95 Songs of Summer, #76 - "China Grove" (1973)

When I was 13 years old, summers were very simple - tennis in the morning (usually at 10 a.m.), lunch, then a couple of hours of swimming, and then we (the kids) were on our own in the (usually too hot to do anything anyway) afternoon to read, listen to music, or do something else to kill time until dinner.  We didn't belong to a club, but my aunt lived in a condominium complex that didn't frown on visitors, and was blessed with tennis courts and swimming pools.

I remember there was a period of about 2-3 weeks late that summer when every single time we drove over there, "China Grove" by the Doobie Brothers would come on the radio.  It got to the point where if we reached our destination and it hadn't played, we would sit in the car and listen to the next song just to make sure it wasn't "China Grove."  And on one occasion, sure enough, it was.

As for the Doobie Brothers, you can divide their career into two distinct phases - the Tom Johnston era, and the Michael McDonald era.  Both were commercially successful, but even though I like McDonald and he wrote some great songs for the Doobies, given a choice I'd have to opt for the Johnston era - it is his voice that you hear on this song.

The Doobie Brothers, "China Grove," from the summer of 1973.