Editing Livin' on the Fault Line

{{Infobox album
| name       = Livin' on the Fault Line
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[the Doobie Brothers]]
| cover      = The Doobie Brothers - Livin' on the Fault Line.jpg|border=yes
| alt        = The Transamerica Pyramid appears in the water next to a bluff
| released   = August 19, 1977
| recorded   = 1977 <small>at [[Sunset Sound Recorders]], [[Hollywood, CA]], [[United Western Recorders|Western Recorders]], Hollywood, CA and [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Recording Studios]], [[North Hollywood, CA]]</small>
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Pop rock]], [[soft rock]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]]
| length     = 34:26
| label      = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
| producer   = [[Ted Templeman]]
| prev_title = [[Best of The Doobies]]
| prev_year  = 1976
| next_title = [[Minute by Minute]]
| next_year  = 1978
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = Livin' on the Fault Line
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[Little Darling (I Need You)]]" / "[[Takin' It to the Streets (The Doobie Brothers album)|Losin' End]]
 | single1date = July 1977
 | single2     = [[Echoes of Love (The Doobie Brothers song)|Echoes of Love]]" / "There's a Light
 | single2date = September 21, 1977
 | single3     = Nothin' But a Heartache" / "Livin' on the Fault Line
 | single3date = November 9, 1977
}}
}}

{{Album ratings
| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Peter Kurtz |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/livin-on-the-fault-line-mw0000651903 |title=Livin' on the Fault Line - The Doobie Brothers |work=AllMusic |access-date=2018-08-24}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
| rev3Score = 5/10<ref>{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin Charles|author-link=Martin C. Strong|title=The Great Rock Discography|publisher=[[National Academies Press|The National Academies]]|year=2002|isbn=1-84195-312-1|chapter=The Doobie Brothers}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev4Score = (mixed)<ref>{{cite magazine|author=John Milward |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thedoobiebrothers/albums/album/252357/review/5946841/livin_on_the_fault_line |title=The Doobie Brothers: Livin' On The Fault Line |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=1977-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201015047/https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thedoobiebrothers/albums/album/252357/review/5946841/livin_on_the_fault_line |access-date=2018-08-24|url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-12-01 }}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide|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] }}</ref>
}}

'''''Livin' on the Fault Line''''' is the seventh [[studio album]] by the American [[Rock music|rock]] band [[the Doobie Brothers]]. The album was released on August 19, 1977, by [[Warner Bros. Records]]. It is one of the few Doobie Brothers albums of the 1970s which did not produce a Top 40 hit on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] (although "[[You Belong to Me (Carly Simon song)|You Belong to Me]]" was a hit as recorded by co-author [[Carly Simon]]). Still, the album received modest critical acclaim. [[Tom Johnston (musician)|Tom Johnston]] (guitar, vocals) left the band early in the sessions. He is listed as part of the band (appearing in the inside group photo) but appears on little or none of the actual album: he wrote and sang five songs during the sessions for the album, but they were not included on the final release. The track "[[Little Darling (I Need You)]]" is a remake of the [[Marvin Gaye]] 1966 hit.

==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| extra_column = Vocals

| title1 = You're Made That Way
| writer1 = [[Michael McDonald (musician)|Michael McDonald]], [[Jeff Baxter]], [[Keith Knudsen]]
| length1 = 3:30
| extra1 = Michael McDonald

| title2 = [[Echoes of Love (The Doobie Brothers song)|Echoes of Love]]
| writer2 = [[Patrick Simmons]], [[Willie Mitchell (musician)|Willie Mitchell]], Earl Randle
| length2 = 2:57
| extra2 = Pat Simmons

| title3 = [[Little Darling (I Need You)]]
| writer3 = [[Holland–Dozier–Holland]]
| length3 = 3:24
| extra3 = McDonald
| title4 = [[You Belong to Me (Carly Simon song)|You Belong to Me]]
| writer4 = [[Carly Simon]], McDonald
| length4 = 3:04
| extra4 = McDonald
| title5 = Livin' on the Fault Line
| writer5 = Simmons
| length5 = 4:42
| extra5 = Simmons, McDonald

}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column = Vocals

| title6 = Nothin' But a Heartache
| writer6 = McDonald
| length6 = 3:05
| extra6 = McDonald

| title7 = Chinatown
| writer7 = Simmons
| length7 = 4:55
| extra7 = Simmons, McDonald
| title8 = There's a Light
| writer8 = McDonald
| length8 = 4:12
| extra8 = McDonald
| title9 = Need a Lady
| writer9 = [[Tiran Porter]]
| length9 = 3:21
| extra9 = Tiran Porter (w/cameos by Simmons, McDonald)

| title10 = Larry the Logger Two-Step
| writer10 = Simmons
| length10 = 1:16
| extra10 = instrumental
}}

==Personnel==
'''The Doobie Brothers:'''
*[[Patrick Simmons]] – [[electric guitar|electric]] and [[acoustic guitar]]s, [[singing|lead and backing vocals]]
*[[Jeff Baxter|Jeff "Skunk" Baxter]] – electric and acoustic guitars
*[[Michael McDonald (musician)|Michael McDonald]] – [[piano|acoustic]] and [[Fender Rhodes|electric pianos]], [[electric organ|organ]], [[clavinet]], [[Oberheim polyphonic|synthesizer]], lead and backing vocals
*[[Tiran Porter]] – [[bass guitar|bass]], backing vocals, lead vocals on "Need a Lady"
*[[Keith Knudsen]] – [[Drum kit|drums]], [[percussion instrument|percussion]], backing vocals
*[[John Hartman]] – drums, percussion
*[[Tom Johnston (musician)|Tom Johnston]] – guitar, vocals (listed as band member in credits but is limited on album)

'''Additional Players:'''
*[[Bobby LaKind]] – [[congas]], backing vocals
*[[Dan Armstrong]] – [[electric sitar]] solo on "Need a Lady"
*[[Randy Brecker]] – [[trumpet]] solo on "You Belong to Me"
*[[Norton Buffalo]] – [[harmonica]] on "There's a Light"
*[[Victor Feldman]] – [[vibraphone|vibes]] on "Livin' on the Fault Line"
*[[Rosemary Butler (singer)|Rosemary Butler]] – backing vocals on "Little Darling (I Need You)", "You Belong to Me" and "There's a Light"
*Maureen McDonald – backing vocals on "You're Made That Way"
*[[Ted Templeman]] – percussion
*[[David Paich]] – [[string section|string]] and [[horn section|horn]] arrangements on "You're Made That Way", "Little Darling (I Need You)", "You Belong to Me" and "There's a Light", string arrangement on "Nothin' But a Heartache"

==Production==
*Producer – [[Ted Templeman]]
*Production coordination – Beth Naranjo
*Engineer – [[Donn Landee]]
*Second engineer – Kent Nebergall
*Cover photography and album design – Bruce Steinberg
*Inner sleeve photo – [[Michael Zagaris]]
*Aerial photo pilot – Roger Glenn
*[[Hand-colouring of photographs|Hand-tinting]] – Kristin Sundbom

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1977)
!Peak<br>position
|-
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=92}}</ref>
|style="text-align:center"|16
|-
{{album chart|Canada|12|chartid=5431a|access-date=February 21, 2025}}
|-
{{album chart|New Zealand|14|artist=The Doobie Brothers|album=Livin' On The Fault Line|accessdate=February 21, 2025}}
|-
{{album chart|Sweden|40|artist=The Doobie Brothers|album=Livin' On The Fault Line|accessdate=December 10, 2024}}
|-
|UK Albums ([[Official Charts]])<ref name="UK">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/14970/doobie-brothers/ |title=Artist Chart History: Doobie Brothers |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |accessdate=October 1, 2021}}</ref>
|style="text-align:center"|25
|-
|US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref name="BBA">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-doobie-brothers/chart-history/tlp/ |title=The Doobie Brothers Chart History: ''Billboard'' 200 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |accessdate=October 1, 2021}}</ref>
|style="text-align:center"|10
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{The Doobie Brothers}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1977 albums]]
[[Category:The Doobie Brothers albums]]
[[Category:Warner Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Ted Templeman]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at United Western Recorders]]