Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

"We hope you have enjoyed the show." Indeed, we have.

If you've read any of the better biographies of The Beatles, you'll find that the flow of their creative waters were not moved by just their own internal thoughts. As writers, they often picked up on external inspirations rather easily and were able to expand lyrically on the simplest of stimulae. For example, their landmark 1967 album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" contained two key songs that were directly inspired by works of art. One was the 1843 circus poster that John Lennon had obtained in an art gallery that contains the lyrical script of "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" nearly verbatim. The other was "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", which came from a drawing done at pre-school by Lennon's young son, Julian.

Relax and give a listen to The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" in case it's been a while.

Julian Lennon's drawing of Lucy in the sky. With diamonds, of course.

Far from being Lennon's overt paean of admiration for the virtues of the psychedelic drug LSD, (to which Lennon was admittedly no stranger by then), the idea for the song presented itself in a sketch by 4 year old Julian Lennon, depicting his classmate, Lucy O'Donnell, floating in the sky with diamonds as stars. In a 2009 interview, Julian Lennon said, "I don't know why I called it that or why it stood out from all my other drawings, but I obviously had an affection for Lucy at that age. I used to show Dad everything I'd built or painted at school, and this one sparked off the idea."

Although Paul McCartney did have some lyrical input on the song, he acted mostly as a sounding board for Lennon on this one, who said this about the song's alleged drug glorification in 1980. "I had no idea it spelt LSD. This is the truth; my son came home with a drawing and showed me this strange looking woman flying around. I said, 'What is it?' and he said, 'It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds', and I thought, 'That's beautiful', and I immediately wrote a song about it. It was purely unconscious that it came out to be LSD. Until somebody pointed it out, I never even thought of it. I mean, who would ever bother to look at the initials of a title?"

The real Lucy O'Donnell-Vodden, as a pre-schooler and in her early 40's.

But Lennon also revealed that many of the song's trippy images were adapted from Lewis Carroll's book "Alice In Wonderland". "It was Alice in the boat. She is buying an egg and it turns into Humpty Dumpty. The woman serving in the shop turns into a sheep, and the next minute they are rowing in a boat somewhere and I was visualizing that. There was also the image of the female who would someday come save me; a 'girl with kaleidoscope eyes' who would come out of the sky. It turned out to be Yoko, though I hadn't met Yoko yet. So maybe it should be 'Yoko In The Sky With Diamonds'. But she was my imaginary girl that we all have."

And as for the real Lucy of the title? Julian's classmate Lucy O'Donnell didn't know she had been immortalized in a Beatles song until 1976, when she was 13. Sadly, Lucy O'Donnell-Vodden passed away from complications of Lupus in September of 2009 at age 46. Earlier that year, Julian had released an EP, "Lucy", when he found out that his childhood friend was suffering from Lupus. All the proceeds from the EP benefited the Lupus Foundation in the United States and UK. Julian then revealed that the original drawing had been lost, but was later discovered to have been bought at auction by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Gilmour permitted the drawing to be reproduced for the EP sleeve, but retains ownership of the original to this day.

Partake at your own risk.

Even by the mid-1970's, the heartbreak of The Beatles being no more was still a relatively fresh wound on the musical heart of the public, but the love for their music continued unabated. Each of The Fabs had racked up solo successes by then, and some of that would be arguably the best music of their careers. Assorted soundtrack recordings and tribute covers of varying degrees of quality were selling well, including the numerous and numbingly bad cover versions of Beatle songs by TV personalities; best represented by William Shatner's notoriously hammy take of "Lucy In The Sky..." that can be cordially described as... unique.

When Elton met John, and vice versa.

It was in this Beatle-receptive environment that Elton John released his cover recording of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" as a stand-alone single in November of 1974. Recorded at the Caribou Ranch In Colorado around the time of other sessions that resulted in Elton's 1975 hit album, "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy", the single featured backing vocals and guitar by John Lennon under the pseudonym of Dr. Winston O'Boogie. The single topped the US Billboard pop charts for two weeks in January of 1975.

There's not much info I can find regarding how or where the two met, but it happened during Lennon's infamous "Lost Weekend" period earlier in 1974 when he was separated from Yoko Ono and getting around quite a bit, but generally adrift and behaving badly. Their meeting resulted in Lennon appearing on Elton's cover of "Lucy...", and the intended b-side for the single, which was Lennon's song, "One Day At A Time." In return, Elton was featured on "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night", which appeared on Lennon's "Walls And Bridges" album. Later that year, on Thanksgiving Day, in what would be Lennon's last major live performance, the pair performed these two #1 hits along with the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There" at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lennon made the rare stage appearance with Elton and his band to keep his end of a wager Elton had made with him that Lennon would appear on stage with Elton if "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" became a #1 single. It was also that same evening that Yoko and John were reunited; for good this time.

Here is the Elton/Lennon version of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"; a remarkable recording in that it features the author participating in a thorough reinvention, which completely respects the original song while sounding like absolutely no one except the artist doing the cover. Enjoy!

The Hooters

It's one thing for musicians who are fans to perform straight covers of their favorite songs, and that's the most common approach. It's quite another to attempt another reinvention; especially when it was previously done so well and with considerable success. That takes a brave band with a unique sound.

The ride taken by The Hooters from the suburban bars of Philadelphia to the big stages of the world went into overdrive starting in 1983 with the release of a self-produced, 8 song EP which sold over 100,000 copies. The success of their first 2 releases for Columbia, "Nervous Night" and "One Way Home" in 1985 and '87 respectively, led to appearances opening Philadelphia's Live Aid concert in 1985, and later, a featured spot at the Amnesty International concert alongside the likes of U2, The Police, Bryan Adams, Lou Reed and Peter Gabriel. The band is also remembered for co-writing "Time After Time" with Cyndi Lauper; a fine song to be remembered for, indeed.

During their peak years, they played a series of shows at Philadelphia's legendary Tower Theater, recording and filming the proceedings. During the Tower shows, The Hooters unveiled a new arrangement of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" that served as a break in the set, and a vocal spotlight for bassist Andy King. Such was the regional popularity of The Hooters at the time, they could have busted out a Hooterized rendition of "Turkey In The Straw" and the fans would have lost their minds, but "Lucy..." was a fine choice for a band that was already known for making clever choices for their infrequent cover songs. Parts of the live concert footage saw release on VHS, but "Lucy..." only got a limited release as the b-side to the single, "Johnny B". It's great how they build tension in the arrangement by saving the release of the chorus for the very end of the song, and by stripping things down to dual mandolins, a keyboard pad, and vocals. Enjoy!

The Hooters' version of "Lucy..." can be found on this anthology, which is the best of a few collections of their work out there. The original EP, "Amore", is a fantastic ball of 80's energy that has become one of the cornerstones of Philly Rock. Their 3 Columbia albums are all still available for a most agreeable price. The band is still active and tours Europe regularly. Check out their website for current info.

There is more music available from Elton John than anyone would ever know what to do with. From what I can see, nearly everything he's ever recorded is in print in some form or another at varying price points. Choose as you will. "Lucy..." can be found on most editions of Elton's "Captain Fantastic" album.

This leads us back to The Beatles, as does most things. Our featured song, "Lucy...", is available on their essential "Sgt. Pepper" album. But honestly, all of their albums are essential, aren't they? So if you haven't already done so, or have been putting it off, just dig deep and pop for the box and be done with it. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Parchman Farm

As middle school age kids, we often didn't have a lot of money to buy record albums with, but when we did, we would often swap them around, so everyone would get to hear something different. It didn't do much for the condition of the records, as not everyone had the best turntable, so they got fairly beat up rather quickly. I discovered some great music this way though. It's how I found out about The Stooges, The Nazz, Black Sabbath, Chicago, and the first album from a band named Cactus, who were being touted as the American answer to Led Zeppelin.

Cactus: Tim Bogert, Rusty Day, Jim McCarty, Carmine Appice

Being as this was around 1970, rock music had taken a hard left turn for the loud. Cactus was definitely that. Formed by the rhythm section of the Vanilla Fudge, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, the two had planned a powerful quartet with Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck. But just before those two became available, Beck was badly injured in a car wreck. During Beck's recuperation, Stewart fell in with The Small Faces, following Steve Marriott's departure to form Humble Pie, so Bogert and Appice were back to square one. They did eventually hook up with Beck for a short lived power trio after Cactus had run its course.

But rather than dwell on the loss of that opportunity, Bogert and Appice embarked on a lengthy and often frustrating audition process before securing the services of guitarist Jim McCarty, late of Buddy Miles' band and Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels. It was McCarty's involvement that caught the interest of vocalist Rusty Day. Since the auditions and rehearsals had coincided with the last days of the Vanilla Fudge, the new band was already in the studio by February of 1970. The Fudge officially called it a day that March. Of those initial rehearsals, Tim Bogert said "We were just doing songs off the tops of our heads, like blues bands do, and it smoked! The feeling of 'this is really a band' hit me hard. It was like we had put together a dragster that you could actually drive, even though it was very unpredictable. There was more power to it anything I had ever driven before."

Cactus played their first public concert on March 16, 1970 at Temple University Stadium in Philadelphia. Also on the bill that day were the Steve Miller Band, the Grateful Dead, and headliner Jimi Hendrix. Tickets were a whopping $6.50. (Imagine playing a stadium as the first show with your new band and having Jimi Hendrix watch your set from the wings. No pressure.) Their debut album on Atco was released at about the same time. Kicking off the album was an intense, manic boogie version of Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm"; still considered by the band members as one of the best tracks they ever recorded. Carmine Appice said this about the track. "We were trying to do the fastest freight train groove possible; even faster and with more power than 'I'm Going Home' by Ten Years After. People like Billy Cobham and Van Halen picked up on that groove later on, but none of the other double bass drum players at the time were playing with that kind of energy. It was hard to get us to slow down!"

Here's that rip-snortin' take of "Parchman Farm". If you can play along with this, you've had too much caffeine.

Jazz musician Mose Allison's primary stock in trade appears to have been irony. Producer Joel Dorn once said that Allison's epitaph could have been "Irony is my albatross". Dorn also related this tale told to him by Allison. "A prominent white educator was studying the culture of the Hopi, a desert-dwelling Native American tribe of the Southwest. He found it strange that almost all Hopi music was about water and asked one of the musicians why. The musician explained that it was because water was what they had the least of. He then told the white man, 'Most of your music is about love'."

Although Jazz was Mose Allison's primary musical genre, it's also the only genre that could contain him; to the point that Allison's music is containable. But one thing that carried Mose Allison's popularity forward, both then and now, is his appeal to fans of many other musical styles. Gunnar Biggs, who frequently played bass for Allison, said a thing or two about Mose's eclecticism. "Playing next to his unconventional but strong musical choices was always an exercise in alertness. I'd have to draw on everything; Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Country licks, Classical phrasing, and the plain old gutbucket, ageless Blues."

It's no small coincidence that Mose Allison's songs are among the most covered in the history of Rock 'n Roll. Even a quick look at the songs on Mose's 1959 album, "Mose Allison Sings", at right, will certainly raise a familiar eyebrow. Pete Townshend of The Who has often mentioned this recording as a favorite of his youth. But this is just one album, and Mose recorded a lot of songs for several record labels, besides the landmark material he performed for Prestige and Atlantic in the 1950's through most of the 70's. Mose's song, "Parchman Farm" has been recorded by many Rock and Blues musicians besides Cactus, including Johnny Winter, Blue Cheer, The Kingston Trio, Hot Tuna, and John Mayall. It's worth noting that a different song, "Parchman Farm Blues" was written by bluesman Bukka White, and recorded later by Son House.

Incidentally, the real Parchman Farm was no hippie-run produce collective. It was a nickname for the notoriously harsh cotton farm at Mississippi State Penitentiary. Both Son House and Bukka White did time there. In 1939, folklorist Alan Lomax recorded White and others at the farm for the Library of Congress. Unlike many musicians who've done songs about prison, Allison was never an inmate, although he did once visit a friend who was incarcerated at Parchman. That would be more than enough to make me never want to go there again. This is Mose Allison's original recording of "Parchman Farm".

Any fan of Rock, Jazz, Blues or Rhythm and Blues should avail themselves to the music of Mose Allison. He wrote many songs that are now bedrock classics of Rock 'n Roll, and you owe it to yourself to check his music out in depth. Mose is also one those guys that, although you could say his music should be required listening, that doesn't mean it's in any way an academic drag, because Mose's humor, chord choices, and vocal delivery always make the listen enjoyable. Unless you want to go deep, an anthology will serve the the casual listener best, although two of the best are inexplicably out of print. The single disc, Atlantic's 20 track "Best Of Mose Allison", is excellent and can be had used for a fairly reasonable price. I will also heartily recommend Rhino's solid multi-label collection, "Allison Wonderland", if you can find it affordably enough. One that is readily available is the "Greatest Hits" CD from Prestige, and I'll recommend it as it contains many of Mose's early classics.

Cactus released 3 studio albums, all of which had a brief life on CD, but are now out of print and expensive, when you can find them. There are some live recordings out there too, but quality varies wildly. Your best bet is this fine 2 disc reissue, "Barely Contained: The Studio Sessions", on Wounded Bird Records. Yours for under $15. If something a bit less comprehensive will do, then pick up "Cactology" from Rhino Records. For a side order, the single album by supergroup Beck Bogert & Appice is available at a budget price. Good stuff, Maynard!

Sun Arise

Rolf Harris in the early 60's

One of the earliest records I remember having that wasn't specifically for children was a 45 rpm single of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" by Rolf Harris. You will likely recall the distinctive sound of the Masonite 'wobble board' that began the tune. Because I was so young at the time and the song was so distinctively Australian, I didn't pick up on what most of the song was about, other than the references to kangaroos, cockatoos and koalas. But I'm fairly sure that the story of the stockman dying didn't upset me. I certainly didn't know what a didgeridoo was, or that "Let me Abo's go loose" referred to firing Aborigine farm workers. That particular verse of the song was edited out in December of 1964 at Harris' request, as the term "Abo" had been determined to be derogatory and racist.

In its original release in 1960, the record climbed to #1 in the Australian charts and was a Top 10 hit in the UK. In 1963, Harris re-recorded the song in the UK with George Martin(!) as producer and this remake of the song reached #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also spent three weeks atop the 1963 Easy Listening chart.

An early 60's 45 picture sleeve for "Sun Arise"

"Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" was included as the Side 2 play-out track on Harris' 1963 album, "Sun Arise". Unlike many of his early chart hits, the song "Sun Arise" was not a Comedy or Folk recording, but fell more within the genre of world music. "Sun Arise" was written by Harris with fellow Western Australian, Harry Butler, a naturalist who became known for his television show, "In The Wild". The lyrics of the song came from a story Butler told him about Aboriginal beliefs. "Some tribes see the sun as a goddess. Each time she wakes in the morning, her skirts of light gradually cover more and more of the land, bringing back warmth and light to the air."

After the initial success of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport", Harris had mistakenly assumed that all of his future recordings would be automatically released in the United Kingdom by his label, EMI Records. EMI instead directed him to work with George Martin, then known for producing some of the better novelty records of the time, for a bit of a makeover. Martin had initially called the song "very boring", but Harris countered by arguing that the Aborigines, who he was trying to imitate, would "repeat a musical phrase over and over again until it would become mesmerizing". "Sun Arise" was then slightly re-written with additional lyrics. and recorded using 8 double basses to mimic the rumbling sound of the didgeridoo, which Harris himself could not play at the time. Here's the original version of "Sun Arise" by Rolf Harris.

The original Alice Cooper band. Every parents nightmare.

It would be of typical character for the original Alice Cooper band to end an epic album like 1971's "Love It To Death" with the rousing chant of "Sun Arise... whoa-oh-oh"; especially after the doom 'n gloom of Side 1's closer, "Black Juju", and directly following their chilling exploration of madness, "Ballad Of Dwight Frye". To me, it always sounded like they were riding off into the sunset with their collective middle fingers held high. But now, I understand it was the first indicator that no matter how dark Alice Cooper got, or was going to get, that it would always be done with a conspiratorial wink. "Sun Arise" was Alice's way of letting us in on the gag; of blowing open the doors of his shadowy theater at the end of the show to let sunlight come streaming in to drive a fatal stake into the heart of the darkness. It's a major element of Alice's performances to this day, and we probably have producer Bob Ezrin to thank for it.

Another quick note on "Love It To Death". You'll never guess where I first heard this album, and when I tell you, you won't believe it. It was in my 8th grade music class at school! That day, we had a substitute teacher; a young woman who could not have been older than 23. She was very cute, very new to teaching, and instantly had everyone's undivided attention, especially from us boys. Any change from the routine was good, but we didn't know how good it was about to get.

An original pressing of "Love It To Death" on the Straight label.

So, instead of continuing with the same old boring musical curriculum, she had apparently decided to go with what she knew. She told us about this concert she had attended in Atlantic City recently that featured Humble Pie, along with a new band she didn't know named Alice Cooper. (This is 1971 we're talking about, so that show must have been awesome!) Anyway, Ms. Teacher told us that she had expected Alice Cooper to be some willowy folk singer like Joni Mitchell, and instead got this roaring monster of a band! I remember her saying that she could not believe how long their hair was. With that, she opened a paper bag and pulled out a copy of "Love It To Death", and then... she played the entire album!! In a classroom! She did stop every so often so we could talk about the music, and it's possible that she skipped over "Black Juju", but that was one mind-blowing day in music class. Today, she would likely have been called on the carpet big time for such an insurrectionist act. but I will always be grateful. Thanks, Ms. Substitute Teacher, wherever you are. On that day, you rocked our world! It was a rare bright spot in the hell that was Junior High.

Here's Alice Cooper's killer version of "Sun Arise". I'm sure Rolf Harris was very happy with this at the time.

If you had told me in the early 70's that Alice Cooper would still be recording new albums and touring constantly almost 40 years later, I'd have said that you were as crazy as Dwight Frye. But so it is. His tour schedule would exhaust many younger bands, and Alice is likely to turn up at a local golf course in the early morning of every tour stop. Must be that golf regimen that keeps him going. Like most of the Cooper catalog that remains in print, "Love It To Death" is available as a standard CD. But if you want to head uptown, there's a very nice 24k Gold edition, mastered by Steve Hoffman, or some new 180 gram vinyl available for you audiophiles. If you have none of the early Cooper classics on your collection, head straight for this 5 disc budget priced boxed set. No book or bonus tracks, but it's yours for less than 15 bucks, and has everything prior to their landmark album, "Billion Dollar Babies".

Unfortunately, things have taken a terribly sour turn for the legacy of Rolf Harris. After decades in the public eye of Britain as a family-friendly, all around entertainer and painter, the now 83 year old Harris is currently facing multiple charges of sexual assault; some involving minors. You'd think he would have learned something from the notorious cases of Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile. Despite the internet being full of dissertations about why and how this behavior can happen, I find it inexcusable and will never understand it. So, unless this ugly business is resolved in Harris' favor by the British courts, I can not, in good conscience, recommend the purchase of any of his recordings.

Jesus Is Just Alright

The Doobie Brothers Lite edition in 1977

In November of 1977, I attended a Doobie Brothers concert at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. It was during a successful run for a revamped version of the band that featured Michael McDonald on keys and lead vocals, and guitarist Jeff Baxter, late of Steely Dan. The fact that the opening band was Pablo Cruise should have been my first indicator that this incarnation was a musically skilled, but much lighter variety of The Doobies. It also remains the only Rock concert I've ever taken a nap in the middle of, which should tell you more about the evening than anything else.

Prior to the personnel change, The Doobie Brothers were already certified hit makers under the leadership of Pat Simmons and Tom Johnston, whose unique singing voices graced early successes like "Listen To The Music" and "Rockin' Down The Highway". The Doobie Brothers' recording of "Jesus Is Just Alright" was first released on their second Warner Brothers album, "Toulouse Street", in 1972. It was then released in November 1972 as the second single from the album (b/w "Rockin' Down The Highway") and became a hit, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the following year.

The 1972 single. Note the writers credit.

Although none of The Doobies' band members were particularly religious, the band first became aware of "Jesus Is Just Alright" after hearing it done by The Byrds, and before long, the song had been added to The Doobie Brothers' concert setlists. The song's arrangement is very similar to the one used by The Byrds, although The Doobie Brothers' version includes a bluesy middle section that they added themselves. Brownie points to them for not getting greedy about a co-writing credit.

"Jesus Is Just Alright" became one of a number of God-themed songs to reach the charts between 1969 and 1973, along with "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, "Put Your Hand In The Hand" by Ocean, "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens, "Jubilation" by Paul Anka, "Speak To The Sky" by Rick Springfield, the soundtrack album "Godspell", and the album most of my Catholic friends can still recall every lyric to, "Jesus Christ Superstar".

To this day, the song continues to be a staple on Classic Rock radio stations. Here's The Doobie Brothers with "Jesus Is Just Alright", in case your radio has been on for less than an hour.

So, as mentioned earlier, The Doobies adapted the song from The Byrds, whose recording was featured on their 1969 album, "The Ballad of Easy Rider". Although the album was a relatively hasty assemblage meant to capitalize on the success of the movie "Easy Rider", this version of The Byrds was up to the task; coming fresh off the unexpectedly difficult reception of their now-classic "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" album with more new-found focus than ever before, having been through yet another purge of the uncommitted from the Byrdhouse by band leader Roger McGuinn.

The song was introduced to The Byrds by their drummer, Gene Parsons, who had somehow been present in the studio when The Art Reynolds Singers recorded it for Capitol in 1966. The Byrds had added the song to their live concert repertoire some months prior to the start of the "Ballad of Easy Rider" recording sessions, and it had quickly become an audience favorite. The Byrds performed "Jesus Is Just Alright" regularly between 1969 and 1971, but the song appears to have been dropped and performed only rarely after that.

In this clip from a PBS documentary, Bill Graham introduces The Byrds at the legendary Fillmore East in September of 1970. I love finding archival stuff like this! I understand that the Telecaster played by Clarence White in this clip is now owned by Country singer and archivist Marty Stuart.

It was back in 1966 that Arthur Reynolds took the 5 best singers from his choir at the St. Vestal C.M.E. church and created the gospel singing group, The Art Reynolds Singers. As the first gospel group to record for Capitol Records, they soon became pioneers in the development of "Gospel Rock", although many traditionalists considered their music too secular for the time. Their first album "Tellin' It Like It Is", which featured "Jesus Is Just Alright", went on to become one of the biggest selling albums for a new gospel group, receiving local and national acclaim. One of the original members of The Art Reynolds Singers was a young lady named Thelma Houston, who went on to become a Grammy winner with her 1977 Disco anthem, "Don't Leave Me This Way".

While researching this article, I also discovered some questionable speculation that the main riff of the song may have been lifted from the 1957 Thurston Harris hit, "Little Bitty Pretty One". As there are but 12 notes in the scale, I can see where the earlier song may have suggested the riff, but it's certainly not a wholesale appropriation. I will say that I find it comforting that a song best known in its Classic Rock incarnation, came from a background of Gospel, R&B, and Country, and was finished off with a spot of Blues in the middle. I also see that there was an update of the song done in 2003 by DC Talk, adding some Hip-Hop to the mix. Now, if that ain't a textbook Rock 'n Roll pedigree, I don't know what is.

Here's the original recording of "Jesus Is Just Alright"! Raise yer hands in the air, y'all!

This video clip is the ONLY place I could find the original Art Reynolds song online. There's not even a listing at iTunes or Amazon, so you may have to scour the used vinyl bins if you're really jonesin' for a copy of this. Good luck.

You'll probably feel a whole lot better about finding music from The Byrds. Their entire Columbia catalog has been very nicely remastered and repackaged, with copious notes and a bargeload of bonus tracks and alternate takes. For those of you who just want a decent anthology, here's a very good one that neatly splits their career into 2 parts. But for those who are leaning toward the individual albums, I will heartily suggest the mammoth, 13 disc boxed set, which contains ALL of the spiffed up Columbia albums, with a book that details each track on every album. Yours for under $48, including shipping. That works out to less than $3.70 per disc. Such a deal.

And of course, music from The Doobie Brothers is easy to find at Amazon, or the budget bin of your local music emporium. If your Doobie needs are best served by a collection, here's your best bet. Personally, I feel their best work was early on, so I will also recommend this budget priced 5 disc box that has all the goods. There is a 2nd box set for you Doobie completists. The one caveat is that these box sets contain bare bones cd's with no liner notes or bonus material, but if you want the original albums as they were, this is a real good way to get 'em.