March 15, 1975 - The Doobie Brothers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Black Water', the group's first of two US No.1's. It features its composer Patrick Simmons on lead vocals. Simmons would credit his writing the song to making his first visit to New Orleans when the Doobie Brothers toured the southern states in the early 1970s. A lifelong aficionado of Delta blues, Simmons would state: "When I got down there [to New Orleans] it was everything I had hoped it would be ... The way of life and vibe really connected with me and the roots of my music." Having earlier constructed the song's basic guitar lick, he completed "Black Water" on the basis of the experience of his introduction to New Orleans: the lyrics Well if it rains, I don't care - Don't make no difference to me/ Just take that street car that's goin' uptown specifically reference a streetcar journey Simmons made on a rainy day to the Garden District in Uptown New Orleans to do his laundry. The song was originally released in early 1974 as the B-side to "Another Park, Another Sunday", but, according to Tom Johnston in the Live at Wolftrap DVD, radio stations withdrew "Another Park, Another Sunday" from airplay because of its words ".. radio brings me down .. ", and "Black Water" ultimately became the more popular song. "Black Water" became one of the few records by any act released as a B-side to another Hot 100 hit before topping the Hot 100 itself. •• #doobiebrothers #thisdayinmusic #1975 #1970s #patricksimmons