•
Rating: The Doobie Brothers are known worldwide, including in Italy, primarily because of the infamous "Long Train Running", an evergreen track that remains a staple in clubs and almost always finds its way into the setlist of bands gigging in local venues.
In the USA, they are nothing less than an institution, still touring after yet another reunion that culminated in an excellent album released in 2003. They are proponents of a unique California crossover of rock, funky, country, and rhythm‘n blues—energetic and pulsating, light yet substantial, commercial yet refined. Unfortunately, they are at odds with the average taste of old Europe—not "pop" enough for those who settle, not "intense" enough for those who strive.
I've always taken them very seriously, clearly seeing beyond the accessibility of their music a strong and worthy weave, attention, talent, and commitment.
The meaning of the lengthy title of this fourth work from 1974 is explained by its release following the great success of the previous album, "The Captain & Me", which contained the hits "Long Train Running" and "China Groove". Despite the beautiful on-stage photo on the cover, this is not a Live album but a standard collection of twelve studio-recorded tracks, featuring a lineup unimaginable here, but not in exotic America, with two guitars, a bass, and even two drummers.
The guitarists, the dual focal centers of the group in their twin roles as singers and composers, are named Tom Johnston (the one with the peculiar high and nasal voice... yes, the one from "Long Train Running") and Pat Simmons, an even better singer though less distinctive. Instrumentally, they excel in rhythm and accompaniment, particularly Tom with great "riffed" acoustic stops filled with funky vigor, while Pat is considered a virtuoso of the acoustic guitar. He fingerpicks with metal fingerpicks, in the country style, and employs a range of unconventional tunings that make his work especially creative and personal. Two masters, then: Tom regarding the strumming of his right hand and the effectiveness and communicativeness, in simplicity, of his "riffs", and Pat for agility, class, and execution personality. When playing electric, they both have more ordinary, traditional ideas.
Keeping the easy listening characteristic of the San Francisco Bay, their place of origin (and regarding which it's necessary not to have prejudices to enjoy this group), as a constant denominator, "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" offers a collection of tracks leaning now towards rhythm & blues with a horn section ("Song To See You Through" as the opener and later on "You Just Can't Stop It"), and now towards a kind of nimble funky-country filled with choruses ("Spirit" full of stop&go highlighting the rhythmic interplay between Johnston's acoustic and Simmons's electric, then "Eyes Of Silver"). There are indeed genuinely rock'n'roll moments of pure electricity ("Down In The Track" opens with an incredible, endless, genius drum roll by John Hartman, all on an upbeat, and "Road Angel" features a call-and-response between lead guitars in the Lynyrd Skynyrd style), and inevitably, romantic ballads ("Tell Me What You Want And I'll Give What You Need"—and so they've squeezed the whole chorus into the title... and then "Another Park Another Sunday").
Above all, the masterpiece "Black Water" is an irresistible country gospel that develops into an "a cappella" finale with irresistibly intertwined choruses, the kind that makes Masses in those parts much more cheerful and successful than ours. Back in the day, it was a Number One hit in the USA, and there is no American who doesn't know it.
A band with which one must look beyond the singles, the most exploited and banal episodes, the little that's inevitably remembered, and explore their vast discography for the many unknown "pearls".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Black Water (04:21)
Well, I built me a raft and she's ready for floatin'
Ol' Mississippi, she's callin' my name
Catfish are jumpin'
That paddle wheel thumpin'
Black water keeps rollin' on past just the same
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Yeah, keep on shinin' your light
Gonna make everything, pretty mama
Gonna make everything all right
And I ain't got no worries
'Cause I ain't in no hurry at all
Well, if it rains, I don't care
Don't make no difference to me
Just take that street car thats goin' up town
Yeah, I'd like to hear some funky Dixieland
And dance a honky tonk
And I'll be buyin' ev'rybody drinks all 'roun'
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Yeah, keep on shinin' your light
Gonna make everything, everything
Gonna make everything all right
And I ain't got no worries
'Cause I ain't in no hurry at all
I'd like to hear some funky Dixieland
Pretty mama come and take me by the hand
By the hand, take me by the hand pretty mama
Come and dance with your daddy all night long
(Repeat into fade)
10 Another Park, Another Sunday (04:31)
I'm sittin' in my room, I'm starin' out my window
And I wonder where you've gone
Thinking back on the happy hours just before the dawn
Outside the wind is blowin'
It seems to call your name again
Where have you gone
City streets and lonely highways
I travel down
My car is empty and the radio just seems to bring me down
I'm just tryin' to find me
A pretty smile that I can get into
It's true, I'm lost without you
Another lonely park, another Sunday
Why is it life turns out that way
Just when you think you got a good thing
It seems to slip away
It's warm outside, no clouds are in the sky
But I need myself a place to go and hide
I keep to myself
I don't want nobody else
To see me cryin' all those tears in my eyes
Another park, another Sunday
Why is it life turns out that way
Just when you think you got a good thing
It seems to slip away
Another park, another Sunday
It's dark and empty thanks to you
I got to get myself together
But it's hard to do
Loading comments slowly
