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What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

 
Album Review: What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

  • Artist: The Doobie Brothers
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1974 02
  • Total Time: 44:29
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

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, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Song to See You Through (Lyrics) Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (4:08)
Spirit (Lyrics) Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (3:16)
Pursuit on 53rd St. (Lyrics) Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (2:35)
Black Water (Lyrics) Patrick Simmons The Doobie Brothers (4:21)
Eyes of Silver (Lyrics) Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (3:00)
Road Angel (Lyrics) Tiran Porter, John Hartman, Michael Hossack, Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (4:48)
You Just Can't Stop It (Lyrics) Patrick Simmons The Doobie Brothers (3:31)
Tell Me What You Want (And I'll Give You What You Need) Patrick Simmons The Doobie Brothers (3:55)
Down in the Track (Lyrics) Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (4:17)
Another Park, Another Sunday (Lyrics) Tom Johnston The Doobie Brothers (4:31)
Daughters of the Sea (Lyrics) Patrick Simmons The Doobie Brothers (4:35)
Flying Cloud [Instrumental] Tiran Porter The Doobie Brothers (2:00)

Credits

Arlo Guthrie (Autoharp), Bill Payne (Keyboards), Dan Fong (Photography), Michael Hossack (Drums), Jeff Baxter (Guitar), Milt Holland (Percussion), Milt Holland (Tabla), Wayne Jackson (Horn Arrangements), Benita Brazier (Production Coordination), Jeff Baxter (Guitar (Steel)), Novi (Viola), James Mitchell (Horn), Eddie Guzman (Conga), Patrick Simmons (Guitar), Lee Herschberg (Engineer), Chas Barbour (Cover Design), Andrew Love (Horn), Keith Knudsen (Vocals), Keith Knudsen (Drums), Patrick Simmons (Vocals), Eddie Guzman (Timbales), Eddie Guzman (Percussion), Chas Barbour (Art Direction), Jack Hale (Trombone), Jeff Baxter (Pedal Steel), The Doobie Brothers (?), Donn Landee (Engineer), Tiran Porter (Bass), Novi Novag (Viola), Wayne Jackson (Horn), John Hartman (Drums), Ted Templeman (Percussion), Ted Templeman (Producer), Chas Barbour (Design), Milt Holland (Pandeiro), James Booker (Piano), Lee Herschberg (Mastering), Tom Johnston (Vocals), Arlo Guthrie (Harmonica), Tiran Porter (Vocals), Andrew Love (Horn Arrangements), Tom Johnston (Guitar), The Memphis Horns (Horn Arrangements), Milt Holland (Marimba)
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Wikipedia: What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
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What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
Studio album by The Doobie Brothers
Released February 1, 1974
Recorded 1973
Genre Rock
Length 44:29
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Ted Templeman
Professional reviews
The Doobie Brothers chronology
The Captain and Me
(1973)
What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
(1974)
Stampede
(1975)

What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1974. The unusual lettering on the album cover was suggested by drummer John Hartman after visiting his high school alma mater, J.E.B. Stuart in Falls Church, Virginia. The School's newspaper, Raiders Digest, had just changed its masthead to include those stylized fonts.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Song to See You Through" (Johnston) – 4:06
  2. "Spirit" (Johnston, Simpson) – 3:15
  3. "Pursuit on 53rd St." (Johnston) – 2:33
  4. "Black Water" (Simmons) – 4:17
  5. "Eyes of Silver" (Johnston) – 2:57
  6. "Road Angel" (Hartman, Hossack, Johnston, Porter) – 4:49
  7. "You Just Can't Stop It" (Simmons) – 3:28
  8. "Tell Me What You Want (And I'll Give You What You Need)" (Simmons) – 3:53
  9. "Down in the Track" (Johnston) – 4:15
  10. "Another Park, Another Sunday" (Johnston) – 4:27
  11. "Daughters of the Sea" (Simmons) – 4:29
  12. "Flying Cloud" (Porter) – 2:00

Personnel

The Doobie Brothers:

Additional Players:

Production

  • Producer: Ted Templeman
  • Production Coordination: Benita Brazier, The Doobie Brothers
  • Engineer: Lee Herschberg, Donn Landee
  • Mastering: Lee Herschberg
  • Horn Arrangements: Andrew Love, The Memphis Horns, Wayne Jackson
  • Cover Design: Chas Barbour
  • Art Direction: Chas Barbour
  • Photography: Dan Fong

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1975 Pop Albums 4

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1974 "Another Park, Another Sunday" Pop Singles 32
1974 "Eyes of Silver" Pop Singles 52
1975 "Black Water" Pop Singles 1

Notes

  1. ^ New second drummer Keith Knudsen replaced Hossack during the recording of Vices. Hossack was thus credited as a guest musician on the back of the album, even though he had played drums throughout the recording sessions. The front and back covers of the album show concert photographs taken from behind the group, which makes it difficult to tell which drummers are seen; they are in fact Knudsen and Hartman, photographed on tour while the album was in production. Knudsen's only actual musical contribution to the album was to sing backing vocals.

 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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