''Minute by Minute'' is the eighth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American rock band the Doobie Brothers, released on December 1, 1978, by Warner Bros. Records. It was their last album to include members John Hartman (until '' Cycles'') and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. The album spent 87 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. In the spring of 1979 ''Minute by Minute'' was the best-selling album in the U.S. for five non-consecutive weeks. It was certified 3×

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. The song " What a Fool Believes" hit No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in April 1979 and became the band's biggest hit. The title track and "Depending on You" were also released as singles and reached the top 30. ''Minute by Minute'' made the Doobie Brothers one of the big winners at the

22nd Grammy Awards The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 1980, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1979. This year was notable for being the ...

. The album got the trophy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and received a nomination for Album of the Year. The single "What a Fool Believes" earned them three Grammys, including Song and

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' concluded that, "with all the firepower this band has—one of rock's strongest rhythm sections, several writers and vocalists, an excellent lead guitarist and a remarkable lead singer—the Doobie Brothers shouldn't be content merely to skirt greatness."

Track listing

Personnel

The Doobie Brothers

* Patrick Simmons – lead and rhythm guitars, lead and backing vocals * Michael McDonald –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, electric piano, organ,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s, lead and backing vocals * Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – lead and rhythm guitars * Tiran Porter – bass, backing vocals * John Hartman –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Keith Knudsen – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

* Ted Templeman – drums (with Keith Knudsen) on "What a Fool Believes", additional percussion * Bobby LaKind –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

, backing vocals * Tom Johnston – backing vocals on "Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels" * Nicolette Larson – duet vocals on "Sweet Feelin'", backing vocals on "Dependin' on You" * Rosemary Butler – backing vocals on "Here to Love You" and "Dependin' on You" * Norton Buffalo –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

on "Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels" and "Steamer Lane Breakdown" * Herb Pedersen – banjo on "Steamer Lane Breakdown" * Byron Berline –

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

on "Steamer Lane Breakdown" * Lester Abrams – electric piano on "How Do the Fools Survive?" * Bill Payne – synthesizer (with Michael McDonald) on "What a Fool Believes" and "Minute by Minute" * Novi Novog – synthesizer solo on "Open Your Eyes" *Sumner Mering – guitar on "Open Your Eyes" * Andrew Love –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

on "Here to Love You", "Dependin' on You" and "How Do the Fools Survive?" * Ben Cauley –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

on "Here to Love You", "Dependin' on You" and "How Do the Fools Survive?"

Production

*Producer – Ted Templeman *Production Coordination – Beth Naranjo *Engineer – Donn Landee *Additional Engineer – Loyd Clifft *Additional Engineer – Steve Malcolm *Cover Design and Coordinator – Bruce Steinberg *Photography – David Alexander Recorded at Warner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood; Mixed at Sunset Sound,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1978 albums The Doobie Brothers albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Ted Templeman Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders