The Captain And Me Limited Numbered Edition - 180 Gr - 2 Lp

After the commercial success of "Toulouse Street", the Doobie Brothers became superstars with "The Captain and Me".

The band's third album, which stayed in the charts for a whole year after its release in March 1973, contains one classic after another. Not to mention the balance between gritty rock fare and mellow ballads that underscores the group's chemistry and songwriting. And a guest appearance by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on pedal steel, a former Steely Dan member who would officially join the Doobie Brothers lineup the following year.

Mobile Fidelity's numbered 180g, 45rpm, 2-LP edition, sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California and housed in a Stoughton gatefold sleeve, presents "The Captain and Me" in ultimate sound quality. Thanks to the luxurious space of a first-ever 45 RPM release and wider grooves, the music unfolds amidst large soundstages with extremely quiet backgrounds, vivid dynamics and sharp imaging. Ted Templman's excellent production enchants like never before.

The organic sound of "The Captain and Me" shows why countless listeners swear allegiance to the recordings of the 70s. The facets that make the album so inviting - voices that rise and fall naturally, notes that carry and decay properly, bass lines you can follow from start to finish, well-placed percussive accents, warm tones, defined separation between players - come across on this collector's reissue with involving presence, openness and realism. Everything sounds crisp and clear. Nothing is overdone or out of place, even when strings and synthesizers are added in places.

No wonder "The Captain and Me" is considered one of the Californian feel-good quintet's signature works. The balance between Tom Johnston's heavier contributions and Patrick Simmons' rustic excursions on the album shows an astonishing variety of high harmonies and interlocking rhythms. The loose yet engaging combination of styles betrays the Doobies' roots as a Northern California bar band playing afternoon jam sessions for members of the Hells Angels, and shows their evolution into a more polished, confident collective on par with the Eagles and the Allman Brothers Band.