Friday Flashback :: Doobie Brothers' "What A Fool Believes"
I'm taking a Blue-Eyed Soul departure from my Minneapolis Sound kick, as I was song surfing in my iTunes, and came across a song that is one of my all-time favorites, with perhaps the most profound set of lyrics penned in a purely popish song, with no inherent "message."
Featuring the vocal stylings and keys virtuosity of Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers were classic California, black-influenced, rhythm-driven blue-eyed soul to the max. After a half-dozen well-done releases, the 1979 album Minute By Minute was seen as a slight letdown by critics. Funny, the buying public seemed to disagree, picking up something like three million copies -- this during the era of actually having to, gulp, go to a record store and purchase vinyl! The recording establishment gave Minute by Minute four Grammy Awards, propelling the group to its biggest success ever.
Arguably the biggest success on the album came in the form of today's Flashback, the bouncy, but subtly depressing "What A Fool Believes." Those of you who listen to Michael McDonald's new stuff might note that he sometimes sounds like he's singing with a mouthful of pebbles, smooth pebbles, but pebbles nonetheless. But oh, how good he makes mushmouth sound! And in between you get some outstanding lyrics, focusing on the failure of a relationship with some woman -- only the man doesn't realize it's over:
The Doobie Brothers :: "What A Fool Believes"
Album: Minute By Minute
Released: 1979
Billboard peak: #1, Pop Singles, #72 Black Singles. Grammy Awards for both Song of the Year, and Record of The Year, 1979
Play the Track: What A Fool Believes (to download, Mac users, Control-click, and choose 'Save Link As...' Windows users right-click the link and choose 'Save Target As...').
Featuring the vocal stylings and keys virtuosity of Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers were classic California, black-influenced, rhythm-driven blue-eyed soul to the max. After a half-dozen well-done releases, the 1979 album Minute By Minute was seen as a slight letdown by critics. Funny, the buying public seemed to disagree, picking up something like three million copies -- this during the era of actually having to, gulp, go to a record store and purchase vinyl! The recording establishment gave Minute by Minute four Grammy Awards, propelling the group to its biggest success ever.
Arguably the biggest success on the album came in the form of today's Flashback, the bouncy, but subtly depressing "What A Fool Believes." Those of you who listen to Michael McDonald's new stuff might note that he sometimes sounds like he's singing with a mouthful of pebbles, smooth pebbles, but pebbles nonetheless. But oh, how good he makes mushmouth sound! And in between you get some outstanding lyrics, focusing on the failure of a relationship with some woman -- only the man doesn't realize it's over:
The song is poignant for this investigation of obvious, yet apparently not so much so, breakup. It also represents the high-water mark for the Doobie Brothers, whose evolution from a mellow, post-hippie boogie band to a slick, soul-inflected pop band is best exemplified by this song.As he rises to her apology/Anybody else would surely know/ He's watching her go
What a fool believes he sees/ No wise man has the power /To reason away
What seems to be/Is always better than nothing/Than nothing at all
The Doobie Brothers :: "What A Fool Believes"Album: Minute By Minute
Released: 1979
Billboard peak: #1, Pop Singles, #72 Black Singles. Grammy Awards for both Song of the Year, and Record of The Year, 1979
Play the Track: What A Fool Believes (to download, Mac users, Control-click, and choose 'Save Link As...' Windows users right-click the link and choose 'Save Target As...').
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Poignant choice given my experiences just this Friday evening. I’ve usually preferred the optimism of 'Minute by Minute' (Hey don’t worry, I’ve been lied to, I’ve been here many times before...). 'What a Fool Believes', besides the great vocal job of McDonald, is pretty stark. “What seems to be/ is always better than nothing/ And nothing at all keeps sending him…” To be a sentimental fool…
Sorry to hear about this past Friday, my dude. One thing you have to give the Doobies is that their lyrical content was always strong.
While one cannot always suss out what Michael McDonald is saying, when you are able to do so, :) it's clear that the words have meaning in most of their songs.
Kenny Loggins and McDonald certainly made a lot of fans with their vocal stylings.