"Dependin' on You" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Doobie Brothers | ||||
from the album Minute by Minute | ||||
B-side | "How Do the Fools Survive" | |||
Released | July 25, 1979 | |||
Recorded | 1978 | |||
Studio | Warner Bros. Studios, North Hollywood, CA | |||
Genre | Pop rock, soft rock | |||
Length | 3:44 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Michael McDonald, Patrick Simmons | |||
Producer(s) | Ted Templeman | |||
The Doobie Brothers singles chronology | ||||
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"Dependin' on You" is a song written by Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons that was first released by the Doobie Brothers on their 1978 album Minute by Minute . It was also released as the third single from the album. It has subsequently been released on live and compilation albums.
"Dependin' on You" was co-written by Michael McDonald and Patrick Simmons. [1] Simmons was the primary writer of the song. [2] Unlike the previous singles from Minute by Minute, "What A Fool Believes" and "Minute by Minute" where McDonald takes the lead vocal, Simmons is the lead vocalist on "Dependin' on You." [3] [4] Nicolette Larson and Rosemary Butler provide backing vocals. [4] [5]
Cash Box said of the single "Dependin' on You" that it has "brass flourishes," "an infectious piano and bass boogie beat." [6] Billboard praised the "arresting" hook and the use of the horns, saying that the song "is closer in spirit and tone to 'What A Fool Believes' than the jazz flavor of the album's title track." [7] Record World said that it "features call & response vocals over a double time beat" giving it "instant, unlimited appeal." [8]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Michael Gallucci rated "Dependin' on You" to be the Doobie Brothers' all-time 9th greatest song. [3] The staff of Billboard also rated the song as the Doobie Brothers' 9th greatest, rating it higher than the previous two singles from the album and saying that it is "a more genuine synthesis of Doobies old and new [than the prior two singles]" and that "Simmons’ gruff(er) vocal roughens up the track’s yacht rock polish, and McDonald’s insistent piano hook blends with [Jeff] Baxter's biting solos, straight out of Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy a Thrill playbook, to give the song a bit more muscle. [9]
On the other hand, Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden, who classified it as a Cubano number, considered the song to be "no better than second-rate lounge fare." [2] Hartford Courant critic J. Greg Robertson called the song "soppy." [10]
The single release reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100, not quite as high as "What a Fool Believes," which reached #1, or "Minute by Minute," which reached #14. [11] It also reached #37 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. [11] In Canada, it reached #33 on the Canada RPM Top 100 Singles chart. [12]
In 1981 it was included on the Doobie Brothers' compilation album Best of The Doobies Volume II . [13] It was later released on the 2001 compilation album Greatest Hits and on the 2007 compilation album The Very Best of the Doobie Brothers . [14] [15] It was also included on the 1999 box set Long Train Runnin' 1970-2000 . [16]
"Dependin' on You" has been in the Doobie Brothers' live concert repertoire into the 2020s. [17] A live performance from 1996 benefit concert was released on the Doobie Brothers' live album Rockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert . [18] Sun Herald critic Tim Islbell praised the way Danny Hull's saxophone playing interacts with Simmons' guitar playing on the track. [19]
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greatest success taking place in the 1970s. The group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, alongside Michael McDonald and John McFee, and touring musicians including John Cowan, Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums), and Marc Quiñones. Other long-serving members of the band include guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, bassist Tiran Porter and drummers John Hartman, Michael Hossack, and Keith Knudsen.
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Keith A. Knudsen was an American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for The Doobie Brothers. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie Brother John McFee. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Doobie Brothers in 2020.
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"It Keeps You Runnin'" is a song by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers. The song was written by band member Michael McDonald, and served as the third single from their sixth studio album Takin' It to the Streets (1976). It was also covered by Carly Simon the same year and released as the lead single from her sixth studio album Another Passenger.
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"Wheels of Fortune" is a song written by Patrick Simmons, Jeff Baxter and John Hartman. It was first released by the Doobie Brothers on their 1976 album Takin' It to the Streets. It was also released as the second single from the album.
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