Toulouse Street

by The Doobie Brothers

Overview

Toulouse Street was the album by which most of their fans began discovering the Doobie Brothers, and it has retained a lot of its freshness over the decades. Producer Ted Templeman was attuned to the slightly heavier and more Southern style the band wanted to work toward on this, their second album, and the results were not only profitable -- including a platinum record award -- but artistically impeccable. Toulouse Street is actually pretty close in style and sound at various points to what the Eagles were doing during the same period, except that the Doobies threw jazz and R&B into the mix, as well as country, folk, and bluegrass elements, and (surprise!) ended up just about as ubiquitous as the Eagles in peoples' record collections, especially in the wake of the singles "Listen to the Music" and "Jesus Is Just Alright." But those two singles represented only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what this group had to offer, as purchasers of the album discovered even on the singles -- both songs appear here in distinctly longer versions, with more exposition and development, and in keeping with the ambitions that album cuts (even of popular numbers) were supposed to display in those days. Actually, "Listen to the Music" (written by Tom Johnston) offers subtle use of phasing and other studio tricks that make its seemingly earthy, laid-back approach some of the most complex and contrived of the period. Johnston's "Rockin' Down the Highway" shows the band working at a higher wattage and moving into Creedence Clearwater Revival territory, while "Mamaloi" was Patrick Simmons' laid-back Caribbean idyll, and the title tune (also by Simmons) is a hauntingly beautiful ballad. The band then switches gears into swamp rock for "Cotton Mouth" and takes a left turn into the Mississippi Delta for a version of Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Don't Start Me Talkin'" before shifting into a gospel mode with "Jesus Is Just Alright." Johnston's nearly seven-minute "Disciple" was the sort of soaring, bluesy hard rock workout that led to the group's comparison to the Allman Brothers Band, though their interlocking vocals were nearly as prominent as their crunching, surging double lead guitars and paired drummers. And it all still sounds astonishingly bracing decades later; it's still a keeper, and one of the most inviting and alluring albums of its era. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	03/08/2024
Label:	Friday Music
UPC:	0829421962632
Rank:	6776

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Doobie Brothers   Primary Artist
Jon Robert Smith   Sax (Tenor)
Pat Simmons Jr.   Guitar,Vocals
Patrick Simmons   Banjo,Guitar,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Ted Templeman   Percussion
Bill Payne   Organ,Piano,Keyboards
John Robert Smith   Sax (Tenor)
John Hartman   Drums,Percussion
Tiran Porter   Bass,Vocals
Tom Johnston   Guitar,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Sherman Marshall   Trumpet
Dave Shogren   Bass,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background)
Jerry Jumonville   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
Michael Hossack   Drums,Drums (Steel)
Joe Lane Davis   Sax (Baritone),Horn
Sherman Marshall Cyr   Horn,Trumpet
Jon Smith   Horn

Technical Credits

Donn Landee   Audio Engineer,Engineer
Ted Templeman   Audio Production,Producer
Pat Simmons Jr.   Composer
Patrick Simmons   Composer,Group Member
Sonny Boy Williamson II   Composer
Marty Cohn   Engineer,Producer,Audio Engineer,Audio Production,Associate Engineer,Associate Producer
A. Reynolds   Composer
Tiran Porter   Group Member
Tom Johnston   Composer,Lyricist
Arthur Reynolds   Composer
Stephen Barncard   Engineer,Producer,Audio Engineer,Audio Production,Associate Engineer,Associate Producer
Jim Seals   Composer
Lee Herschberg   Mastering,Remastering
Jerry Jumonville   Arranger,Musician,Performer,Horn Arrangements
Michael Hossack   Group Member
Molly Hatchet   Composer
Dash Crofts   Composer
Joe Lane Davis   Musician,Performer
Sherman Marshall Cyr   Musician,Performer
Jill Maggid   Photography
Jim Maggid   Photography
Barbara Casado   Design
John Casado   Design
Ed Thrasher   Art Direction
A. Reid Reynolds   Composer
Benita Brazier   Production Coordination
Michael Maggid   Photography
James Seals   Composer
Darrell Crofts   Composer
Rob LoVerde   Mastering
Arthur Reid Reynolds   Composer
Jon Robert Smith   Musician