A communal hymn of conscience and compassion, reborn on a grand stage with seasoned voices and shared history
When The Dukes of September performed “Takin’ It To The Streets” during Live at Lincoln Center, filmed in New York City in November 2012 for PBS’ Great Performances series, the song arrived not as a chart contender but as a statement of purpose. Originally made famous by The Doobie Brothers, whose 1976 studio version reached the upper tier of the American singles charts, this rendition reframed the song through the collective authority of Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs. The performance, later released as part of the live album Live at Lincoln Center, transformed a familiar classic into a reflective moment shaped by time, experience, and earned perspective.
From its opening bars, this version of “Takin’ It To The Streets” carries a weight that only veteran musicians can provide. Michael McDonald’s unmistakable voice, weathered yet resolute, delivers the song’s message with a calm urgency rather than youthful fire. What once sounded like a call from the middle of social unrest now feels like a measured reminder, spoken by someone who has lived long enough to see how slowly change arrives and how often the same struggles return. The Dukes do not rush the song. They allow it to breathe, letting each line settle into the hall like a thought meant to linger.
Musically, the arrangement respects the original while subtly expanding it. The groove remains steady and grounded, but the instrumentation is richer, layered with refined keyboard textures, controlled horn accents, and a rhythm section that favors restraint over force. This is not protest music driven by urgency alone. It is contemplation set to rhythm, a song that asks listeners to look outward and inward at the same time. The Lincoln Center setting amplifies this effect, placing a song born in the streets within one of America’s most formal cultural spaces, a contrast that deepens its meaning rather than diluting it.
Lyrically, “Takin’ It To The Streets” has always been about visibility and responsibility. It speaks for those pushed to the margins, urging awareness rather than confrontation. In the hands of The Dukes of September, those words gain additional resonance. These are musicians who have benefited from decades of success, now standing before an audience not to preach but to remind. The performance feels less like a demand and more like an invitation, asking listeners to acknowledge shared obligation without assigning blame.
What makes this rendition especially powerful is the sense of unity on stage. The Dukes were not a nostalgia act but a meeting of kindred spirits, artists whose careers intersected across decades of American popular music. Their collective presence turns the song into a conversation across generations, linking the social concerns of the 1970s with the unresolved realities of the modern world.
In this performance, “Takin’ It To The Streets” becomes something timeless. It sheds the urgency of youth and replaces it with the gravity of experience. It reminds us that conscience does not age out, and that some songs grow deeper as the voices singing them gather years, memory, and quiet resolve.