How did your work with The Doobie Brothers start?
Lenny [Waronker] called me while I was still working at Sunwest. He asked me to come up to San Francisco; there was a band he wanted me to hear. I told him I was still working for Sunwest and that I couldn't do a Warner Bros. album up there. He said, "Come up anyway." So, I flew up, went to a rehearsal, and listened to The Doobie Brothers. They were fantastic! Ted [Templeman] and Lenny recorded their first album up there [at Pacific Recorders], and when they came back with the completed album, I mastered it with them at Location Recording [Service]. About a year later, when I was working for Warner Bros., Ted asked me to record their second album.
For that album, Toulouse Street, The Doobies had tracked some material at Wally Heider Studios before Ted got involved.
Yes, they had some good tracks; we used "Toulouse Street, "White Sun," and "Snake Man." We did the other tracks, the vocals, overdubs, mixes, and mastering at Amigo [Studios, Warner Bros. North Hollywood Recording Studios].
The sonics on that record are incredible.
They were a great band, easy to record, and everything just worked out. It was also one of the last records we did at Amigo with the 16-track 3M M56 tape machine.
What do you remember about tracking "Listen to the Music"?
We started to record the track with Pat [Simmons] and Tom [Johnston] playing guitars through their amps in the studio, but Ted wanted something else. He suggested recording them direct and mic'ing their strings. I put them in our vocal booth, and they played live with Tiran [Porter, bass] and Michael [Hossack, drums] with headphones. Tom's lead vocal and the backgrounds were great, and Pat's banjo and steel drums are a great touch. The mix just came together. Ted tells me phasing the center breakdown was my idea; I thought it was his!
The other thing that stands out is how great the rhythm section was.
Yes. Tiran was fantastic, and he and Michael built a powerful foundation.
If I'm remembering right, there are no tracks with John Hartman and Michael Hossack both drumming on this album?
We always had both drum sets ready to record throughout Toulouse Street, but we rarely cut tracks that way. Ted would usually have them record with Michael.
Billy Payne of Little Feat played piano on "Rockin' Down the Highway" and "Don't Start Me to Talkin'," plus organ on "Cotton Mouth" and "Jesus is Just Alright." Whose idea was it to bring him in for the sessions?
It was Ted's idea. Whenever Billy came to a session, things got better.
His organ playing gave the songs a wonderful texture.
Billy played a Hammond B-3 and Leslie [speaker]; the best sounding Leslie I ever recorded. He could get seemingly any sound out of it that he wanted. He was terrific with that rig.
On "Jesus is Just Alright," Billy really shines.
The perfect touch. His notes and dynamics couldn't be better.
Did you and Ted have Pat and Tom sing along while you tracked?
I don't remember them singing along on anything when we cut the tracks. Later on, Michael McDonald would almost always sing and play live.
The cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" is one of my favorite Doobies songs.
With that song, I didn't quite know how to mix it. But Lee Herschberg [Tape Op #154] came in and he had no problems. Thanks, Lee!
"Listen to the Music" sounds like it was recorded yesterday. What stands out to you when you listen to it in 2023?
Everything about it. Great song, performance, and vocals.
Wikipedia lists an uncredited flute player on "Toulouse Street." Can we solve that mystery?
It was Pat, and it was a recorder – not a flute!
When Toulouse Street became a chart topper, I suspect Warner Bros. executives were pleasantly surprised, especially since the first record only sold something like ten thousand copies.
I'm sure they were happy! I thought the album would do very well, especially because we had "Listen to the Music."
When The Doobies became a hot act, how did that affect the time that you, Ted, and the band had to work on the follow up, The Captain and Me?
Success always requires another album ASAP, but I don't remember being too pressed for time.
That one opens with "Natural Thing," which features the ARP synthesizer.
Malcolm Cecil [Tape Op #44] and Robert Margouleff did the synths. Their parts were overdubbed; they didn't play live with the band.
You had worked with Malcolm previously, right?
Malcolm came to Sunwest around 1970. He was a very experienced engineer; he'd spent years with the BBC. He tried to teach me "the BBC way" to go about recording in many situations.
"Long Train Runnin'" was an absolute smash. What do you remember about it?
The Doobies sessions usually went smoothly. However, recording "Long Train Runnin'" included some tricky situations. When we recorded the track, at the end of the take Tom put his guitar down, walked out, and drove away! [laughs] So, when we did the mix, in order to have an ending long enough to fade out, we had to take one section and repeat it several times. The song also has a harmonica solo played by Tom. After he played the final note of the solo, he threw his harmonica down and walked out of Amigo! So, on the record, the solo ends with Tom's final note which Ted and I repeated five more times.
I guess you could have done what Ted calls a "Motown Fade" – you just drop all the faders in two seconds flat!
We didn't want that. We wanted it to sound like the band just kept playing and we faded it out.
