As you know by now, I’m a music nut, especially when it comes to 70’s rock music. The latest in my classic rock journey (pun intended) is the group known as The Doobie Brothers.

Thanks to the magic of box sets, I was able to listen to every song from every album all the way from the first album in 1971 to the “farewell” tour live album in 1983. I put farewell in quotes because they reformed in 1987 and are still around.

A good song at the perfect moment is magical. Something happens in my spirit when I hear a song that fits my mood and the setting. But it’s hard for me not to speed a little when I hear China Grove or Black Water.

While Greatest Hits or Best of compilations are fine, there’s something to be said for listening to the albums and hearing all the non-singles and deep cuts and realizing that they had much more great music than the 5 or so songs you will hear on the radio at any given moment (which tends to be true of any group or artist who was more than a one-hit wonder).

It won’t be long before I’ll be cranking up Christmas music. But I’ll leave that for another topic for another day.