One Step Closer (The Doobie Brothers album)
{{Infobox album
| name = One Step Closer
| type = Album
| artist = the Doobie Brothers
| cover = The Doobie Brothers - One Step Closer.jpg
| alt =
| released = September 17, 1980
| recorded = 1980
| venue =
| studio = Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood
Warner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood
United Sound Recorders, Detroit
A&R Recorders, New York
| genre = Rock
| length = 37:41
| label = Warner Bros.
| producer = Ted Templeman
| prev_title = Minute by Minute
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = Best of The Doobies Volume II
| next_year = 1981
| misc = {{Singles
| name = One Step Closer
| type = studio
| single1 = Real Love" / "Thank You Love
| single1date = August 21, 1980
| single2 = One Step Closer" / "South Bay Strut
| single2date = November 5, 1980
| single3 = Keep This Train A-Rollin'" / "Just in Time
| single3date = January 28, 1981
}}
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web|author=Bruce Eder |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/one-step-closer-mw0000264190 |title=One Step Closer - The Doobie Brothers |work=AllMusic |access-date=2018-08-25}}
| rev2 = Robert Christgau
| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th|isbn=978-0857125958|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}
| rev4 = The Great Rock Discography
| rev4Score = 4/10{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin Charles|author-link=Martin C. Strong|title=The Great Rock Discography|publisher=The National Academies|year=2002|isbn=1-84195-312-1|chapter=The Doobie Brothers}}
| rev5 = Rolling Stone
| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev6Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite book |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/253 253] }}
}}
One Step Closer is the ninth studio album by American rock band the Doobie Brothers. The album was released on September 17, 1980, by Warner Bros. Records. The album included the hit "Real Love", which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. This album is the band's last studio album with Michael McDonald in the lineup until 2014's Southbound, and also the first studio album to feature John McFee as a member of the band.
Track listing
{{Track listing
| extra_column = Vocals
| headline = Side one
| title1 = Dedicate This Heart
| writer1 = Michael McDonald, Paul Anka
| length1 = 4:07
| extra1 = McDonald
| title2 = Real Love
| writer2 = McDonald, Patrick Henderson
| length2 = 4:18
| extra2 = McDonald
| title3 = No Stoppin' Us Now
| writer3 = Patrick Simmons, McDonald, Chris Thompson
| length3 = 4:40
| extra3 = Simmons
| title4 = Thank You Love
| writer4 = Cornelius Bumpus
| length4 = 6:22
| extra4 = Bumpus
}}
{{Track listing
| extra_column = Vocals
| headline = Side two
| title5 = One Step Closer
| writer5 = Keith Knudsen, Carlene Carter, John McFee
| length5 = 4:10
| extra5 = Bumpus, McDonald
| title6 = Keep This Train A-Rollin
| writer6 = McDonald
| length6 = 3:29
| extra6 = McDonald
| title7 = Just in Time
| writer7 = Simmons
| length7 = 2:43
| extra7 = Simmons
| title8 = South Bay Strut
| writer8 = Chet McCracken, McFee
| length8 = 4:05
| extra8 = instrumental
| title9 = One by One
| writer9 = Bobby LaKind, McDonald
| length9 = 3:47
| extra9 = Simmons, McDonald
}}
Personnel
The Doobie Brothers
- Patrick Simmons – guitars, lead and backing vocals
- John McFee – guitars, backing vocals
- Michael McDonald – keyboards, synthesizers, lead and backing vocals
- Cornelius Bumpus – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, organ, lead and backing vocals
- Tiran Porter – bass
- Keith Knudsen – drums, backing vocals
- Chet McCracken – drums, vibraphone, marimbas
Additional personnel
- Bobby LaKind – congas, bongos, backing vocals
- Nicolette Larson – backing vocals on "Real Love", "Dedicate This Heart", and "Just In Time"
- Patrick Henderson – keyboards on "Real Love", "One By One", and "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
- Lee Thornburg – trumpet on "South Bay Strut" and "Keep This Train A-Rollin'", flugelhorn for "Dedicate This Heart"
- Chris Thompson – backing vocals on "No Stoppin' Us Now"
- Ted Templeman – tambourine, cowbell, maracas, backing vocals on "One Step Closer"{{cite book|first1=Ted |last1=Templeman|first2=Greg |last2=Renoff|title=Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music|publisher= ECW Press|year= 2020|page=311|isbn=978-1770414839}}
- Jerome Jumonville – tenor saxophone, horn arrangements on "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
- Joel Peskin – baritone saxophone on "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
- Bill Armstrong – trumpet on "Keep This Train A-Rollin'"
- Jimmie Haskell – string arrangements on "Real Love" and "South Bay Strut"
Production
- Producer – Ted Templeman
- Production Assistant – Joan Parker
- Production Coordination – Susyn Schope
- Engineer – James Isaacson
- Second Engineer – Gene Meros
- Mastering – Kent Duncan and Tim Dennan at Kendun Recorders (Burbank, CA).
- Photography – Norman Seeff
- Art Direction and Design – Jim Welch
Charts
References
{{Reflist}}
{{The Doobie Brothers}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:The Doobie Brothers albums
Category:Albums arranged by Jimmie Haskell
Category:Albums produced by Ted Templeman