What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits by Doobie Brothers

What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, the Doobie Brothers' fourth album, hit the racks on Warner Bros. on February 1, 1974, with Ted Templeman producing, and it catches the San Jose band late in the years when Tom Johnston did most of the singing. Johnston and fellow founder Patrick Simmons trade guitars and harmonies over mainstream rock laced with folk, country and R&B, and Keith Knudsen, whose long stint behind the drums began that year, adds his beat.

Johnston wrote the first two singles. "Another Park, Another Sunday" is about losing a girl, and Templeman gave it a woozy shimmer by feeding the acoustic guitar through a Leslie; it stalled at 32. "Eyes of Silver" chugged along in the familiar Doobies groove and did less. The real prize turned out to be "Black Water", a lazy, rootsy groove built for a harmony sing-along, which went all the way to number one on the Hot 100 in 1974.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.