LONG TRAIN RUNNIN’
Doobie Brothers celebrate 50 years of listening to the music
After having to delay a year due to the pandemic, you’d think Tom Johnston and his Doobie Brothers mates had time to get accustomed to the idea of celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary.
But not quite.
“I really don’t dwell on the years a lot ’cause I can’t wrap my mind around 50 years, to be honest with you,” Johnston, who co-founded the group during 1970 in San Jose, Calif. Last year’s tour was slated to coincide with the Doobies’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, which took place virtually last November. But this year’s trek — which features a reunion with singer and keyboardist Michael McDonald — still commemorates the 50th anniversary of the band’s self-titled first album.
In fact, the shows kick off with “Nobody,” the first song on that album.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Johnston, 73 — who reckons he had COVID-19 during early 2020, before the pandemic was declared — says of the group’s longevity. “It make sense, but it’s kind of, ‘Wow, you gotta be kidding?!’ There’s so much that’s happened in that period of time.’”
There’s no question it’s been an eventful half-century for the Doobies. The group was one of rock’s titans during the 1970s and early ’80s with seven platinum-or-better albums and a pile of enduring hits such as “Listen to the Music,” “China Grove,” “Long Train Runnin’,” “Black Water” and remake of the Motown favorite “Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me).”
McDonald, meanwhile, came from Steely Dan’s ranks and took over after Johnston left in 1977, taking the Doobies to even greater heights with “Taking It to the Streets” and the Grammy Award-winning “Minute By Minute” album.
As director-actor and fan Judd Apatow noted during the Rock Hall induction, “This was just a band where … every song was the greatest song you ever heard.”
The Doobies were apart between 1982-’87 but returned, with Johnston back in the fold, and has continued ever since.
“We’re proud of the band and love to see it recognized in any capacity,” says singer-guitarist Patrick Simmons, 72, the sole mainstay among the 29 musicians who have passed through the Doobies’ ranks. “I always wanted to be part of a great rock band … and to be part of something even bigger is kind of a dream come true. Most bands last a year or two, if they’re lucky. To be part of a band like this has always been sort of, I felt, a gift — not just musically, but the whole opportunity.”
McDonald, 69, who’s performed occasionally with the Doobie Brothers since the temporary breakup in 1982, adds it always feels like a kind of homecoming whenever he spends time with the group.
“I always took great pride in the fact I got to write and sing for the band — I didn’t really expect that going in,” explains McDonald, 69, who went on to a successful solo career postDoobies, including two albums of Motown covers. “I always remember that the band had really done the heavy lifting before I got there. For a lot of us it was a band we all admired before we ever joined it. These guys already had platinum albums lining their walls. So I was just glad to be along for the ride.
“But from day one the band was a very generous entity,” he adds. “They always embraced anything I could offer. I always appreciated that.”
Johnston says bringing McDonald back into the band, often for high-paying private or corporate shows, is always seamless.
“Some of the songs we’re playing I had never played because I wasn’t in the band when they did them,” he notes. “With this you’ve got the rock ‘n’ roll the Doobies have always done, and then you’ve got Michael, which is another style, and you just put it together and it does work really well. It’s pretty cool, actually.”
The Doobies kept busy during the pandemic pause, making a selection of “home video” virtual performances of their hits as well as collaborations with Peter Frampton and Dave Mason. The group also made an album, “Liberte,” due out Oct. 1, which started as an EP but grew to full-length thanks to the unexpected extra time off the road. Four of the songs were released as “The Doobie Brothers EP” earlier this month, and Johnston says producer John Shanks, who’s also part of the current Bon Jovi lineup pushed the Doobies in some fresh directions on the 12 tracks.
“I think John was instrumental in taking us some places we haven’t gone before, and that was what was really fun with doing this,” Johnston says. “We didn’t want to rubber stamp it with all the stuff we’ve always done, and there are songs that I never would have thought to write in a million years. It was just a challenge and a different place to go.”
And, he adds, it’s a sign that the Doobies’ long train still has some room left to run.
“I think it’s really important that we’ve got a new album happening, and some new music out now,” Johnston says. “All of this — the tour, the Hall of Fame, the new songs — it’s all really positive stuff. It’s just been a great,
great experience, and to be this far along and still be able to say that, it means a lot.”
• The Doobie Brothers and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, 33 Bob Seger Drive, Clarkston. Tickets start at $29.50. Tickets for the original Aug. 2, 2020, date will be honored. Call 313-4717000 or visit 313Presents. com.
Other major shows this week
The Doobie Brothers’ 50th anniversary tour is one of several major concerts on the coming week’s docket, leading up to Labor Day weekend. Others include:
• Korn, back from a COVID-19 break, with Staind and Fire From the Gods, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31, at the DTE Energy Music Theatre, Independence Township; 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
• Kiss’ End of the Road farewell tour makes one more stop in Detroit Rock City at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, at the DTE Energy Music Theatre; 313471-7000 or 313Presents. com.
• The Roots crew takes a break from “The Tonight Show” to perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit. Slum Village also appears, with a DJ set by Karriem Riggins. Call 313-872-0358 or visit russellindustrialcenter.com.
• Saxophonist Najee brings his horn to Detroit’s Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1; 313393-7128 or TheAretha. com.
• Chicago’s LowDown Brass Band crosses Lake Michigan for a show Thursday, Sept. 2, at the Loving Touch, Ferndale. Doors at 7 p.m. 248-546-3696 or thelovingtouchferndale.com.