The Doobie Brothers - Farewell Tour

2 songs in particular

I'm buying this cd for 2 songs really, You Belong To Me and Slack Key Soquel Rag. I really enjoyed those versions when I saw them in Atlanta on the farewell tour. One of my all-time favorite bands! I like them better touring post-Michael McDonald. I enjoyed his stay with the Doobies but it didn't translate as well on the stage. November 9, 2008

for the die-hard fan

I bought this as an import years ago. Listen to the Music is a microcosm of the downward slide of Doobies quality. I think this has some historical value and a few good tracks, but, on the whole, represents a great argument for disbanding. October 30, 2008

Fairwell Tour (Doobie Brothers)

Most of the really good songs on this album have been ad-libbed and embellished so much that the original flavor of the song has been completely lost. That may be okay for some people, but I've always hated it when singers do that. October 20, 2008

DB's Farewell Finally, But Where's the 2 Disc set or DVD???

I Bought the Vinyl and Cassette in 1983, Sometime later paid high dollars for the Japenese CD edition. Now all of these years later it finally makes a US CD debut, but no Bonus tracks. What a disgrace. Alot of critics or fellow DB's fans have put this album in the back of there closets. Some would say overly produced or what ever there reasons are.

My opinion is the cuts that were chosen from the live shows for this album where not the best ones. The actual shows were 2 + HR's, now I understand you could only put so many songs on vinyl. But if you saw any of the video brodcast HBO and A&E 60 min and 74 mins you would've seen better live versions that should've ended up on this set. Also songs like "Here To Love You, Take Me In Your Arms, It Keeps You Runnin, Real Love, Keep This Train Rollin. The long jam version of Listen To The music from the Berkley show with all members on stage and many others that could've made this a 2 CD set. Or at the very least add 2 or three extra songs.

It seems as though the DB's have not gotten the respect that many other bands from the 1970's have gotten, interms of RE:issues of there origonal albums IE remastering or bonus tracks,demos and Unissued songs from that session. Minus the box set Disc 4, there is really not alot available on the DB's. And to think Blondie is in the Rock-N-Roll Hall Of Fame and no DB's as of yet HMMM. Anyway, I think this is a good live album, great arangements of the songs live, yes lacking vol levels or a better remastering and extra songs. A good live album by quality artist, atleast Rhino put out and maybe they will put a full 2 HR+ dvd out sometime down the road, from this Tour, the DB's deserve it...You know the WB vaults are full of rare live/studio stuff -Mike Sippie


September 19, 2008

WAAAAAAY underrated

It's good that this album is finally available on CD in the US. From what I've seen this album has been slammed by critics and treated as almost a non-entity in the Doobie catalog.

That's just unfair, because this is a GREAT live album. Every Doobie fan (except maybe those who are Johnston-era only fans) needs to have this. This is everything a live album should be. Many live albums have versions of songs that are just carbon copies of the originals, adding nothing to them and sometimes even subtracting from them. But you won't hear that kind of thing here. Many tracks on this album add new twists to the originals, and some (Steamer Lane Breakdown, You Belong To Me) are actually more definitive versions of the songs.

Of course this is a historically important collection as well, in more ways than one. There are two Doobies originals that were first heard here (including "Olana," which later appeared in studio form on the box set, but the definitive version is on this album). There is the lead vocal debut of (the late) Keith Knudsen, on "Don't Start Me Talkin'" (sounding a lot like Pat Simmons and a lot UNlike Keith's vocals on SIBLING RIVALRY).

The second Doobies live album, WILDLIFE CONCERT, repeats most of the songs that were on this album. With only a couple exceptions, it is the FAREWELL TOUR versions, not the WILDLIFE CONCERT ones, that I listen to.

If you're a McDonald-era or "all-eras" Doobies fan, GET THIS! September 18, 2008

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