Doobie Brothers What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits CD

Live Recording

The Doobie Brothers: Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston (vocals, guitar); Tiran Porter (vocals, bass instrument); John Hartman (drums).
Additional personnel: Jeff Baxter (pedal steel guitar); Arlo Guthrie (autoharp); Novi (viola); Andrew Love (saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet); James Booker (piano); Bill Payne (keyboards); Milt Holland (marimba, pandeiro, tabla); Michael Hossack (drums); Eddie Guzman (congas, timbales).
The Doobies team up with the Memphis Horns for an even more Southern-flavored album than usual, although also a more uneven one. By this time, Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, and company had pretty well inherited the mantle and the core (and then some) of the audience left behind by Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty, with Johnston songs like "Pursuit on 53rd Street," "Down in the Track," and "Road Angel" recalling pieces like "Travelin' Band," while Simmons' "Black Water" (their first number one hit) evoked the softer side of the "swamp rock" popularized by CCR. Actually, in some respects, given the range of instruments employed here, including an autoharp (courtesy of Arlo Guthrie) and viola, the songs on the original LP's first side suffer somewhat from a sameness that makes What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits a little less interesting than the albums that preceded it. The original side two had a lot more variety, which is as good as any full album the band ever recorded: Simmons' "Tell Me What You Want (And I'll Give You What You Need)" and Johnston's "Another Park, Another Sunday," which both outdo the Eagles and Poco at their respective country-rock games (and keep a certain soulful edge, too), Simmons' lyrical, ethereal, slightly spacy "Daughters of the Sea," and the very spacy, shimmering instrumental "Flying Cloud" (written by bassist Tiran Porter). In all, despite the weakness of its original first side, it's got a lot more to offer than the single hit, and has at least six numbers (out of 12) that rate with the better album tracks the group has ever done. ~ Bruce Eder
WHAT WERE ONCE VICES ARE NOW HABITS, the follow-up to the Doobies' massive commercial breakthrough, THE CAPTAIN AND ME, boasts one of the great album titles in rock history. The album also features a strong bunch of songs in the same stylistic vein as its immediate predecessors. The big hit here, of course, is "Black Water," an infectious piece of jazzy folk rock with a killer a cappella gospel-chorus section. "Song to See You Through" is the Doobies' version of a '60s soul ballad, with the Memphis Horns adding a deep, Southern-fried feel.
"Eyes of Silver" lopes along on a guitar-driven "Listen to the Music" groove, while "Down in the Track" is a straight-ahead, mid-tempo blues rocker with a cameo appearance by New Orleans piano legend James Booker. Best of all is the lovely "Another Park, Another Sunday," whose folk-style guitars and harmonies give country-rock contemporaries like the Eagles a good run for their money. Though not as consistent and essential as THE CAPTAIN AND ME, WHAT WERE ONCE VICES still has plenty to offer, capturing the band at the crest of their early-'70s peak.