This Day in ’73: The Doobie Brothers release THE CAPTAIN AND ME

47 years ago today, the Doobie Brothers released their third full-length release, an LP which provided them with a top-20 single, a top-10 single, and a top-10 album.

Recorded at Warner Brothers Studios in North Hollywood and produced by Ted Templeman, THE CAPTAIN AND ME was an album which came together quickly out of necessity, but the pressure to deliver a new LP apparently provided the Doobies with inspiration: between “Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove,” they ended up with two of the biggest and most durable hits of their entire career. What’s funny, however, is that “Long Train Runnin’” was actually a recycled tune, with much of it borrowed from a Tom Johnston song entitled “Osborn.” But, hey, whatever gets you into the Billboard Hot 100, right? And in this case, it got incredibly far up that particular chart, climbing to #8, with “China Grove” landing at #15.

THE CAPTAIN AND ME hit a chart peak of #8 on the Billboard 200, ultimately going double platinum. More importantly, though, the album’s success provided the Doobies with some career momentum, which they rode successfully into their follow-up LP, WHAT WERE ONCE VICES ARE NOW HABITS, which gave us “Black Water.”