Over the years, the Doobie Brothers have sold nearly 50 million records worldwide, won two
Grammys, and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But despite all that success,
the band have had to overcome a number of setbacks and personal tragedies. This is their story.
Early beginnings
In 1970, the counterculture movement had mostly reached its peak,
the Beatles had broken up, and the Vietnam War was slowly beginning to wind down.
But the Doobie Brothers were just getting started. When singer, guitarist,
and co-founder Patrick Simmons enrolled at San Jose State to escape the draft,
he met co-founder and guitarist Tom Johnston, who'd been roommates with a drummer, John Hartman.
The three had hopes of becoming like their heroes, Moby Grape — but they'd soon be on
their way to developing an image and sound of their own. And, after a few jamming sessions,
they realized they had something. It was after indulging in a smoking session or
two that one of their roommates suggested they call themselves the Doobie Brothers.
In a later interview with Rolling Stone, Johnston explained:
"We said, 'That's a stupid name, but we'll use it because we don't have one.'
It was probably the only time we were gonna use it."
"And we did use it that night, and then we never stopped using it. So it just kept on going."
In the same interview with Rolling Stone, Simmons admitted:
"It was dumb, but it was cool in a way. We did smoke a lot of pot."
Hells Angels
During their early days, the Doobie Brothers played shows at a former
stagecoach stop in the Santa Cruz mountains called Chateau Liberté,
which was also a hangout for hippies — and the Hells Angels.
Because the Doobie Brothers had their own brand of biker style at the time,
they had little trouble fitting in with the Angels, who often attended their gigs. And,
naturally, they liked to make an entrance. In an interview, Tom Johnston once explained:
"They used to ride their bikes up the steps and in through the front door, bombed outta
their minds and swinging whips. They'd park in the living room; it was standard procedure."
The Hells Angels would spend plenty of time with the band, at shows, and in the recording studio,
often drinking Jack Daniels in the control room while the band recorded.
Addiction
While the band was touring, playing shows to larger crowds, and partying in between venues,
Tom Johnston's drug use was getting out of control. In 1973,
Johnston and a friend were busted for heroin and weed in California. Johnston told Rolling Stone:
"A lot of drugs were a problem. Booze too. All of it [...] Everybody partied to an extent.
So whatever your weapon of choice was, it almost didn't matter."
In 1975, Johnston was rushed to the hospital after suffering from an ulcer,
only five shows into their tour promoting their fifth album, Stampede. He later ended
up at a Los Angeles hospital when his heart stopped and he nearly died. Johnston explains:
"It was getting bad out there, but I didn't know how bad. I didn't have any control over it. I was
major-league bummed that I had to come off the tour. I felt like I was screwing the band over."
Johnston's bandmates were soon put in a bad spot. They still had to complete the tour or
else they'd face a lawsuit. So the Doobie Brothers revamped the band, adding drummer
Keith Knudsen and guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. They also wanted to add someone else who could
play keyboards and sing Johnston's parts. And, as it just so happened, Baxter knew the perfect guy.
On the streets
While Tom Johnston was on his downward spiral, future Doobie Brother Michael
McDonald was in L.A., trying to make a name for himself as a keyboard player and songwriter.
It was during this period that he realized he'd have to sell cocaine
in order to make connections in the music industry. As he later told Rolling Stone:
"If you were the guy who had a gram in your pocket, you were golden."
McDonald would sell coke to musicians — and
basically anyone else who would give him money to pay his bills.
Not long into his side gig dealing drugs, however, he got high on his own supply, later saying:
"I only wound up snorting it all."
In 1971, McDonald got busted, but his sentence was brought down to a misdemeanor.
After briefly playing with Steely Dan, McDonald was asked by fellow band mate Jeff
Baxter to temporarily join the Doobie Brothers, who were looking to complete their tour after
Tom Johnston left to deal with his health issues. So McDonald flew out to Louisiana,
joined the band, and added piano parts to the songs as he sang.
When Johnston didn't come back, the band kept McDonald and let him contribute to
the songwriting. McDonald added a number of songs, including "Takin' It to the Streets,"
which quickly became a hit. After that, Doobie Brothers' sound, band, and reputation only grew.
The DoobieLiner
As the Doobie Brothers continued to grow, they found themselves in need of a way to travel the
skies — in true rock star fashion. So, naturally, the band were given their own private plane,
which later became known as the DoobieLiner. While it wasn't as luxurious as most rock stars' planes,
the DoobieLiner was a perfect fit for a band who partied as hard as
they did in between shows. A Martin 404, once used by Eastern Airlines,
the plane was pushed to the limit just as much as its passengers. Patrick Simmons later said:
"You could smoke weed on the plane, Nobody cared. We had a full bar and
drinks and chicks. It was a party in the air, pretty much continuously."
Eventually, someone came up with the idea of filming the Doobie Brothers experiencing
zero gravity while on the plane for their eighth studio album, Minute by
Minute. This led to one of the band's worst experiences ever. Michael McDonald remembers:
"There's nothing worse than someone hurling while there's zero gravity. You're watching
the vomit quiver in midair. Then the gravity goes back into play and it lands on someone."
Sadly, the footage for this particular incident was never made public.
Parting ways
"We do talk to each other a lot, and we talk about possibly playing together again, but
as of right now, we don't have any plans."
After nearly ten years together, the Doobie Brothers began to lose steam.
The band members felt they weren't the same band they used to be,
and Michael McDonald was stressing members out with his fears about living up to what
he believed were the band's own high standards. Josh Hartman later recalled:
"Everything was falling apart. I remember sitting in a rehearsal in California and
hearing Michael say he didn't want to get out of his car because of some anxiety."
McDonald himself says:
"My basic fear was that I didn't have what it took to do what people
expected I could do for the band. That was always my biggest fear,
that what we were doing was not befitting a band like the Doobies."
It wasn't long before both Hartman and Jeff Baxter quit. After that,
the band members were able to more easily look back at who they were and what they had become,
and it seemed clear enough that the Doobie Brothers were coming to an end.
The Doobies embarked on their first farewell tour in the summer of 1982.
Loss
Over the years, the Doobie Brothers' lineup has changed a number of times,
and, sadly, many ex-Doobies have since passed away. Michael Hossack, who was a
member of the Doobie Brothers between 1971 and 1973, passed away from cancer in 2012. Hossack
had reunited with the band in 1987 and played with them until 2010 as his health declined.
Meanwhile, drummer Keith Knudsen passed away in 2005 from pneumonia, having joined the Doobie
Brothers in 1974. Knudsen reunited with the band in 1993 and played with them for years.
Bobby LaKind, who joined the band in the late 70s, played percussion for the Doobie Brothers
after working for the band's lighting crew. LaKind reunited with the band again in 1989,
but passed away in 1992 from cancer. Dave Shogren, who played bass and co-founded
the band in the early 70s, passed away in 1999 from pneumonia. Then,
saxophonist Cornelius Bumpus, who joined in the late 70s, passed away from a heart attack in 2004.
Bumpus also played with other popular bands and released a number of his own solo albums.
The Vegas connection
Since their first break up, the Doobie Brothers have reunited on numerous occasions,
often playing to thousands of loyal fans around the world. The group really hit the big time in
2020, however, when the band was given a residency at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas — where they
were expected to make as much as $300,000 each night. However, as the band was in the middle of
their shows, Tom Johnston was hit with a serious illness that he thinks might have been COVID-19.
Johnston said he had a dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Months later, he explained:
"Nobody was even talking about testing at that point in February.
So it could have been [Covid]. We'll never know."
But Johnston's illness wasn't just a disappointment for the band; it was also
an upset to the fans who could have seen Michael McDonald and Johnston back on the same stage for
their first gig since 1976. Sadly, this wouldn't be the end of the Doobie Brothers' 2020 woes.
50 years postponed
After fans had waited for years to see the Doobie Brothers perform for
their 50th anniversary tour in 2020, the band were forced to reschedule until 2021
due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In an announcement, the band said:
"This decision has been made with the health and safety of the Doobie Brothers' fans,
crew, and local employees in mind."
Even worse, the Doobie Brothers' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was postponed.
The band have been eligible to be inducted since 1997, but this was the first time
they were actually nominated. Speaking about their nomination, band member John McFee said:
"[I]t's something that [...] we didn't know if it would ever happen,
quite honestly. It's been a long time [that we've been eligible],
so when it finally happened […] even after all that time, it's still a little bit of a shock."
The ceremony was replaced by pre-recorded tributes combining archival footage and new commentary
from the inductees and various celebrities. In the end, maybe Tom Johnston put it best, when he said:
"It's been quite a trip, and we aren't done yet."
Bill Murray vs. the Doobie Brothers
These days, Bill Murray is known for all kinds of strange things,
including snagging people's French fries, crashing parties he's not invited to, and a whole lot more.
And now he can add something else to the list: not paying the Doobie Brothers for using their song,
"Listen to the Music," in his golf apparel commercials. In September 2020, the Doobie
Brothers' lawyers sent a well-deserved warning to Murray's company, William Murray Golf, saying:
"It's a fine song. I know you agree because you keep using it in ads for
your Zero Hucks Given golf shirts [...] However, given that you haven't paid to
use it, maybe you should change the company name to 'Zero Bucks Given.'"
The Doobies' lawyer, Peter Paterno, didn't pull any punches either, saying:
"This is the part where I'm supposed to cite the United States Copyright Act,
excoriate you for not complying with some subparagraph that I'm too lazy to look up,
and threaten you with eternal damnation for doing so. But you already earned that with
those Garfield movies. And you already know you can't use music in ads without paying for it."
Of course, Murray's lawyers had to respond, saying:
"First, I would like to compliment you on finding levity in the law at a time when the world and
this country certainly could use a laugh. We would also like to confirm that both our firm,
and the good folks at William Murray Golf, are indeed fans of the Doobie Brothers' music, which
is why we appreciate your firm's choice of 'Takin' It to the Streets,' rather than to the courts."
All's well that ends well, then — and who knows? Maybe the Doobies
have just found a special guest for their 50th anniversary tour.
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