The Doobie Brothers – What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits – MFSL SACD

Description

Doobie Brothers What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits on Numbered-Edition Hybrid SACD from Mobile Fidelity

Doobie Brothers Most Diverse Record Includes #1 Smash Black Water: Bands 1974 Album Features Steely Dan Guitarist Jeff Skunk Baxter and Arlo Guthrie

What could the Doobie Brothers possibly do to follow-up the excellent The Captain and Me? Plenty. They started by inviting the Memphis Horns to inject more soul into their trademark, Southern-styled boogie rock. Next, they secured the services of Steely Danvirtuoso Jeff Skunk Baxter to supply guitar and pedal-steel parts. And for extra spice, the band recruited Arlo Guthrie to play autoharp. The results? What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, the groups most diverse album to date. Its just one reason Mobile Fidelity is proud to include the 1974 effort in its phenomenal Doobie Brothers catalog restoration series.

Of course, no record is worth its salt without sharp songwriting. Fret not. What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits overflows with one memorable tune after another. Its a true collective effort, with the material reflecting the musical strengths of each of the members. Picking up where the disbanded Creedence Clearwater Revival had left off, Tom Johnston contributes the rousing Pursuit on 53rd Street and Down in the Track. Patrick Simmons Black Water advances swamp rock, and gave the band its first Number One hit.

The Doobies also mine the country-rock vein like nobodys business. Tell Me What You Want (And Ill Give You What You Need) and Another Park, Another Sunday cross roots rhythms with edgy melodies. And the instrumental Flying Cloud, contributed by bassist Tiran Porter, finds the Doobies further expanding their sonic palette while remaining faithful to their loose, good-time themes. By every stretch, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits defies easy categorization yet soars on amiable vibes designed to satisfy the listener. Having reached #4 on the Billboard Album charts, its safe to say the public was indeed impressed.

Mobile Fidelitys engineers had the same goals in mind when mastering this 70s rock classic from the original master tapes. And so the Doobie Brothers dual-drum approach now resonates with a punchiness it never previously possessed. Johnsons high-pitched vocals no longer hit an artificial ceiling or lurk behind a veiled curtain. The Memphis Horns brassy accents carry, and the all-important midrange sounds immediate, transparent, and dynamic.

We cant guarantee that it will fill your listening room with the clouds of dry ice on the albums iconic cover, but this numbered-edition hybrid SACD smokes!

“Even the least interesting tracks were a cut above much pedestrian Southern rock or what would become alt-country.”
–Ken Kessler, Hi-Fi News, September 2012, 88% Sound Quality rating

Doobie Brothers What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits Track Listing:

1. “Song to See You Through” (Johnston) 4:06
2. “Spirit” (Johnston, Simpson) 3:15
3. “Pursuit on 53rd St.” (Johnston) 2:33
4. “Black Water” (Simmons) 4:17
5. “Eyes of Silver” (Johnston) 2:57
6. “Road Angel” (Hartman, Hossack, Johnston, Porter) 4:49
7. “You Just Can’t Stop It” (Simmons) 3:28
8. “Tell Me What You Want (And I’ll Give You What You Need)” (Simmons) 3:53
9. “Down in the Track” (Johnston) 4:15
10. “Another Park, Another Sunday” (Johnston) 4:27
11. “Daughters of the Sea” (Simmons) 4:29
12. “Flying Cloud” (Porter) 2:00