CoronaVinyl Day 160 (Self-Titled Debut): The Doobie Brothers by The Doobie Brothers

  For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is self-titled debut album, and I have many of them, although I have already featured some of them in CoronaVinyl (or other albums by the bands or artists).  Thankfully, my collection is deep, which gives me the chance to listen to records I normally wouldn't break out.

I'm going with The Doobie Brothers' 1971 self-titled debut.  The album didn't chart on the Billboard album chart, and there aren't any huge hits -- though "Nobody" did reach #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 after it was re-released several years later -- but you can definitely hear the beginnings of their classic pre-Michael McDonald sound, kind of a combination of rock, hard rock, country rock, and southern rock.  It clearly set the stage for the band's success, as their follow-up album, 1972's Toulouse Street reached #21 on the Billboard album chart, and after that, it was seven Top 10 albums in a row.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Nobody"

The first song on the album sounds like a classic Doobie Brothers song.  Even if you had never heard it before, within the first few bars, you would peg it as one of their songs.  It's a catchy acoustic rock song with those signature harmonies on the choruses.  It also has a nice rocking guitar solo.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Beehive State"
This is a cover of a song originally recorded (and written) by legendary songwriter Randy Newman, and The Doobie Brothers turned it into a great rock song.  The song implores you to forget about Kansas and think about Utah.