One of the first Rock concerts I saw after moving to Toronto and the first of any kind I attended at its acoustically perfect Massey Hall featured "Atomic Rooster", "Savoy Brown" and "The Doobie Brothers".
I loved "The Doobie Brothers". Hell, I still love 'em. And I've never understood why they're not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"Listen to the Music", "Jesus is Just Alright", "Long Train Runnin'", "China Grove", "Black Water", "Take Me In Your Arms"… How many hit singles do you need to get recognized? Is 30 Million albums not enough? Not to mention so many years of too many tour dates that members of the band frequently collapsed from exhaustion.
And when they did, the remaining Doobies always seemed to find somebody just as good or better to fill in -- to the point that when they now do reunion shows, they've got four drumkits and Bass players outnumbering the horn section.
I'll admit, we've all got to forgive the band the Michael McDonald years. Sure they kept churning out hits but, what Record Industry genius decided you could replace hard-driving rock with blue-eyed soul?
Okay, it was the 70's and everybody was trying to spiff up in designer jeans and pull their long hair into a ponytail. But somebody needs to admit a few A&R guys were also doing way too much Coke and not enough of what gave the Doobies their name.
And admittedly, the name probably has a lot to do with why the band remains as under-appreciated as it is. What does it say to the Youth of America if that moniker gets chiseled onto some bronze plaque representing the best the nation has to offer?
Like one of their lesser known hits, "The Doobie Brothers" remain somewhat "Dangerous".
Take a listen to some of the best musicians to ever come out of the era of Classic Rock.
And -- Enjoy Your Sunday.
UPDATE:
Somebody in the Doobie fraternity just sent a link for the band's current tour.
For those of you in Toronto or Southern Ontario, they're playing Rama on Thursday May 12th and will be in Thunder Bay a week later on May 19th.
Edmonton, July 14th and Calgary July 15 & 16.
They're also playing the Nakusp Music Festival (Just South of Revelstoke) on July 17th on a bill that includes a ton of great bands.
The Full Canada/US Summer tour can be found here.
1 comment:
I've taken a lot of flack from rock purists who scoff at my appreciation of the Doobies, but two things are certain, they have one of the coolest names, even in 1972, and they are now 40 year survivors in a vicious game.
We had the opportunity to see The Doobies in Spokane, Washington last summer, outdoors, 6 rows back for an incredible recession driven price of 25 dollars.
They were pumping their new CD, first one in 10 years. The CD is entitled "World Gone Crazy" see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkb2yjAhygI&feature=related and http://www.doobiebrothers.net/discography/world-gone-crazy/ and that single is as good or better than anything they have ever released.
Tom Johnson has been stealing some glimpses from Dorian Grey. The guy is 64 years old and friggin looks 40, and Pat Simmons sings and plays if he is a full time vocal coach and part time yoga instructor. The band is Tight, Tight Tight.
It certainly is reassuring, that someone else remembers 1972 in LA. The first song I heard coming out of the radio speakers as a 19 year old visiting Inglewood, California was "Listen to the Music" on KRLA. My Great Aunt Florry had arranged to give me a 1969 Baby blue Chev Malibu convertible to drive around LA for a week. God that song imprinted me, even in MONO and even in Audio Modulation as I motored top down, along Ventura Boulevard. Not all views and memories of California in the early 1970's are dark.
This band's optimism was exemplified by their amplified musical sunshine that was glowing brightly in California at the time.
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