The Doobie Brothers Live from the Beacon Theatre
The Doobie Brothers seem to be having their moment right now. On the heels of their Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame nomination, they recently announced that in 2020 they will embark on a 50th anniversary tour with Michael McDonald rejoining the group for the tour.
Prior to all these announcements, in June the group released in various configurations through Rhino, music from the two nights they celebrated their Toulouse Street and The Captain and Me albums in November of 2018 at the Beacon Theatre in New York.
The two shows originally were slated to have the group play Toulouse Street on Thursday night and The Captain and Me on Friday night, with an encore of hits each night. Instead, the group performed both albums in their entirety with an encore of hits both nights.
This lineup of the group is led by original members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, along with John McFee, who first played with the group in 1979. Bassist John Cowan has had two extended stints with the group beginning in 1993; saxophonist Marc Russo had been with the group since 1998; drummer Ed Toth joined in 2015, and Mark Quinones joined in 2018 after playing with the Allman Brothers Band since 1991 until the group’s demise in 2014. Quinones also played with Gregg Allman’s band. Keyboardist Bill Payne has been a permanent member since 2015, but after the group’s self-titled debut album in 1971, he played on the group’s next four releases including Toulouse Street and The Captain and Me. For years, Payne was an original member of Little Feat and was the only member of the group to play with it throughout its entire recording career.
To hear these two albums of classic 70’s West Coast album rock straight through is a revelation. The material from Toulouse Street reveals the group’s diverse influences, which include rock, R&B, jazz, country and of course Cajun music, which the album title references. This music was a far cry from the Bay-area, biker-band rock of the group’s self-titled debut. The album was also the group’s breakthrough, with hits such as “Rockin Down the Highway” and “Listen to the Music.” The group’s cover of “Jesus is Just Alright with Me,” the mid-60’s gospel song which has since become a standard and which at that time was also very popular through the Byrds’ cover, was the first time the group exhibited such a deft touch in covering a previously well-trodden cover.
The Captain and Me was of course one of the monster albums of the 70s and a defining West Coast recording. Even more cohesive and richly thematic than Toulouse Street, the album has stood the test of time as a complete work and yielded such hits as “Long Training Running” and “China Grove.” Listening to the album all the way through, live, is rewarding in hearing the subtleties and the acoustic side of the group more prominently, particularly on the title track, “Dark Eyed Cajun Woman,” “South City Midnight Lady” and “Clear as the Driven Snow.”
Watching this concert makes for a great night of music and offers a chance to go back and relive these two great evenings anytime.Since these were the only shows of those special concerts, those that didn’t attend can get to experience these twice-in-a-lifetime events.
– Steve Matteo
