Original Album Series 2

If you purchased the Original Album Series set with TOULOUSE STREET, THE CAPTAIN & ME, WHAT WERE ONCE VOICES ARE NOW HABITS, STAMPEDE, and TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS as I did (it essentially replaced my muddy original CD issues of all of the titles with terrific remastered sound), and you are a full blown Doobie fan, this is the next obvious step. I have the remaster of MINUTE BY MINUTE but at this price it is well worth forking out the $17 for five CDs to finish the "essential" collection. The self-titled debut actually belongs in this set since it was re-released on vinyl during the slump between Johnston exiting and McDonald taking the helm with Simmons. Johnston, as most knowledgeable fans understand, took a slow exit out, appearing less and less after STAMPEDE. The addition of Skunk Baxter brought a clean and bright Steely Dan jazz guitar into the mix and McDonald brought more Dan-ishness to the Doobie Dan sound which is highly represented in this set. A REAL Doobie Brothers fan has an existential appreciation for both iterations of The Doobies since all of their music has had the jazz-soul influence woven into that funky folk rock and even the heavier edges going back to TOULOUSE STREET. My argument for LIVIN' ON THE FAULT LINE through ONE STEP CLOSER and the live FAREWELL is that McDonald virtually inherited the reins by default with zero resistance from Simmons and Porter, both of whom had a deep appreciation for the jazzy soulful stylings of Michael. Had Tom stayed with the group would have they mutated in this way? Listen to his masterful compositions on STAMPEDE and try to tell me he was not moving into the Memphis Soul arena himself! Yes the boy could rock like John Fogerty, but he could lay down blues and soul equally as well and with great talent. So the swamp water edge moved upstream to Memphis and Michael McDonald hopped on board for the riverboat ride. LIVIN ON THE FAULT LINE has all the jazz and soul leaning which were evident on STREETS with even more jazzier tinges brought forward from Skunk and Tiran. Highly underrated, the album is more TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS for fans of that fabulous effort (which I prefer a mile over MINUTE BY MINUTE), and speaking of MxM, yes that was the crowning commercial glory of The Doobie Brothers, but literally everything it brings to the table in talent, was already trumped on STREETS and FAULT LINE. It just happened to gel as a complete album for successful sales and top hits at the right time in commercial radio. Don't take anything away from MINUTE just because it was successful, and it is an easy listen at any time you want good solid tunes and nary a clunker. Thus, MINUTE BY MINUTE while critically and commercially acclaimed as one of the "great" albums of the 70's, might be held in great esteem by some and lauded by others as a Doobie Sellout to commercialism, one should consider the art in and of itself. First of all, unlike its two predecessors where Michael and Pat seemed to have melded the Memphis soul, swamp water folk, and southern rock (via California) genre's into a cool sunglasses sound, MxM has a definite schitzophrenic feel to it. On one hand you have Michael dishing out blue-eyed soul and on the other you have Pat and Skunk serving up helpings of the previous jazzy rock efforts and one downright country-fried instrumental. Where the two meet is in the brilliant fusion of You Never Change which would have fit perfectly on FAULT LINE. Unfortunately, for fans of the old Doobies including STREETS and FUALT LINE where Tom was at least a ghostly apparition, this album marks the turning point and eventual decline. The Doobie Brothers were on the peak, poised to fall. Now ONE STEP CLOSER clearly had the Doobies standing on the precipice of the cliff and it was pretty evident that they would either continue on as another band with a clear cut new sound, or they would fold and go the way that Johnston and then Hartman and Baxter had. This was indeed a new band with only Pat and Tiran left of the "original" TOULOUSE days. Here, a new entity, Bumpus, brings a whole new fresh Doobies to the fore with McDonald, and one can see Simmons and Porter getting frustrated, but the end result is a smooth jazz radio friendly effort that belies direct criticism. Also, the tragically late Nicolette Larson enhances this album with gorgeous vocals on three tracks. Granted, it is just barely a Doobie Brothers album but enjoy it for what it is, because if you like this kind of music, this is one of the best in the genre. Back to square one, something needs to be said about THE DOOBIE BROTHERS, an album which I purchased as a budget thing around 1976 a full five years after it was initially released to no attention whatsoever. This album is also just barely The Doobie Brothers: there is only one drummer so that element of syncopation is entirely missing. Where it really shines is in Tom and Pat's acoustilectric folksy rock diddys which point directly at the direction which would culminate in TOULOUSE STREET (one of the best albums ever made in my book), but the sound is raw and discoverable. You will easily figure out why the album made no noise upon its initial release and was relegated to reissue for interested fans later in life. It is a "good" album, but would have been "great" with a better second half. Listen for the tracks which clinically are forerunners of The Captain & Me, Listen To The Music, and Black Water, they are in there in a primitive state and are highlights of this album musically. Most of the first half and half of the second half are solid folk-rock efforts with a catchy sound. A definite must for Doobie fans at the very least. Finally, The FAREWELL Tour album. Pat had made it clear he was leaving the fold and the band was decidedly throwing the cards in. You get the picture on the cover with Knudsen cutting McFee's strings on his guitar. Neither Hartman nor Skunk would sign up for this tour but Tommy did and he brandishes his guitar licks and hot savvy vocals on the final two performances of Long Train Runnin' and China Grove. The live set is captured beautifully and give the recording engineers massive kudo's for making an album with both a terrific audience and superb sound recording where the music is not drowned out by audience intrusion (as is the case in many live recordings). The set is unflawed and perfectly rendered for the hard core Doobie fan. This is how you go out on top! Can't Let It Get Away and Olana are two songs which were made in the studio but not released on albums so their presence in this live set (delivered by Pat and Michael respectively) is highly welcomed. The only thing I really miss on this live set is Skunk's unparalleled slides and deft jazz fingering, which for me gave The Doobies a signature sound from THE CAPTAIN & ME on up. For the price, this is a real treasure to complete your Doobie collection if you have already ponied up for the first set. If your Doobie collection is a few 80's and 90's muddy CD releases, you can't go wrong in buying both Original Album Series sets. They are all the millennium remasters with fantastic sound. Perfect renditions of the original recordings, bright and clean!

OK. The Headline says it all. The first box set has albums 2 through 6 and this one has album 1 and then albums 7 through10. One could ask why they would package the albums this way, but why as why? Get both and get over it! Right out of the gate, the Dobbie Brothers started out with excellent musicianship and combined that with excellent production and state of the art recording. As they progressed their music changed to the point where they sounded like whole other group. Again, be thankful for what we have. All 10 albums are spectacular and should be judged on their own merits. For the audiophiles out there (I count myself as one of them) these albums were really well recorded to begin with and this set is really well mastered, so there should be no fear that you are getting bargain basement left overs! When I was growing up I couldn't afford to buy all the music I wanted. As an old man, I can afford to buy both of these box sets, especially as they are priced. The lack of liner notes or cardboard sleeves does not bother me. Just listen to the music because that is what matters!

Great Music from a fantastic group.

First let me say that Mr. Wolf's review is very thorough and much what he says covers things. So I don't wish to be redundant so (Hopefully No Offense to Him) I offer my review as more an addendum to the Final 5th Cd in the Box collection, The 2 LP Album "The Doobie Brothers Farewell Tour". As stated The Farewell Tour Cd was available for the longest time only as an Expensive Japanese Import. I spent over $30 for it back in 1996. First time I ever spent that much on a Cd. But I am a Huge Doobie Brothers fan and I was there to see two of their concerts on the "Farewell Tour". So how does it differ from the Original LP And Japanese Import? Not a whole lot, but for the True fans and purists I felt I needed to point it out. All song Tracks are the same, the only difference is the dialogue from Pat Simmons. The time difference is only about 2 1/2 minutes. The Japanese Import Cd Total running Time is 67:40 in this new collection it's only 65:11. Now, before you dismiss the inclusion of Pat's dialogue vs. without. Please as part of musical History understand this. In 1982, when this concert was recorded, Tom Johnston had left the group and at this point he'd been gone almost 5 years. Then the others in the core Mike Hossack, Tiran Porter, John Hartman, who were with the group since the 2nd album Toulouse Street (John was there since the beginning). Then later member Jeff "Skunk" Baxter left. Then several others had been added by the final studio album "One Step Closer". The late Cornelius Bumpis was one of the members in that album and in the farewell album added one of the best (in my humble opinion) rendition of "Jesus is Just Alright With Me" a gospel vocal riff that the Doob's have been using since. So Michael McDonald and Pat Simmons both had decided to release solo albums. which contributed to the beginning of the end of the group. So Tom Johnston has been gone, Pat Simmons & Michael McDonald decided to disband but leave with this farewell tour concert. (How many bands break up that you know, that give the band a chance to say goodbye to their fans?) So what's the dialogue, well one is Pat explaining to the fans that "Sorry to say,, probably the last time you'll see the band together. (Little did he or the rest of us know that the when they reunited formally in 1989, the 2nd time they'd be together longer (20 + years). He also mentions that "they will have an extra long show because this is the FINAL farewell tour concert and that half way thru the concert the band will take a break and maybe go back and roll a "doobie" and smoke it and that they invite you to do the same" So hence, the reference to them and the name they became associated with and called their band. Remember this is 1982, so it wasn't "talked or mentioned" especially in concert of smoking pot, but hey it was the last concert, what would anybody do...??? Finally, and this is one of those things that probably means more if you were there and saw this, I remember seeing this concert taped for the PBS special and I was choked up and blown away because I wasn't expecting Pat to say... (Again this is dialogue included on The Import Cd, not on this 5 Cd set) at the beginning of the final two songs "and now I'd like to bring out a guy who was here in the beginning of all this, My good friend and your friend Mr. Tom Johnston and he and the rest of the band finish up with "Long Train Runnin' And China Grove". If you were there to hear that and hear Tom sing lead on these two songs, something welled up inside (I know I was thinking I haven't heard From him in years and now he's finishing it off and sounded great, just like always, my final thought was, "How can this band sounding this great, Break Up" and at the end and final note I was extremely sad, because I thought we'd never see the band together again. but again, who knew...??? So if it's just the music or your one of the younger fans, the dialogue and price won't probably be necessary (If you can get this boxed 5 cds together for under $20, that is golden and you have a fantastic deal.) But for us purists and those that were there and remember this musical history, those few lines of dialogue are essential. (Thus the only reason for the 4 star rating)

The first Doobie Brothers album I ever bought was "Best of The Doobies" back in 1976. I have listened and loved all the songs on that record for years and as time went on I purchased additional Doobie Brothers albums. I now own most of the Doobies albums/CDs with the purchase of both Original Album Series that are available. I'm not one who feels the Michael McDonald era was better or worse, I love songs from throughout their career. The Original Album Series is a great way to pick up their catalog. The Original Album Series 2 release has the Doobies first album that was an album made without Michael McDonald, and the rest are from when he was in the band, while the Original Album Series 1 has "Takin' It To The Streets", McDonalds first album with the band and the rest are from the period before he joined. Regardless, if your a fan of both periods, I highly suggest getting both box sets. There is some great music here! A great value!

Dive in and enjoy a great selection of songs of yesterday and today.

Wonderful Music at a great price. Packaged very nicely.

A great collection of albums to add to my own collection.