What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1974.
[edit] Recording and content
Tom Johnston's "Another Park, Another Sunday" was chosen to be the album's first single. "It's about losing a girl," stated Johnston. "I wrote the chords and played it on acoustic, and then Ted [Templeman] had some ideas for it, like running the guitars through Leslie speakers." The song did moderately well on the charts.
The second single released was "Eyes of Silver", another Johnston penned tune. According to him, "Wordwise, that one really isn't that spectacular. I wrote them at the last minute." That song didn't have much success on the charts either. Grasping for chart action, Warner Brothers re-released the band's first single, "Nobody". This release was soon overshadowed when radio stations discovered "Black Water". Other stations joined in and the song was officially released as a single that went on to sell over a million copies and became the Doobie Brothers' first #1 hit.[3]
[edit] Artwork
The unusual lettering on the album cover was suggested by drummer John Hartman after visiting his high school alma mater, J.E.B. Stuart in Falls Church, Virginia. The School's newspaper, Raiders Digest, had just changed its masthead to include those stylized fonts.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Side One
- "Song to See You Through" (Johnston) – 4:06
- "Spirit" (Johnston, Simpson) – 3:15
- "Pursuit on 53rd St." (Johnston) – 2:33
- "Black Water" (Simmons) – 4:17
- "Eyes of Silver" (Johnston) – 2:57
- "Road Angel" (Hartman, Hossack, Johnston, Porter) – 4:49
[edit] Side Two
- "You Just Can't Stop It" (Simmons) – 3:28
- "Tell Me What You Want (And I'll Give You What You Need)" (Simmons) – 3:53
- "Down in the Track" (Johnston) – 4:15
- "Another Park, Another Sunday" (Johnston) – 4:27
- "Daughters of the Sea" (Simmons) – 4:29
- "Flying Cloud" (Porter) – 2:00
[edit] Personnel
The Doobie Brothers:
Additional Players:
[edit] Production
- Producer: Ted Templeman
- Production Coordination: Benita Brazier, The Doobie Brothers
- Engineer: Lee Herschberg, Donn Landee
- Mastering: Lee Herschberg
- Horn Arrangements: Andrew Love, The Memphis Horns, Wayne Jackson
- Cover Design: Chas Barbour
- Art Direction: Chas Barbour
- Photography: Dan Fong
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1975 |
Pop Albums |
4 |
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart |
Position |
| 1974 |
"Another Park, Another Sunday" |
Pop Singles |
32 |
| 1974 |
"Eyes of Silver" |
Pop Singles |
52 |
| 1975 |
"Black Water" |
Pop Singles |
1 |
[edit] References
- ^ What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits at Allmusic
- ^ Rolling Stone magazine review
- ^ (1999) "Old Black Water Keep on Rollin': 30 Years of the Doobie Brothers", p. 20 [CD Booklet]. Album notes for 'Long Train Runnin': The Doobie Brothers 1970 - 2000' by The Doobie Brothers. Warner Bros. Records (75876).
- ^ New second drummer Keith Knudsen replaced Hossack during the recording of Vices. Hossack was thus credited as a guest musician on the back of the album, even though he had played drums throughout the recording sessions. The front and back covers of the album show concert photographs taken from behind the group, which makes it difficult to tell which drummers are seen; they are in fact Knudsen and Hartman, photographed on tour while the album was in production. Knudsen's only actual musical contribution to the album was to sing backing vocals.
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