The Doobie Brothers' singer/guitarist Tom Johnston had come up with the signature riff for "Long Train Running" years before the band actually committed it to tape. In fact, the song began its life as an instrumental jam that the band would use to fill time at its early concerts, circa 1970. Johnston never regarded it as a potential hit; it was just a funky throwaway that got bar patrons on their feet and dancing.
That is, until the band's famed producer, Ted Templeman, heard the tune and encouraged Johnston to give it more structure and some words. Then, it suddenly took on new life as the lead single from 1973's The Captain and Me.
As far as the song's bluesy tale about "Miss Lucy down by the tracks" goes, the story was something out of Johnston's imagination.
"The words were written at the absolute last minute," Johnston told Ultimate Classic Rock in 2012. "I wrote them in the bathroom at Amigo Studios. [Ted Templeman] said, 'Write something about a train.' I said, 'OK! That's a great idea' (laughs)."
Even though The Doobie Brothers had a slew of other hit songs, "Long Train Running" stands out in my mind as the perfect embodiment of the band's sound. Acoustic yet electric. Down home yet lowdown. Rustic yet urban. It's that unique combination of Johnston's R&B-fueled rhythm guitar against the folksy fingerpicking style of co-lead guitarist Patrick Simmons, underpinned by Tiran Porter's bouncy bass, that created the band's groove in its heyday.
In any case, "Long Train Running" was a favorite of mine at age 3, and it remains a favorite today.
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