ALLENTOWN, Pa. — In the early 1970s, The Doobie Brothers had a great run as a mainstream/country rock band, with singer Tom Johnson on hits such as "Long Train Runnin'," "Black Water," "Listen to the Music" and "China Grove."
Then in the late 1970s and early '80s, the band had a second life as a more mellow-pop band behind new vocalist Michael McDonald, ruling the radio with the hits "Takin' It to the Streets," "Minute By Minute" and "What a Fool Believes."
These days, The Doobie Brothers are back, with both vocalists singing on a COVID-19-delayed 50th anniversary tour.
And guitarist Patrick Simmons said it likely is the best version of the band ever.
"We have a really compelling show."The Doobie Brothers guitarist Patrick Simmons
The tour stops at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at Allentown's PPL Center. Tickets, at $39-$250, remain available at the PPL Center website.
"We have a really compelling show," Simmons said in a phone call from Los Angeles before the tour resumes Friday, Sept. 27, in Syracuse, New York.
"And it’s nice for me. I’m just one of the bunch of guys in a band, and I welcome the opportunity to be playing with two of the great songwriters — certainly for me — that I’ve ever been around, Mike McDonald and Tom Johnson."
It's not only on stage that The Doobie Brothers have reunited.
Simmons said in the interview that The Doobies have been working on a new disc, likely to be released next year — its first with McDonald in 44 years, since 1980’s “One Step Closer.”
And just as the current lineup presents the best of the band, Simmons said of the new disc, "I think it’s one of the better albums that we’ve recorded."
That's saying a lot for a band that has released four multi-platinum discs.
An usual history
The Doobie Brothers came together in 1970 in San Jose, California. Still, they didn't find success until its 1972 sophomore album "Toulouse Street," with its hits "Listen to the Music," "Rockin' Down the Highway" and "Jesus is Just Alright."
It had even more success with its next two discs, 1973's "The Captain in Me" and 1974's "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits," which both sold double-platinum.
The latter gave the band its first No. 1 hit, "Black Water," on which Simmons was lead singer.
But Johnston had health problems, and the band's popularity was waning. Its 1975 album "Stampede" sold gold and produced the lessor hit "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me)," but that spring, McDonald joined the band.
With him as a singer, the group's sound radically changed to keyboard-led soft rock. Its next album, 1976's "Takin' It to the Streets," had a hit with the McDonald-written title track and also sold platinum.
But it was the 1979 album "Minute By Minute" that not only revived the band, but other than its 1976 greatest hits album became its biggest seller, at triple platinum.
It also put the band back on the radio, with the group's second No. 1, "What a Fool Believes" and the title track, both written by McDonald. The disc won a Grammy and was nominated for Album of the Year.
The Doobies took five years off, and McDonald had success as a solo artist.
A reunion, and another
The original lineup of the band, with Johnston as singer, reunited in 1989 with the Top 10 hit "The Doctor," its last Top 10 hit.
It continued to tour without chart success, and in 20 years released just one album, 2000's "Sibling Rivalry," which failed to chart. "World Gone Crazy" in 2010 and "Southbound" in 2014, both hit the Top 40.
“Having Mike [McDonald] there to sing those songs is huge for us and for the audience."The Doobie Brothers guitarist Patrick Simmons
McDonald occasionally was a special guest at shows, but in 2019, Little Feat keyboard player Bill Payne, who had been touring with The Doobie Brothers, told the group he was leaving, Simmons said.
“And we thought, ‘Oh gosh, Bill’s been on every one of our records, and he had been on the road with us for the last five or six years," Simmons said.
"And so Mike said, ‘Hey, I think I can cover Bill’s parts.’ And it had been a long time since Tom had been on the road with Mike. And he said, ‘Can you handle it?’ And Mike said, ‘Yeah, no problem. I’ll work on the parts and make it happen.’
So The Doobie Brothers announced McDonald would return for the group's 50th anniversary tour in 2020.
“So Mike came back and I always thought Mike was a great keyboard player," Simmons said. "He’s just an amazing player as well as a great singer-songwriter.
“Having Mike there to sing those songs is huge for us and for the audience. [Before his return] Tom and I ... once in a while we’d throw in one of Mike’s songs, just as kind of a tribute to let people know, ‘Yeah, Mike McDonald was in this band, too.’
“So what I’m saying is we have a really compelling show. A huge amount of it is having Mike there, performing the songs that he’s well known for."
Looking forward
That same year, The Doobie Brothers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“It was huge — an amazing compliment to be recognized alongside the people who we admired and grew up with and worked with through the years," Simmons said. "To actually be included in that group is a huge honor for us.
“I wasn’t sure it would ever happen in our lifetime, ‘cause we’d been eligible for over 25 years. So when it finally came around, it was really cathartic, as well, for all of us, I think.
"It’s one thing to get some kinds of awards, it’s another thing to be recognized in a context of that nature."
The Doobie Brothers in 2022 released "Liberté," its first album of new material in more than a decade. But McDonald, despite touring with the group, did not appear on the disc.
“You know, we had been talking about it forever, and we had compiled some ideas and songs we were thinking about using," Simmons said.
"And we searched around for a producer, and we tried a couple of the guys and it never came to fruition."
That changed when the group met producer John Shanks, he said.
"We’re the old guys now and we don’t have illusions that suddenly we’re going to be the next new thing. But it’s still something that always resonates in your psyche and in your brain, and in your heart."The Doobie Brothers guitarist Patrick Simmons
“I think we just always kind of one of those things — as long as we have a band of guys that are willing to get out and work, that we always are thinking about recording at the same time.
“But it’s kind of a different approach these days. We’re the old guys now and we don’t have illusions that suddenly we’re going to be the next new thing.
"But it’s still something that always resonates in your psyche and in your brain, and in your heart. That you want to be creative.
“And that’s what we’re still doing."
But the new disc The Doobie Brothers are putting together includes McDonald.
"Mike has helped us out, or helped me out personally, on a few tracks through the years on other Doobie albums," Simmons said.
"But this is the first time [since his first time in the group] he’s really been involved in kind of building things from the ground up."
Simmons said he, Johnson and McDonald all have written songs for the new album.
“We all help each other on parts on different songs, singing and playing," he said. "It’s been a fun project."
A taste of the new music
One song from the sessions already has been released — "Lahaina," a fund-raising tribute to the Hawaiian community devastated by wildfires.
“We were actually in the studio, working on the new album, and the fire happened in Lahaina," Simmons said.
“I actually had some [song] changes, I was bouncing them off the producer," he said.
"Having the opportunity to work with these guys on new material is, like, a big deal for me, personally. I want to contribute myself, but having these guys setting the bar for the rest of us, that’s pretty amazing still, after all these years.”The Doobie Brothers guitarist Patrick Simmons
"And we were talking and he said, ‘Well, have you thought about writing a song to raise some awareness, and maybe some funds, for folks in Lahaina who suffered during the fire?
“And I said I had to think about that. I didn’t know whether this was the right time. And he said, ‘No, let’s do something. Let’s work on something together.’
Simmons said he sat down with Shanks and McDonald and wrote the song.
"More than anything, I was looking for a way to help the cause, and what a better way than to do it through music?" he said.
"Basically it really didn’t take us more than a couple of days. Mike contributed a lot to it in terms of the melodic parts and the chordal structure, as well as the arrangement. And John, as well."
They also brought in friends Mick Fleetwood, the Fleetwood Mac drummer who lives in nearby Maui, Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and local music icon Henry Kapono — "trying to maybe include some longtime, well-known Hawaiian artists to participate," Simmons said.
Simmons said the song is representative of the level of music the new album will have.
"Obviously going to be in the ear of the beholders, but I just think they’re great songs," he said. "I feel like we stepped it up another rung from ‘Liberté.’
"I thought that was a great album, as well, but I think this is arguably one of the best records that we’ve recorded. I know the songs are really heartfelt and well performed, I think.
"Having the opportunity to work with these guys on new material is, like, a big deal for me, personally.
"I want to contribute myself, but having these guys setting the bar for the rest of us, that’s pretty amazing still, after all these years.”
