70's music has become my favorite period of music. In an era of great singers and bands like The Eagles, Carly Simon, Steve Miller Band, the Doobie Brothers are one of my favorites, and while they may not have been anything revolutionary with the genre, they did very well. No major politics or religous preachings, the Doobies were about good fun and good music. LONG TRAIN RUNN'IN is a Doobie Brothers box set with 4 discs full of music, a large booklet of info and pictures. The first 3 of 4 discs are divided up for the most part among the band periods. The first being the early rock n' roll with country mix thrown in, the second being the closing of their rock sound (which never sounded better again) and getting into more of a groove with Michael McDonald joining and the band reaching their highest point ever. The third album closes up the smooth sounds of Michael McDonald and repoens the group with almost the same lineup as they did on the Toulhouse St album + roadie turned conga player Bobby LaKind for what sadly could be called their two "bad 80's albums". (Hey, I like the Cycles album and Brotherhood is tolerable, but neither one touches Stampede or The Captain and Me, even on their best day). An addition at the end is only available on a japanese import of the Sibling Rivalry disc, which is their cover of "Little Bitty Pretty One" Some of the tracks on these discs denote a "single release" in which things like extra singers (HERE TO LOVE YOU) are added or the song is shorter, in the case of WHEELS OF FORTUNE much shorter.

As I said a fourth disc is included which is the true gem of the album which includes rare cuts, demos and unreleased songs mostly from the groups beginings. Many are recorded complete with mistakes and talk from a crew or band member. Others are real early concept songs for later albums. One noteworthy cut is Sweet Maxine without the piano playing! The crown jewel on the disc is the studio produced song OLANA which is a song that I think could have really spiced up the McDonald years, along with others like it. The only other way to get this baby is a live version on the imported farewell concert disc. ARMADILLO DEATH CHANT is another great one. Other note, the BLUE JAY track is different then the one on the elusive EXCITEMENT import disc.

Sadly there are a few marks off but not enough to change my opinion in saying that this is a fantastic collection, but here they are anyway.

1 No DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA on the fisrt disc, the demo that you get with the box is nice, but this is one of my favorite songs and it takes me to a better place when I hear it.

2 No HOW DOES THE FOOL SURVIVE on disc 3, Jeff Baxter's minute and a half guiter solo at the end is one of the best I've ever heard.

3 No RIO on disc 2. Another good one.

4 No inclusions of the 87 reunion concert in which EVERY band member (sans the original bass player) participated in. That would have been sweet to hear.

Most of those complaints are trivial since NO boxed set ever gets all of what somebody wants. It's sadly give and take. The rest of the set is awesome and even if you already have all of the albums, and the fourth disc is warrant enough to purchase. Great set. Too bad there probably won't be another

All albums are not created equal, and this collection unfortunately reduces a four-star career to a two-star box set. "One Step Closer", "Cycles" and "Brotherhood" are gamely treated as the equals of franchise albums like "The Captain and Me" and "Takin' it to the Streets", which they clearly weren't. And no, four songs from "Takin' it to the Streets" are not enough. The choice of album cuts from "Living on the Fault Line" is especially bizarre ("You're Made That Way" and "Living on the Fault Line" are omitted in favour of "Chinatown" and "There's a Light"?). And, as I fast-forward through the filler (bad engineering as well as dubious songwriting) which makes up most of the last two albums, I wonder what happened to tracks like "Without You", "Ukiah/The Captain and Me", "Rio", "Carry Me Away", "You Never Change" and, HEY!, what about the tracks on the Farewell Tour album? The live versions of "Takin" it to the Streets" and "Don't Stop Me to Talkin'" are surely deserving of inclusion. Too bad; I was looking forward to this one. I enjoyed the rawness of Disc 4, though. Ted Templeman, take a bow. What an under-rated producer.

The Doobie Brothers developed a loyal following from the git-go, playing bars and hang-outs in San Jose and in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With their first single, "Nobody," they garnered both AM and FM airplay in the San Jose and San Francisco markets, and it's a befitting start to a definitive Doobies' collection. While the set, "Long Train Runnin'" is the ultimate statement on the band, it's also a story filled with switchyards and derailments making for a somewhat uneven listen. The sound is a vast improvement over the regular releases, it's in chronological order, the rarities are separated from the classic cuts, and Rhino has even gone one step - further - by including the single versions of several hits (with overdubs and edits that discriminating fans will appreciate). As academically it's a great box, the track audibly bends, as hearing the highs and the lows of the Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald eras, coupled by a questionable comeback, makes for a slow train ride. Fans of the early rockin' Doobies will find many of their album favorites denied passage on this journey, and the McDonald fans will wish they'd taken a cab or limo instead, as either of the two "Greatest Hits" collections will have gotten them there in half the time. However, if you've enjoyed the Doobie Brothers in their many incarnations, then, indeed, "listen to the music," without qualification, and without apology. For if anyone asks, you can always say you listened, but you didn't inhale.

Talk about your overblown and poorly paced boxed sets! This boxed set is bloated with way too many album tracks. Seven from Stampede, six cuts from the weak One Step Closer yet only four from the superior Takin' It To The Streets.

You would think that cutting corners or dropping selections would be an impossible task given the number of discs. Not so here. "Without You" from The Captain and Me is curiously absent.

Also missing are solo tracks from Michael McDonald. Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons' solo ventures are here. But the missing Doobie had the best solo career. What gives??

A particular gripe is the single edits of "Listen to the Music," (3:26 edit)"Here To Love You," among others.

A gripe because on the Rhino website where the track notes, liner notes, track listings and photos are reproduced allegedly from this box, they list these songs as full-length!

It appears that these songs are cut to allow room for the sixth or seventh album track from a particular album.

Five stars for sound quality and packaging, one star for its execution and poor sequencing, so three stars are about what it deserves.

Option: get the Very Best of the Doobie Brothers import (the sound quality is an improvement over the domestic Best of) which has hits from "Listen To The Music" (the 3:49 version) up to "Real Love." Or The Best of The Doobies on DCC Gold which is remastered directly from the studio masters and features "Listen To The Music" (the 4:45 album cut) and the full length "Takin' It To The Streets" (at 3:58)

Avoid this at all costs!!

Although they never garnered the critical praise of The Band, Mott the Hopple, CCR there were few bands that could hold a candle to the hit making strength of The Doobie Brothers. This collection gathers up a healthy sampling of their singles, best album tracks and rarities in a four disc set. While I would have paired back the selections from the band's weakest albums (including the awful "One Step Closer") (hence 4 stars), this collection doesn't skimp on the band's worthwhile output from their peak years.

Sound quality is exceptional with a crisp detailed sound not heard before. Since fans will probably be familair with the bulk of the tracks here I'm only going to focus on the fourth disc with the bonus tracks. We get a number of good demos including Pat Simmons' "Daughters of the Sea","Four Days Gone", "Pat's Song"; Tom Johnston's "Osborne" (an early version of "Long Train Runnin'), "Lovin' My Way Back Home", "Peace in the Valley" all of which are strong tunes. "Bluejay" is also quite good and with "Peace in the Valley" one of the highlights here. It's a pity these songs never showed up on an album before now. "Armadillo Death Chang" is interesting as well--Johnston appears to have had a problem with song titles much like George Harrison in many cases as the title has absolutely nothing to do with this rockin' tune.

"Outside of Barstow" is a demo with just Johnston and his guitar and, again, is a terrific little song that should have been revisited. "Spiel" is a John Hartman composition (the only solo composing credit the drummer received)that's really more of a joke track. I haven't listened to "Olana" in a while but this studio version of the Michael McDonald track is better than the live version from the 1983 final tour recording.
The rest of the material was released in one form or another and these are either demos or alternate versions of the final tracks. We also get demos for "Sweet Maxine", "Shuffle" two demos from Michael McDonald "Takin' It To The Streets", "We Would Sail Away" both of which are strong demos. A Live version of "Jesus is Just Alright" from the live album sessions in 1982.

The booklet has lots of rare photos, interviews and features the band discussing the changes over the years. If you purchased the most recent greatest hits release (2001)the text and photos from the booklet are the same. I was disappointed that there wasn't a DVD (much like the recent Pretenders set) as these guys in their prime were a powerhouse on stage. The four stars reflects the fact that the there could have been more previously unreleased material. I was hoping that the four tracks that Tom Johnston completed for "Livin' On The Fault Line" but withdrawn from the album would have been included but no such luck.