Stampede (1975)

Bass and backing vocals

Stampede was our fifth album. I remember it being a hard album to get through just like Minute by Minute was a hard album to get through. Stampede was the last album we recorded as that iteration of the band. The tour for Stampede was bumpy with Tom’s health on the brink. Much like the cover for this album, as a band it felt like we were galloping on wild horses towards something unknown. This album was one that didn’t get a lot of attention except for the cover we did of a classic Motown tune “Take Me in Your Arms.” In thinking back to 1975 and this album, it reminds me that our engineer was especially important to our sound and what ended up on any record. He was brilliant, Don Landee. I’d love to get a hold of him now and say, “I love you man, you were invaluable to our growth as a band.” When we needed a sound, he was right there and knew what we wanted and got it. He had a damn good set of ears. With thirteen guest musicians on Stampede, Don no doubt had his hands full. But he did it, like he always did and it’s a fantastic sounding album. This was Jeff Baxter's first full album with us as an official Doobie Brother. The album cover shoot was done before he joined, so you won’t see him riding any of those horses. I was on the only white horse, whooping and hollering our way forward.