What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits

Recording and content

Tom Johnston's "Another Park, Another Sunday" was chosen to be the album's first single. "It's about losing a girl," stated Johnston. "I wrote the chords and played it on acoustic, and then Ted [Templeman] had some ideas for it, like running the guitars through Leslie speakers." The song did moderately well on the charts, peaking at #32.

The second single released was "Eyes of Silver", another Johnston penned tune. According to him, "Wordwise, that one really isn't that spectacular. I wrote them at the last minute." That song didn't have much success on the charts either. Grasping for chart action, Warner Brothers re-released the band's first single, "Nobody". This release was soon overshadowed when radio stations discovered "Black Water". Other stations joined in and the song was officially released as a single that went on to sell over a million copies and became the Doobie Brothers' first #1 hit. Ironically, "Black Water" had been featured as the B-side of "Another Park, Another Sunday" eight months earlier.

Artwork

The unusual lettering on the album cover was suggested by drummer John Hartman after visiting his high school alma mater, J.E.B. Stuart in Falls Church, Virginia. The School's newspaper, Raiders Digest, had just changed its masthead to include those stylized fonts. The cover photo is by Dan Fong, their touring "Media Coordinator". He also did the cover photo for their album Takin' It to the Streets. (Source: KCFR, NPR Interview, Denver, Dec. 2, 2014)

Side one

1. "Song to See You Through" (Johnston) – 4:06
2. "Spirit" (Johnston) – 3:15
3. "Pursuit on 53rd St." (Johnston) – 2:33
4. "Black Water" (Simmons) – 4:17
5. "Eyes of Silver" (Johnston) – 2:57
6. "Road Angel" (Hartman, Hossack, Johnston, Porter) – 4:49

Side two

1. "You Just Can't Stop It" (Simmons) – 3:28
2. "Tell Me What You Want (And I'll Give You What You Need)" (Simmons) – 3:53
3. "Down in the Track" (Johnston) – 4:15
4. "Another Park, Another Sunday" (Johnston) – 4:27
5. "Daughters of the Sea" (Simmons) – 4:29
6. "Flying Cloud" (Porter) – 2:00

On the back cover, the tracks were listed in alphabetical order instead.

Personnel

The Doobie Brothers:

Additional Musicians:

Production

Charts

Album

Singles