"Listen to the Music" is a song recorded by

the Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

on their second album ''

Toulouse Street ''Toulouse Street'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Doobie Brothers. It was released on July 1, 1972, by Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album with bassist Tiran Porter and second with drummer Michael Hoss ...

''. The song was the Doobie Brothers' first big hit in 1972. It was written by Tom Johnston.

Song

Writer Tom Johnston described the motivation for the song as a call for

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

"The chord structure of it made me think of something positive, so the lyrics that came out of that were based on this
utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...
n idea that if the leaders of the world got together on some grassy hill somewhere and either smoked enough dope or just sat down and just listened to the music and forgot about all this other bullshit, the world would be a much better place. It was very utopian and very unrealistic (laughs). It seemed like a good idea at the time."

The studio recording used both a banjo and a prominent

flanging Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and no ...

effect, audible from the bridge until the fadeout. When released as a single by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, the song peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in November 1972. The commercial success of "Listen to the Music" helped the album ''Toulouse Street'' rise on the charts. The song remains a staple of

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

and

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

radio. The band also uses it as an encore song during live shows.

Patrick Simmons Patrick Simmons (born October 19, 1948) is an American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band The Doobie Brothers. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the only consistent member of the band throughout their tenure. Simm ...

, the second guitarist and vocalist in the group, sings the bridge of the song. ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Michael Gallucci rated "Listen to the Music" as the Doobie Brothers 4th greatest song, praising the smooth, "soft, shuffling

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

" and Johnston's vocal performance. The staff of '' Billboard'' rated it even higher, considering it the Doobie Brothers' best song, saying that it "ranks high in the pantheon of rock n’ roll feel-good hits" and should "get your foot tapping and bring a bit of a smile to your face." In June 2020, four members of the band released an acoustic version of the song on YouTube, with each performing from their home during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

; the recording included a more prominent banjo part, but no lead electric guitar or drums. At the end of the recording, lead singer Tom Johnston noted that it was a benefit performance, of sorts, for

Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...

and gave the organization's URL, encouraging fans to donate.

Personnel

The Doobie Brothers: * Tom Johnston – guitars, lead vocals, backing vocals *

– guitars, banjo, lead vocals (Bridge), backing vocals *

Tiran Porter Tiran Calvin Porter (born September 26, 1948) is an American bass and guitar player, vocalist and composer, best known as a member of The Doobie Brothers from 1972 to 1980 and 1987 to 1992. Biography Porter graduated from Leuzinger High School in ...

– bass, backing vocals * John (Little John) Hartman – drums,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

Michael Hossack Michael Joseph Hossack (October 17, 1946 – March 12, 2012) was an American drummer for the rock band The Doobie Brothers. Biography Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Hossack was known as "Big Mike" to his former band members. He started playin ...

– drums,

steel drums The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

Additional personnel: *

Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American record producer. Among the acts he has a long relationship with are the rock bands Van Halen and the Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced multiple criticall ...

– percussion

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Remix

The song received a remix by Steve Rodway a.k.a. Motiv8 in 1994, which eventually peaked at #37 UK.

Cover versions

"Listen to the Music" was covered by

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

on their 1973 LP '' Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer, Papa Used to Write All Her Songs'', and by

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

on their 1973 LP ''

3 + 3 ''3 + 3'' is the eleventh album released by the Isley Brothers for the Epic label under their T-Neck imprint on August 7, 1973. In 2020, the album was ranked at 464 on ''Rolling Stone'' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Background Their ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1972 songs 1972 singles The Doobie Brothers songs The Isley Brothers songs Songs written by Tom Johnston (musician) Song recordings produced by Ted Templeman Songs about music Warner Records singles