For most of my relatively long classic rock fandom, I have never been a big fan of The Doobie Brothers. In recent years, I have given them more of a listen as I continue to try to span further in my search for music. This interest has also been augmented by my son’s unusual but entertaining fascination with Michael McDonald, who was not with the band when today’s album, “Toulouse Street” was recorded.
This original version of the band featured Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons doing the heavy lifting on vocals, and I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. The record opens with the instantly recognizable “Listen to the Music”, which I of course did, followed by another well-known hit, “Rockin’ Down the Highway”. Next comes a cool ode to Jamaica, “Mamaloi”, followed by the acoustic soft song title track, which I really liked a lot. “Toulouse Street” also happens to be one of the two cross streets for my favorite music club in the world, Tipitina’s, in uptown New Orleans, so the vibe and affection for this album is natural. Side one wraps with the funkier track “Cotton Mouth”, which I enjoyed and seems to align with the name of the band.
Overall, side two didn’t grab me quite as much, and it contained the only song “Disciple” that I really didn’t care for, but the rest of it was still a good listen and did include their rendition of “Jesus Is Just Alright”, another Doobie Brothers classic. I’m happy that I found some more new songs for the playlist and enjoyed this one a lot.
A Lifetime-Plus of Music 