Revisiting the post from a few weeks back in which I started a list of my favorite songs ever. While listening to the brilliant Spotify on my phone, “Long Train Runnin’” played and it is definitely a candidate for the top ten. Let me discuss why I like that song so much.
As a little kid, the only music I’d listen to was Quiet Storm. It was the stuff on the R&B and soul station I’d hear in the car whenever I rode around in the car with my parents. “Minute By Minute” was the lone Doobie Brothers song I was familiar with, since it played on that station (it was Michael McDonald, after all). Years later, I bought a Doobie Brothers greatest hits album and learned about “Black Water” and “Takin’ It To The Streets” and “You Belong To Me” and, more importantly, I learned that McDonald wasn’t always a part of the band. The was a popular iteration of the Doobie Brothers before his distinctive voice became the band’s focal point. You can hear the difference. “Black Water”, “The Doctor”, “Listen to the Music”…they all have a down-home country sort of style; they’re much less poppy than the later stuff. As it turns out, I like both styles!
Okay, still haven’t mentioned “Long Train Runnin’”. Amazingly, that song wasn’t on that particular compilation album. The first version of LTR I heard was actually this one!
Those were the days…being at the arcade at Golfland or Planet Lazer and hopping on the DDR machine. I remember loving the song, not realizing it was The Doobie Brothers and feeling shocked upon realization that such a great track was somehow not among my collection of their songs.
Anyway, the guitar riff is the moneymaker in this song. Like “Sweet Child o’ Mine” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the tone of the track is recognizable about one second in. It makes you want to learn the instrument. The voices are perfectly harmonized in the short chorus and the pace of the song is toe-tappingly nimble. For the longest time, the studio version of the song was energetic enough for my running playlist. It still is, but now it has been supplemented with a big beat electronic version. Whether running, studying or just strolling down the street, “Long Train Runnin’” is a song I’d never skip.
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