Best of the Doobies (CD - 1976)

Featuring 11 of the group's best-known songs from their first five albums (from 1971's The Doobie Brothers to 1976's Takin' It to the Streets), The Best of the Doobie Brothers contains the boogie rock band's very best songs, including the big hits "Listen to the Music," "Jesus Is Just Alright," "Long Train Runnin'," "China Grove," "Black Water," and "Takin' It to the Streets." For most casual fans, The Best of the Doobie Brothers is the perfect summation of the group's early career, before they turned into a slick, jazzy blue-eyed soul band in the late '70s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

That's "best of" as in the Doobies part I, before the arrival of Michael McDonald and the band's mid-life lurch toward sophisticated blue-eyed pop soul. The songs here (from four of their first five albums) are all in the group's original style, a sort of laid-back, melodic post-hippie folk rock, heavy on strummed guitars, gospel harmonies and double drumming reminiscent of the Allman Brothers. Ironically, they developed the style during their dues-paying days as an unofficial house band for the San Jose chapter of the Hells Angels. minimize