Minute by Minute

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B^[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[3]
The Great Rock Discography	7/10^[4]
Rolling Stone	(mixed)^[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[6]

Minute by Minute is the eighth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released on December 1, 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. It was their first without Tom Johnston as a full-fledged member of the band, and would be the last to include members Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and John Hartman.

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.^[7] It was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA.^[8]

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 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.

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Here to Love You"	Michael McDonald	Michael McDonald	3:58
2.	"What a Fool Believes"	McDonald Kenny Loggins	McDonald	3:41
3.	"Minute by Minute"	McDonald Lester Abrams	McDonald	3:26
4.	"Dependin' on You"	McDonald Patrick Simmons	Patrick Simmons	3:44
5.	"Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels"	Simmons Jeff Baxter Michael Ebert	Simmons	3:26

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
6.	"Open Your Eyes"	McDonald Abrams Patrick Henderson	McDonald	3:18
7.	"Sweet Feelin'"	Simmons Ted Templeman	Simmons, Nicolette Larson	2:41
8.	"Steamer Lane Breakdown"	Simmons	instrumental	3:24
9.	"You Never Change"	Simmons	McDonald, Simmons	3:26
10.	"How Do the Fools Survive?"	McDonald Carole Bayer Sager	McDonald	5:12

Personnel

The Doobie Brothers

Patrick Simmons – lead and rhythm guitars, lead and backing vocals
Michael McDonald – piano, electric piano, organ, synthesizers, lead and backing vocals
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – lead and rhythm guitars
Tiran Porter – bass, backing vocals
John Hartman – drums
Keith Knudsen – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Bobby LaKind – congas, 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 on "Don't Stop to Watch the Wheels" and "Steamer Lane Breakdown"
Herb Pedersen – banjo on "Steamer Lane Breakdown"
Byron Berline – fiddle 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"
Andrew Love – saxophone on "Here to Love You", "Dependin' on You" and "How Do the Fools Survive?"
Ben Cauley – trumpet on "Here to Love You", "Dependin' on You" and "How Do the Fools Survive?"
Novi Novog – synthesizer solo on "Open Your Eyes"

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
Management – Bruce Cohn

Recorded at Warner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood Mixed at Sunset Sound, Los Angeles

Charts

Weekly charts

Year	Chart	Position
1979	Billboard Pop Albums	1

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1979	"Dependin' on You"	Billboard Pop Singles	25
	"Minute by Minute"	Billboard Black Singles	74
	"Minute by Minute"	Billboard Pop Singles	14
	"What a Fool Believes"	Billboard Black Singles	72
	"What a Fool Believes"	Billboard Club Play Singles	40
	"What a Fool Believes"	Pop Singles	1

Certifications

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – USA	3× Platinum	October 22, 1984

References

^ Bruce Eder. "Minute by Minute - The Doobie Brothers". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: D". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
^ Strong, Martin Charles (2002). "The Doobie Brothers". The Great Rock Discography. The National Academies. ISBN 1-84195-312-1.
^ Stephen Holden (1979-02-22). "The Doobie Brothers: Minute By Minute". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 253. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
^ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top Pop Albums 1955-1985, Record Research Inc., 1985, p. 106, 506.
^ "RIAA – Searchable Database: Doobie Brothers". Retrieved October 25, 2018.

[1] Bruce Eder. "Minute by Minute - The Doobie Brothers". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-08-26.

[2] Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: D". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.

[3] Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.

[4] Strong, Martin Charles (2002). "The Doobie Brothers". The Great Rock Discography. The National Academies. ISBN 1-84195-312-1.

[5] Stephen Holden (1979-02-22). "The Doobie Brothers: Minute By Minute". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2018-08-26.

[6] Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 253. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

[7] Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top Pop Albums 1955-1985, Record Research Inc., 1985, p. 106, 506.

[riaa-8] "RIAA – Searchable Database: Doobie Brothers". Retrieved October 25, 2018.

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