Published: 07:00 AM, Fri Oct 23, 2009
Doobie Brothers open 2009-2010 Community Concert season
By Rodger Mullen
Staff writer
If you were within earshot of a radio in the 1970s, you knew the Doobie Brothers' music.
With "Listen to the Music," "China Grove" and "What a Fool Believes," the California-based group's music seemed to be everywhere throughout the decade.
And while most groups settle on a musical style and stick with it, the Doobies - whose name reportedly came from a slang term for marijuana - grew and evolved throughout the years.
The band's earliest hits, including 1973's "Long Train Runnin'," were written by guitarist Tom Johnston and were marked by hard-charging rhythms and close harmonies that sounded like a cross between the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
But the group's first No. 1 single, 1975's "Black Water," was written by the group's other guitarist, Patrick Simmons, and featured down-home acoustic picking and an a cappella chorus.
Later in the decade, singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald joined the Doobies lineup, and the group moved in a more middle-of-the-road, jazzy direction with songs such as "Takin' it to the Streets" and the band's second No. 1, "What a Fool Believes."
The Doobies broke up in the early '80s, but reunited late in the decade. Although the hits have stopped coming, the band is a staple on oldies radio and continues to be a draw on the concert circuit.
The Doobie Brothers will perform Saturday at the Crown Theatre in the first show of Community Concerts' 2009-10 season.
Weekender recently spoke with original Doobie Simmons from his home in Maui, Hawaii. Here are excerpts from that conversation:
Weekender: Are the Doobies in the middle of a tour right now?
Simmons: We've been in the middle of a tour for about 40 years.(laughs)We gig all the time, but it's not what I would call being on tour all the time.
Weekender: Where do you play these days?
Simmons: Everything imaginable, from sheds to casinos to theaters. Just anything you can think of.
Weekender: What keeps you going?
Simmons: Bio-diesel.(laughs)No, just the music. Being able to attract a crowd helps. We just like to play, and we've been fortunate enough to have an audience that still wants to hear us. That's kind of where it's at, I think. It was always my dream, to be able to sustain myself through music.
Weekender: What songs are you playing on this tour?
Simmons: We probably do a little bit of everything from all the different eras of the band. I don't know if we do something from every album, but we cover most of them. We're doing a little bit of new material from a new album that we're at the end of working on.
Weekender: Do you throw out any surprises?
Simmons: Just for the hell of it, we're doing a (Thurston Harris) tune called "Little Bitty Pretty One." It's kind of good jam tune.
Weekender: When you started out in the early '70s, did you think you'd still be doing this nearly 40 years later?
Simmons: You know, I don't think I ever imagined it. We knew the realities of bands. You're lucky to get a deal in the first place and lucky to have a career for a couple of years.
We're still going with no end in sight. We're enjoying it as a band and as people. You try to get the most out of every moment.
Weekender: To what do you attribute the band's longevity?
Simmons: A few factors. Radio, of course, has been our sustaining factor. We're pre-MTV and the video thing, although we have some videos out there and live concerts. Radio has been a great thing for us, and the fact that our music came out at a time when there was a crossing over of generations, in a certain sense.
When we started doing music, we didn't want to be a cliche. We wanted to play music that had some longevity. Because we drew inspiration from the blues and traditional music - jazz, R&B - I think that it had more staying power because it was a little less trendy. We weren't disco, we weren't punk, we weren't alternative. We were more blues, R&B-based, pop a little bit. I think that kind of connected with people.
I think staying true to ourselves was one of the best things we ever did. We didn't try to jump on any bandwagon. When our time is up, we can say we had a great career and stayed true to ourselves.
Weekender: What does a Doobie Brothers audience look like?
Simmons: We're starting to see a lot of young people come to the shows. That's kind of cool. The fact that we're still rocking out gives people confidence that they can stay young forever.
Weekender: Do you have a favorite song to sing or play?
Simmons: We do a little bit of blues. That's some of my favorite stuff because everybody gets to step up and show their selves on their instruments. Some of the more obscure things are more fun oftentimes because you don't know how people are going to react and you haven't played it over and over again.
And we still get a big kick out of watching people react to the hit songs. It's a validation that we did something right.
Weekender: What's the one song you can't leave the stage without playing?
Simmons: "Listen to the Music" probably would be that.
Weekender: What's your favorite Doobie Brothers album?
Simmons: I think "Livin' on the Fault Line" was kind of a cool moment for me. It's an odd conglomeration of tunes. It was probably our least successful record. We kind of got outside ourselves for a little bit. It became kind of a favorite moment for me.
Weekender: What's the No. 1 question fans ask you?
Simmons: "Where'd you get your name?"(laughs)I always lie about that one. I say, go ask your parents.
Doobie Brothers
What: Community Concerts Series
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Crown Theatre
Tickets: $22-$36 through through the Crown Center box office, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 223-2900.
Information: Call 323-1991 or go to www.community-concerts.com.
Community Concerts
Jan. 26: Paul Anka
Feb. 28: "Hairspray"
March 27: Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers
April 16: Chairmen of the Board and The Band of Oz
Staff writer Rodger Mullen can be reached at mullenr@fayobserver.com or 486-3561.