"Black Water" is still my favorite Doobie Brothers song, there was nothing else like that southern rock singalong on the radio back in da day. It got me to thinking about the other early hits they had before Michael McDonald joined. Back in 1973 they put out "Long Train Running", a song that Tom Johnston relates came out of a jam the band used for years as a rehearsal warm up. Untitled and always evolving, Johnston felt that it was more of a throwaway bar song, and was named "Rosie Pig Moseley" and later "Osborn" before he was persuaded to finish it with lyrics by producer Ted Templeman. He was reluctant to record it, but Templeman held his ground, and it was included as an album track for 1973's "The Captain & Me" along with another song, "China Grove". Both songs propelled the album to double platinum status, as "Long Train Running" peaked at #8 and "China Grove" at #15 on the pop charts. Far from being "disco", it has an irresistible groove that landed a place on my playlists to get the party started...There have been many remakes but none approach the genius and energy of the original.
