The Doobie Brothers Album That Turned Michael McDonald Into A Yacht Rock Icon

Ranking among the classic albums that define yacht rock, "Minute by Minute" by the Doobie Brothers not only perfected that late '70s formula of slickly produced, jazz-inflected, R&B-influenced soft rock, but it made the band's latest lead singer, Michael McDonald, a superstar. After McDonald sang back up for Steely Dan, he became a member of the Doobie Brothers via his connection to the Dan. Guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, who'd also played with Steely Dan, brought him in around 1975. Already a popular swamp rock and Southern rock band, the Doobies were in need of a new singer when Tom Johnston had to drop out of a tour to tend to a bleeding ulcer. McDonald was supposed to be just a temp, but the rest of the band liked his voice, keyboard playing, and songwriting so much that they made him their leader.

The Doobie Brothers subsequently enjoyed some hits, including "It Keeps You Runnin'" and "Takin' It to the Streets," but they wouldn't churn out classic singles that define yacht rock under McDonald until their third LP in his tenure, "Minute by Minute."

The Doobie Brothers got jazzier, smoother, and even more soulful when Michael McDonald joined, and they also benefited from his keyboards meshing with their guitars and adding another strong voice to their harmonies. All those elements helped make the Doobies morph into what would later be considered a yacht rock act, as heard on their 1978 album "Minute by Minute." Along with Steely Dan's work of the era, it was an early document of yacht rock, although nobody called it that at the time. 

It was all so new and different that not even the Doobie Brothers knew what to make of it; they weren't all that happy with the finished product. "We didn't feel like we'd captured the record we were working towards," band member Patrick Simmons told Ultimate Classic Rock. "It wasn't as good as we wanted it to be. Not that it was a bad album or anything."

Michael McDonald pinpointed the problem with "Minute by Minute" to how he didn't think the LP had a clear or solid through-line connecting the tracks. "I remember playing it for a friend of mine whose musical judgment I trusted," McDonald recalled to Ultimate Classic Rock. "And he looked at me and he said, 'This is a piece of s***." He also heard tell of a Warner Bros. Records VP pronouncing the LP "terrible" and predicting that it would sink the band.

Nevertheless, "Minute by Minute" hit record stores around the U.S. in late 1978. Music buyers quickly embraced the LP and its innovative, sophisticated sound. It became the first and only Doobie Brothers album to top the Billboard album chart, spending five weeks at No. 1 in 1979, and generated two popular and acclaimed singles in "Minute by Minute" and "What a Fool Believes." The former was a Top 20 hit; the latter went all the way to No. 1. At the 1980 Grammy Awards, "Minute by Minute" earned a nomination for album of the year, while "What a Fool Believes" took home record of the year, and the LP's title track won best pop vocal performance by a duo, group, or chorus.