Six Cool Things About the Doobie Brothers

The Doobie Brothers had two successive lead singers, Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald, who each molded the band’s sound to his liking.

Prologue

Lead singers. It’s gotten so you can’t live without them. Can you imagine rock ‘n’ roll without Mick Jagger or Freddie Mercury? A charismatic lead singer can be a game-changer.

Take one of the biggest bands in the ’70s, the Doobie Brothers. Formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, the Doobie Brothers lived two lives through their lead singers, Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald, who each occupied (more or less) half of the decade.

Here are six cool things about the Doobie Brothers:

1) The origin of the name, Doobie Brothers

Of course, the word “doobie” is stoner slang for a marijuana cigarette. But the band was not on some legalization mission. The name came spontaneously and was not without its doubters, according to Tom Johnston’s quote in a local newspaper:

We were still playing locally. We had a guy in the house [Keith Rosen] say, ‘Why don’t you call yourselves the Doobie Brothers’ because you’re always smoking. Everyboday looked at each other and said, ‘Well, that’s really a stupid name’…I though we would use it until we thought of something better, but we never got rid of it.

2) The Doobie Brothers remain underrated among ’70s rockers.

Despite releasing eight albums between the years 1971-80 that all cracked Billboard’s Top 25 (six Platinum, two Gold), the Doobie Brothers seem grouped beneath rock royalty who hit their stride in the ’70s (year inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in parentheses): Elton John (1994), Led Zeppelin (1995), the Allman Brothers (1995), Pink Floyd (1996), David Bowie (1996), Eagles (1998), Billy Joel (1999), Bruce Springsteen (1999), and Queen (2001).

The Doobie Brothers were finally inducted in 2020, their 14th year of eligibility.

3) The Tom Johnston years (1970-1976)

Before he co-founded the Doobie Brothers along with John Hartman and Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston was so consumed by the infinite possibilities of music that he once played in a Mexican wedding band (or else he needed the money). Early Doobie Brothers’ songs (“Nobody,” “Listen to the Music, “Long Train Runnin'”) featured Johnston’s stylish acoustic guitar, “blending a unique strum and percussive accented rhythm, interwoven…with melodic hammer-ons.”

American Songwriter was exuberant about the early Doobies:

The band…featured bombastic guitar riffs, intricate melodies, and beds of rich vocal harmonies, capturing the dynamic, sunshine-y energy of the ’70s at its finest.

Here is a clip of “Listen to the Music,” recorded on January 29, 1975, at the TopPop studios in Amsterdam while the band was on a Warner Bros. tour, the original band members in tow, published by TopPop via YouTube:

4) The Doobie Brothers in transition

In 1975, just as the Doobie Brothers were to embark on their “Stampede” tour, Tom Johnston fell ill and was rushed to a Memphis hospital. He was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer, a recurring problem since his youth. With imminent touring and studio commitments jeopardized by his recovery, Johnston agreed to step back and share band duties. Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter recommended that the Doobie Brothers hire Michael McDonald, Baxter’s former bandmate with Steely Dan.

Johnston: “As it turned out, Mike had this huge treasure trove of songs that nobody knew about, and [he] changed the direction of the band.”

By 1976, McDonald had a full-time job and the Doobie Brothers released Takin’ It to the Streets with McDonald writing and singing its huge title track. Johnston left the next year to pursue a solo career. “I decided I didn’t fit with what was going on,” Johnston told Rolling Stone.

5) The Michael McDonald years (1976-1980)

When Michael McDonald took that call from Baxter, he was “singing Top 40 covers (including Doobies songs) in the Trojan Room in Glendale, California, living in a garage apartment with a hot plate.” His lifestyle would soon change dramatically.

Not right away but soon enough, the Doobie Brothers became a showcase for McDonald’s signature husky voice and his “blue-eyed soul” melodies. And for the first time, the band known for its twangy guitars got a featured keyboardist.

McDonald’s tenure reached its peak with the 1978 release of Minute by Minute, the Doobies Brother’s first number-one album. Hits included the title track and “What A Fool Believes,” their first number-one single.

Here is the official music video for the song, “Minute by Minute,” three+ minutes in length, published by the Doobie Brothers via YouTube:

6) Ted Templeman at the controls

He is the man who discovered the Doobie Brothers. Ted Templeman was toiling away as a Warner. Bros. A&R man when he auditioned a demo tape for an unknown band with a snarky name. Templeman produced the Doobie Brothers’ self-titled first album and 11 out of 13 Doobie albums thereafter. His first number-one single was the Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water.”

Templeman is probably better known for his work with Van Halen. He produced seven albums for them and lost a good friend when Eddie Van Halen died in 2020. Other clients: Carly Simon, Montrose, Van Morrison, Little Feat, and Nicolette Larson.

Fun fact: Templeman fronted a ’60s band called Harper’s Bizarre, who had an unexpected hit with the cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).”

Coda

The Doobie Brothers are back on the oldies circuit, announcing a 38-city tour beginning June 2024. The current line-up consists of Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston, Mike McDonald, and John McFee. The band also promised a new studio album, their 16th as the Doobie Brothers.