''Takin' It to the Streets'' is the sixth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American rock band
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, ...
. The album was released on March 19, 1976, 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 ...
. It was the first to feature
Michael McDonald on lead vocals.
Background
By late 1974, touring was beginning to take its toll on the band, especially leader
Tom Johnston. Things became worse during touring in support of ''
Stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
'' when he was diagnosed with
stomach ulcers
Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a break in the inner lining of the stomach, the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while one in the first part of the intestines ...
. His condition worsened and several shows had to be cancelled. With Johnston forced to reduce his involvement with the band, the other members considered just calling it quits, but while in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...
, member
Jeff Baxter
Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense consu ...
suggested calling up friend and fellow
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...
graduate
Michael McDonald, who at the time was between gigs and living in a garage apartment. McDonald was reluctant at first, feeling he was not what they wanted; according to him, "...they were looking for someone who could play
Hammond B-3 organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
and a lot of keyboards, and I was just a songwriter/piano hacker. But more than anything, I think they were looking for a singer to fill Tommy's shoes." He agreed to join them and met them at the
Le Pavillon Hotel
The Le Pavillon Hotel is a luxury hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded as the New Denechaud Hotel in 1907, and later renamed the DeSoto Hotel before settling on its current name.
Le Pavillon Hotel was placed on the National Register o ...
in
, where they moved into a warehouse to rehearse for the next two days. Expecting to be finished once touring was completed, McDonald was surprised when the band invited him to the studio to work on their next album.
Recording
With Johnston on the sidelines, the band was not sure how to proceed or if even making an album without him would work. "I knew the record company was panicked about any change in the band," McDonald admitted. "They were leery about getting a new guy. I was thrilled to have had the gig, but I wasn't expecting all that much." With encouragement from producer Ted Templeman, the band began poring over the songs they had available. They knew they needed more, so McDonald brought in his own demos. Templeman told them, according to Patrick Simmons, "You've got a real diamond in the rough here that you can make into something if you want to go ahead." They decided to record his songs knowing it would take them in a completely different direction. While Johnston was absent for most of the sessions, he contributed one song – "Turn It Loose" – as well as back-up vocals and duet vocals with Simmons on "Wheels of Fortune". "I hadn't quit the band", he later stated. "I just wasn't physically able to do it. I needed to get off the road and get away from that whole scene for a while."
Track listing
Personnel
The Doobie Brothers
*
Tom Johnston –
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...
, lead and backing vocals on "Turn It Loose"; vocals on "Wheels of Fortune"
*
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 ...
– electric guitars, lead and backing vocals
*
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense consu ...
– electric guitars,
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
on "For Someone Special"
*
Michael McDonald –
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...
,
clavinet
The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...
,
synthesizers
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, lead and 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, lead vocal on "For Someone Special"
*
John Hartman
John Hartman (March 18, 1950 – September 22, 2022)[drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...](_blank)
,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
*
Keith Knudsen
Keith A. Knudsen ( ; February 18, 1948 – February 8, 2005) was an American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for The Doobie Brothers. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific with ...
– drums, percussion, backing vocals
Additional personnel
*
The Memphis Horns
The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) on trumpet and Andrew Love (November 21, 1941 - April 12, 2012) on ...
**
Wayne Jackson –
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
**
Andrew Love –
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
**James Mitchell –
baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...
**Lewis Collins – tenor saxophone
**Jack Hale –
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
*
Bobby LaKind
Robert Jay LaKind (November 3, 1945 – December 24, 1992) was an American conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional backup drummer with The Doobie Brothers. Originally a lighting roadie for the band, he was invited to join as a sideman f ...
–
congas
The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...
on "Takin' It to the Streets", "Losin' End" and "Rio"
*
Richie Hayward
Richard "Richie" Hayward (February 6, 1946 – August 12, 2010) was an American drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player. Hayward also joined ...
– drums (with John Hartman) on "Wheels of Fortune"
*
Novi Novog
Novi Novog is an American viola player. She is sometimes simply credited as "Novi" and is a cousin of Lauren Wood (also known as "Chunky"). In 1973, Novi became one of three members of her cousin's band Chunky, Novi and Ernie with the bassist Ern ...
–
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
on "Losin' End"
*Jesse Butler –
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
on "Takin' It to the Streets"
*
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song "Midnight at the Oasis" and has ...
– cameo vocal on "Rio"
*
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 ...
– additional percussion
Production
*Producer – Ted Templeman
*Production Coordination – Beth Naranjo
*Engineer –
Donn Landee
Donn Landee is an United States of America, American record producer and recording engineer. Much of his work as an engineer has been done with producer Ted Templeman at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, Cal. The pair worked with a wide varie ...
*Art Direction –
Ed Thrasher
Edward Lee Thrasher Jr. (March 7, 1932 – August 5, 2006), known as Ed Thrasher, was an American art director and photographer. He was the recipient of numerous Grammy Award nominations for his work on album covers and won a Grammy for Best Album ...
*Photography – Dan Fong
*Management – Bruce Cohn
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takin' It To The Streets (The Doobie Brothers Album)
1976 albums
The Doobie Brothers albums
Albums produced by Ted Templeman
Warner Records albums
Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders