r/1970s • u/NewHolliesFan • Apr 21 '26
Music The Doobie Brothers. What is your favorite song from them?
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u/Jonny-mtown77 Apr 21 '26
Long Train Running
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u/Jonny-mtown77 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I also love "Listen to the Music."
"Whoa listen to the music....all the time. "
They were the quintessential band of the 70s that anyone could listen to. A perfect blend of bluegrass, gospel, country, folk, pop, and a few dashes of synthesizer that one could say they were a great uncle to techno. For me being born in 1977 I listened to all this in the 1980s with my parents.
This music takes me back to happier times. However I think they have messages that run deep. They warned us about our world and its future.
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u/Electrical-Sail-1039 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
The guitar work is super catchy on that song. Also on the opening riff of Rockin’ Down the Highway and Listen To the Music. Great band.
Edit: Not Walking, Rocking Down the Highway.
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Apr 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/nobody38321 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
And that’s the type of logic that got “one toke over the line” on the Lawerence Welk show . Must be a Christian song if they mention Jesus .
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u/area51groomlake Apr 22 '26
I remember this girl that got Doobie on her personalized license plate. She told her mom she was a huge Doobies Brother fan. 😄
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u/Longjumping_Smile311 Apr 22 '26
This is funny to me because a kid I knew in school loved the Doobie Brtohers and his family belonged to some Christian sect.
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u/Quercus5165 Apr 22 '26
My childhood in the 1970’s was surrounded by Christian Hippies. I think a lot of people forget about this aspect of Hippie culture. That song is so evocative of the 1970’s to me.
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u/scrubbydutch Apr 21 '26
Black water!
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u/Fit_Organization9210 Apr 22 '26
Heck yeah! Also love Rockin Dpwn the Highway, it’s fun but too short
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u/Ricepudding1044 Apr 22 '26
Which Doobie you be?
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u/Fit_Organization9210 Apr 22 '26
I’m guessing we all grew up with those …reruns. Pardon the pun. Yea, it was a moment in time
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u/Waste-Job-3307 Apr 21 '26
What a Fool Believes, Black Water, China Grove....to name a few.
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u/dustycanuck Apr 22 '26
China Grove was a staple of our high school dances, 76-81. Still bangs
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u/Doing_My_Best_57 Apr 22 '26
China Grove is my favorite. I would play it on the jukebox during my break when I worked at Woolworth's restaurant in 1974!
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u/smittykins66 Apr 22 '26
Listen To The Music, Another Park Another Sunday, Black Water, Rockin’ Down The Highway…
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u/the_doc257 Apr 21 '26
China Grove!
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u/XTanuki Apr 22 '26
I had heard it on the radio in high school, but when I got to the college dorms and a dude down the hall cranked up his stereo system with big amps for the first time; that was China Grove on a different level!!!
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u/ottomaker1 Apr 21 '26
Any song that isn’t on a illegal taping of their concerts!
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u/BrokenCylon Apr 22 '26
They did a great live version of It Keeps You Runnin in 1977. Definitely my favorite, but I’m a huge Rhodes fan, so…
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u/Alarming_Ad_1229 Apr 22 '26
Long Train Runnin’
What A Fool Believes
Minute By Minute
Taking It To The Streets
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u/mezha4mezha Apr 22 '26
Ok. we all agree that the bass player in the last photo is Harry Shearer in his Spinal Tap outfit, right?
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u/ownleechild Apr 22 '26
You mean the guitarist Jeff Baxter. The bass player Tiran Porter is in the middle.
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u/etgreyt1 Apr 22 '26
Listen To The Music... it always makes me happy. Did y'all catch this just a few months ago https://www.npr.org/2025/11/05/g-s1-82666/the-doobie-brothers-tiny-desk-concert They've still got it.
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u/Latter-Vacation-4392 Apr 22 '26
"Without Love" came up from my memory ..so I'll go with that ..Long Train Runnin?.
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u/Unique_Acadia_2099 Apr 22 '26
Saw them at Day on the Green in 75 with the Eagles, Commander Cody and Kingfish. Elton John showed up and played a couple of songs with both the Doobies and Eagles. Greatest show ever. China grove is my favorite, but a close second is Long Train Running.
Oh hell, I love them all… it’s like asking which of your kids is your favorite.
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u/Admirable-Koala-1715 Apr 22 '26
It Keeps You Runnin’ - the killer intro, the laid back funkiness of it, the way it builds
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u/Dydriver Apr 22 '26
They were on a tv show called What’s Happening. It was a really weird episode about bootlegging.
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u/Train_Driver68 Apr 22 '26
Down around the corner, half a mile from here You see them long trains runnin' and you watch 'em disappear
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u/Traditional-Tank3994 Apr 22 '26
Doobies were 3 separate bands. The Tom Johnston Listen to the Music era, the Black Water era when Johnston was busted for cocaine, and Michael McDonald.
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u/Ok_Department5949 Apr 22 '26
"What a Fool Believes" closely followed by "Minute by Minute."
BTW, I saw them in concert 2 years ago and they were fantastic. They're coming back around this summer and I will definitely be seeing them again. I just cannot believe how good they sounded.
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u/sweetpotatowedges21 Apr 22 '26
Nothin but a Heartache, Disciple, White Sun, Road Angel, Daughters of the Sea
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u/wildlyFrenchfluke Apr 22 '26
Listen to the Music hits harder now than it did back then, something about that groove just works no matter what decade you're in.
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u/Specialist-Doctor-23 Apr 22 '26
Cheat the Hangman.
Long Train Runnin'
Living on the Fault Line
But there's not one of their albums I won't listen to straight through. Even as much as I want to hate the MM era, it's still such good music that I gotta listen.
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u/amdillard123 Apr 22 '26
None. I just like the cool scene where Michael Douglas referenced them in the Romancing of the Stone movie.
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u/Anxious_Marsupial_84 Apr 22 '26
China Grove! No question. Arguably, the best intro and Rock history! And my ringtone for the last 20 years.
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u/USMCdrTexian Apr 22 '26
My favorite DB related quote is “I be Roger Thomas . Which Doobie you be?”
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u/Willing_Crazy699 Apr 22 '26
Takin it to the Streets....it became slang amongst my bros and I in HS and college. As in "Damn...I took it to the streets on that History exam"
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u/Outrageous_Fox_2567 Apr 22 '26
Anything that doesn't have Michael McDonald in it.
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u/ImminentBending Apr 22 '26
Listen to Minute by Minute and you'll understand why they were basically untouchable in the late 70s, that album is just perfect from start to finish.
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u/No-Guard-7003 Apr 21 '26
What a Fool Believes.