The Doobie Brothers / Stampede (Warner Bros. Records, BS 2835) <April 25, 1975> MAT ; 1B / 1A

The Doobie Brothers / Stampede (Warner Bros. Records, BS 2835) <April 25, 1975> MAT ; 1B / 1A 　

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マトリクスは数種類あり、これは1B / 1Aです。

"Stampede" is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The album was released on April 25, 1975, by Warner Bros. Records. It was the final album by the band before Michael McDonald replaced Tom Johnston as lead vocalist and primary songwriter. The album has been certified gold by the RIAA.

"Stampede" showed the band diversifying elements of their sound more than ever before, combining elements of their old sound as well as country-rock, funk and folk music. Many guest musicians contributed on the album including Maria Muldaur, Ry Cooder and Curtis Mayfield.

The first and most successful single released from this album was "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" on April 23, 1975, a classic Motown tune written by the legendary songwriting trio of Holland-Dozier-Holland. Tom Johnston had wanted to record the song for several years. "I thought that would be a killer track to cover," he said. "It's probably one of my favorite songs of all time. I thought our version came out great."

The next single, released on July 8, 1975, was "Sweet Maxine" which was more akin to the Doobie Brothers' earlier hits style-wise. "Pat wrote the music to this and I wrote the words, " Johnston recalled. "And Billy Payne had a lot to do with the sound of the song, because of his incredible keyboard playing." The track stalled at #40 on the Billboard charts.

The third and final single was Patrick Simmons' "I Cheat the Hangman", released November 12, 1975. It is a somber outlaw ballad that was inspired by the story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. "It's about a ghost returning to his home after the Civil War and not realizing he's dead," said Simmons about the song. The album version of the song is a progressive rock-style composition ending in a twisted collage of strings, horns and synthesizers made to sound like ghostly wails. "We'd cut the track, and we kicked around how to develop the ending-I thought about synthesizers and guitar solos. Ted [Templeman] got to thinking about it, and he ran it past [arranger] Nick DeCaro for some orchestration ideas. 'Night on Bald Mountain' by Mussorgsky really inspired the wildness of the strings, and Nick came up with the chorale thing at the end." The ambitious "I Cheat the Hangman" only managed to reach #60 on the music charts.

"Neal's Fandango" was inspired by the Santa Cruz mountains and was an homage to Neal Cassady, Merry Prankster bus driver and former Jack Kerouac sidekick in On The Road. It was occasionally played on San Francisco Bay Area classic rock station KFOX "K-FOX" (that means KUFX) because of the Doobie Brothers' South Bay roots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOnMnWY410g

"Music Man"

It's late at night
Can't go to sleep
Eyes open wide
Doin' the midnight creep
Well it's just a holiday
For a circus dream
'Cause I'm a music man baby
Hangin' from a wire with no net below
You know I'm gonna catch you if you fall
Swirling dancers
Driftin' in the night
Make you go crazy
Forget what is wrong and what is right
'Cause the melody gonna make you high
Float you away like a cloud in the sky
And the music man with a song for you
A sweet Georgia minstrel who loves to sing the blues
Get it
Come and get it
When you get back home to your flat in the city
Notice that your neighbor has the radio on
Out of nowhere you gonna hear a sound
Movin' through your head, spinning 'round and 'round
And the music man with a song for you
A sweet Georgia minstrel who loves to sing the blues
Get it
Come and get it