkin'
I'll tell ev'rything I know
I'm gonna break up this signifyin'
'cause somebody gotta go
Jack gave his wife two dollar
Go down to the market
Get out on the street, ol' george stopped her
He knocked her down
And blackened her eye
She get back home and tell her husband a lie
Now don't you start me talkin'
I'll tell ev'rything I know
I'm gonna break up this signifyin'
'cause somebody gotta go
She borrowed some money
To go to the beauty shop
I'm goin' to a place where I can get my hair
Now don't you start me talkin'
I'll tell ev'rything I know
I'm gonna break up this signifyin'
'cause somebody gotta go
07 Jesus Is Just Alright (04:35)
A. Reynolds
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright
I don't care what they may say
I don't care what they may do
I don't care what they may say
Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright
I don't care what they may know
I don't care where they may go
I don't care what they may know
Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus, he's my friend; Jesus, he's my friend
He took me by the hand; Led me far from this land
Jesus, he's my friend
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
Jesus is just alright with me, Jesus is just alright
I don't care what they may say, I don't care what they may do
I don't care what they may say, Jesus is just alright, oh yeah
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