News

Rhino just added two great titles to their ongoing AAA 180g 1LP High Fidelity series — namely, The Doobie Brothers’ March 1973 offering The Captain and Me and Herbie Hancock’s May 1972 effort, Crossings.

Both of these Rhino Hi-Fi titles are available exclusively at Rhino.com and select Warner Music stores worldwide. Each edition is limited to 5,000 numbered copies, and their respective SRPs is $39.98.

Additionally, an exclusive bundle of The Captain and Me Hi-Fi LP and the 2022 hardcover Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of The Doobie Brothers, signed by longtime Doobies members, co-founders Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, will be made available on December 1. This bundle is limited to 300 signed copies, and has an SRP of $59.98.

You can order the Doobies bundle and/or the other two LP options right now, right here.

Rhino Hi-Fi confirms that all album lacquers in this series are AAA and cut directly from the original stereo master tapes by Kevin Gray, with Optimal handling the 180g vinyl pressings. Tip-on jackets and glossy covers add to the overall “aesthetic” of this series, according to Rhino — and we tend to agree with that assessment.

According to the wording in Rhino Hi-Fi’s press notes, Crossings is jazz pianist Herbie Hancock’s tenth studio album, one that saw his group of collaborative players expand to a septet with the addition of Patrick Gleeson on the Moog synthesizer. The three-track album Crossings continued with the avant-garde style of March 1971’s Mwandishi, as well as Hancock’s ongoing experimenting with electronic and funk jazz fusion.

The Rhino Hi-Fi Crossings set includes scans of the original master tape boxes, a reproduction of the original album label, and unreleased photographs. Detailed liner notes from Gleeson expand on Hancock and the ensemble’s compositional strengths, sharing that they, quote, “had a marked effect on the band’s solos, changing, even reversing, the usual relationship between soloist and accompaniment.”

Riding the high of their breakthrough July 1972 sophomore album Toulouse Street, The Doobie Brothers released the hit-filled followup The Captain and Me in March 1973. Continuing to work with producer Ted Templeman, the Doobies moved more towards a country-rock sound on Captain that saw the album peak at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, and it ultimately earned 2x platinum status from the RIAA (i.e., 2 million copies sold).

The Rhino Hi-Fi Captain and Me set contains scans of the original master tape boxes and lacquer-cutting notes for fan-favorite tracks “Long Train Runnin’” and “Without You.” Liner notes excerpts culled from the aforementioned Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of The Doobie Brothers trace the album's making.

THE DOOBIE BROTHERS
THE CAPTAIN AND ME
180g 1LP (Rhino/Warner Bros.)

Side A
1. Natural Thing
2. Long Train Runnin’
3. China Grove
4. Dark Eyed Cajun Woman
5. Clear As The Driven Snow

Side B
1. Without You
2. South City Midnight Lady
3. Evil Woman
4. Busted Down Around O’Connelly Corners
5. Ukiah
6. The Captain And Me

HERBIE HANCOCK
CROSSINGS
180g 1LP (Rhino/Warner Bros.)

Side A
1. Sleeping Giant

Side B
1. Quasar
2. Water Torture