The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greatest success taking place in the 1970s. The group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, alongside Michael McDonald and John McFee, and touring musicians including John Cowan, Marc Russo, Ed Toth, and Marc Quiñones. Long-serving former members include guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, bassist Tiran Porter, and drummers John Hartman, Michael Hossack, and Keith Knudsen.
Johnston provided the lead vocals from 1970 to 1975, when they featured a mainstream rock sound with elements of folk, country and R&B. Michael McDonald joined the band in 1975 as a keyboardist and additional lead vocalist, to give some relief to Johnston, who was suffering health problems at the time. McDonald's interest in soul music introduced a new sound to the band. Johnston and McDonald performed together as co-lead vocalists for one album, Takin' It to the Streets, before Johnston left in 1977. Frequent lineup changes followed through the rest of the 1970s, and the band broke up in 1982 with Simmons the only constant member having appeared on all of their albums. In 1987, the Doobie Brothers reformed with Johnston back in the fold. McDonald, who made several guest appearances after their reformation, returned full-time in 2019.
The group's sixteen studio albums include six top-ten appearances on the Billboard 200 album chart. Their 1978 album Minute by Minute reached number one for five weeks, and won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Their song "What a Fool Believes" from that album, written by McDonald and Kenny Loggins, won two Grammys, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The band had 16 Billboard Hot 100 top-40 hits, including "Listen to the Music", "Jesus Is Just Alright", "Long Train Runnin', "China Grove", "Black Water", "Takin' It to the Streets", "What a Fool Believes", and "The Doctor", all of which receive rotation on classic hits radio stations. They have also released six live albums and numerous greatest hits compilations, including 1976's Best of the Doobies, certified diamond by the RIAA for reaching album sales of ten million copies. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. The group has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.
Career
Original incarnation
Drummer John Hartman arrived in California in 1969 determined to meet Skip Spence of Moby Grape and join an aborted Grape reunion. Spence introduced Hartman to singer, guitarist, and songwriter Tom Johnston and the two proceeded to form the nucleus of what would become the Doobie Brothers. Johnston and Hartman called their fledgling group "Pud" and experimented with lineups and styles as they performed in and around San Jose. They were mostly a power trio but briefly worked with a horn section.In 1970 they teamed up with singer, guitarist, and songwriter Patrick Simmons and bassist Dave Shogren. Simmons had belonged to several area groups and also performed as a solo artist. He was already an accomplished fingerstyle player whose approach to the instrument complemented Johnston's rhythmic R&B strumming.
While still playing locally around San Jose, the group adopted the name "Doobie Brothers". Their friend Keith Rosen came up with the name after the band had difficulty coming up with one on their own. According to Tom Johnston, Rosen said, "Why don't you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you're always smoking pot?" Hartman has said he wasn't involved with choosing the name, and didn't know that "doobie" meant a marijuana joint until Rosen told him. Everyone in the band agreed that "Doobie Brothers" was a "dumb" or "stupid" name. Simmons has said the band intended to use the name only for a few early performances until they came up with something better, but they never did.
The Doobie Brothers improved their playing by performing live all over Northern California in 1970. They attracted a particularly strong following among local chapters of the Hells Angels and got a recurring gig at one of the bikers' favorite venues, the Chateau Liberté, playing there through the summer of 1975. A set of demos, which showcased fuzz-toned dual lead electric guitars, three-part harmonies and Hartman's drumming, caught the ear of Warner Brothers' staff A & R representative and former member of '60s pop band Harpers Bizarre, Ted Templeman who eventually earned the group a contract at Warner Bros. Records before the year was out.
The band's image originally reflected that of their biggest fans—leather jackets and motorcycles. Released in April 1971, their self-titled debut album departed significantly from that image and their live sound of the period. Produced at Pacific Recorders in San Mateo, the album, which failed to chart, emphasized acoustic guitars and reflected country influences. The leadoff song "Nobody", the band's first single, has surfaced in their live set several times over the ensuing decades. Most recently, this song was re-recorded and added to their 2010 album World Gone Crazy.
In the late spring/summer of 1971, their record label sent the Doobies out on their first national tour in tandem with the group Mother Earth, the "Mother Brothers Tour". Also in 1971, the group toyed with the idea of adding a second drummer, supplementing Hartman's drumming on some of their shows with that of United States Navy veteran Michael Hossack while still touring behind their first album.
Moving to Warner Brothers' newly acquired Amigo Studios in North Hollywood starting in late October 1971, the band recorded several songs for their next album with Shogren on bass, guitar, and background vocals, but Shogren left after disagreements with the group's producer, Ted Templeman. Shogren was replaced in December 1971 with singer, songwriter, and bass guitarist Tiran Porter, while Hossack was added to the lineup at the same time as a regular. Porter and Hossack were both stalwarts of the Northern California music scene, Porter having previously played in Scratch with Simmons. Porter brought a funkier bass style and added his husky baritone to the voices of Johnston and Simmons, resulting in a rich three-part blend.
The band's second album, Toulouse Street, brought their breakthrough success after its release in July 1972. In collaboration with manager Bruce Cohn, producer Ted Templeman and engineer Donn Landee, the band put forward a more polished and eclectic set of songs. Pianist Bill Payne of Little Feat contributed keyboards for the first time, beginning a decades-long collaboration that included many recording sessions and even a two-week stint touring with the band in early 1974.
A string of hits followed, including Johnston's "Long Train Runnin' and "China Grove", from the 1973 album The Captain and Me. Other noteworthy songs on the album were Simmons' country-ish ode "South City Midnight Lady" and the explosive, hard rocking raveup "Without You", for which the entire band received songwriting credit. Onstage, the latter song sometimes stretched into a 15-minute jam with additional lyrics completely ad-libbed by Johnston. A 1973 appearance on the debut episode of the television music variety show Don Kirshner's Rock Concert featured one such performance of the tune.
In the midst of recording sessions for their next album, 1974's What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, and rehearsals for a 1973 fall tour, Hossack abruptly departed the band, citing burnout from constant touring. Drummer, songwriter, and vocalist Keith Knudsen was recruited promptly in September 1973 and left with the Doobies on a major tour a few weeks later. Both Hossack's drums and Knudsen's voice are heard on Vices.
In 1974, Steely Dan co-lead guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter learned that his band was retiring from the road and that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker intended to work almost exclusively with session players in the future. In need of a steady gig, he joined the Doobie Brothers as third lead guitarist in the middle of their current tour. He had previously worked with the band in the studio, adding pedal steel guitar to both Captain and Vices and was already playing with the band as a special guest during that year's tour.
Vices included the band's first No. 1 single, Simmons' signature tune "Black Water". It topped the charts in March 1975 and eventually propelled the album to multi-platinum status. Johnston's lyrical "Another Park, Another Sunday" and his horn-driven funk song "Eyes of Silver" also charted the year before at numbers 32 & 52, respectively.
During this period and for several subsequent tours, the Doobies were often supported on stage by Stax Records mainstays the Memphis Horns. Live recordings with the horn section have aired on radio on the King Biscuit Flower Hour, but none have been officially released. The Memphis Horns also appeared as session players on multiple Doobies albums.
By the end of 1974, Johnston's health was suffering from the rigors of the road. He was absent when the band joined the Beach Boys, Chicago, and Olivia Newton-John on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve that December. By then, the western-themed Stampede had been completed for release in 1975. It featured yet another hit single, the Holland–Dozier–Holland-written Motown hit "Take Me in Your Arms". Simmons contributed the atmospheric "I Cheat the Hangman", as well as "Neal's Fandango", an ode to Santa Cruz, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. Ry Cooder added his slide guitar to Johnston's cowboy song, "Rainy Day Crossroad Blues".
By the start of the Spring 1975 promotional tour for Stampede, Johnston's condition was so precarious that he required emergency hospitalization for a bleeding ulcer. With Johnston convalescing and the tour already underway, Baxter proposed recruiting a fellow Steely Dan alum to fill the hole: singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Michael McDonald. Simmons, Knudsen, Porter and McDonald divided Johnston's singing parts on tour while Simmons and Baxter shared lead guitar responsibilities.