Doobie Brothers – Best Of / 2007 Warner Bros / 33 Tracks / http://www.rhino.com /
Listening to this mammoth two-disc set showed me that I knew a lot of Doobie Brothers songs, even though I had no idea who was playing them at the time. Case in point: listen to “Music” and “Jesus Just Let Me”. They are rare tracks in the sense that they are classics they are, depending on what they do, and I can still dig what they do. Each of the songs on “The Very Best Of” resonate more fresh and pop to the listener’s ears.
Maybe it’s only been listening to the radio tracks for so many years, but the ability to listen to these CDs should inspire listeners to listen. Another strength of this list should be that radio technology did not have the opportunity to reduce the footprint (for those who do not know, mainly radio stations run the tracks through the program to express short silences cut out of the songs). Few bands could start an album with such a four-track record (Listen to the Music, Jesus Is Just Alright, Rockin’ Down The Highway, and Long Train Runnin’). The Doobie Brothers do just that with this album, and there are still 29 other tracks they record and dig.
Songs like “China Grove” are not as big as the previous tracks, but maybe people can still hit the track if they listen to Classic Rock radio during the day. The predominance of the Doobie Brothers in the rock music industry is really shown in this two-disc lineup, which makes any extraneous purchases (apart from albums the originals, which appeared in the songs) are extraneous. The only thing I could see the Doobie Brothers or Rhinos doing in the next few years would be to start releasing albums a la The Grateful Dead live shows from his flower If the Doobie Brothers were to re-master the original albums, one thing I could see doing would be to add the outtakes and other versions of the tracks, like the Ramones did for their first few albums. For those who are on a budget and want a Doobie Brothers fix, “The Best of the Doobie Brothers” should be a definite pick-up. For anyone looking to reach the band’s next generation of fans, this set would be a very smart purchase.
Top Tracks: Long Train Runnin’, Here To Love You
Rating: 6.2/10
