The Doobie Brothers – The Captain And Me

1973...Wow, what a year for Rock 'n Roll music. This album released in March 1973 & then one month later Pink Floyd's DSotM...Band On The Run...Goat's Head Soup...the list is endless. M*A*S*H was half-way through it's first season...it was the best of times👍👍

The Captain and Me saw the Doobie Brothers making yet another change on this their third album, this time they would combine a touch of California folk mixed with some country rock, along with their full tilt trademarked American funk; thus making this album not only their most consistent, but most substantial to date.

Much of the success of this release came from the band’s ability to move their improvisational aspects from a live setting to that of the studio, where their great harmonies were infused with funky guitars that met melodic rocker numbers head on. When simply considering the track “China Grove,” the band was proving to the world that they could write infectious catchy tunes while maintaining their credibility. As to the song “China Grove,” the lyrics were written last, with Tom Johnston saying, “The funny thing was that I found out in 1975 while in a cab in Houston that there really was a China Grove.” Another part of the album’s success is based around Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, who was also a member of Steely Dan, where his proficiency did so much to change not just the nature of the band, but the tenor, where he drifted around the edges injecting precious gems that added to the quality of the sound. Those eleven original songs (as there are additional numbers on the DVD) created a package that was well balanced and consistent, still filled with delicious harmonies wrapped in soulfulness, smoking hot rockers and mellow and laid back numbers that worked together effortlessly.

In the latter part of the decade, the band would achieve much larger success, though that sound was based on what you have here, where the Doobie Brothers during those future years consisted of an entirely different lineup. If there are any failings on this record, and there are a few, they are entirely due to the record label rushing the band to finish and get this album out in order to capitalize on the success of Toulouse Street.

*** The Fun Facts: The Captain and Me was one of the few records released as part of the fledgling Quadraphonic format, also on Quadraphonic 8 Track tape and later as a CD-4 Quad issue, all of which went nowhere, as the Quad sound failed disastrously. That being said, in 2002 those mixes were adapted to 5.1 multichannel DVD audio, where the original intent was at last realized.

The album’s artwork features the entire band, including manager Bruce Cohn, all dressed in 1800’s western outfits riding a horse drawn stagecoach below an unfinished modern highway over. The setting for the shoot was located at the Newhall Interchange on Interstate 5 & California State Route 14, near Sylmar, California, where a portion of the road collapsed during the 1971 San Fernando earthquake.

Review by Jenell Kesler