At 50, could the Doobie Brothers be better than ever? Hear them at Bourbon and Beyond

When setting out to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a band, the Doobie Brothers came up with a game plan that was both obvious and unexpected.

Specifically, the veteran California band wanted to organize a concert tour that would highlight all of the pop, rock, folk-leaning and soul-savvy songs that made it one of the most visible and consistent hit-making troupes of the 1970s.

That was the obvious part. But doing that meant bringing together two sides of the group’s musical legacy that seldom shared the same stage at the same time – the sometimes folksy but often electric radio rock staples from the first half of the decade that highlighted vocalist/guitarist Tom Johnston and the lighter, pop-soul fare from the late ’70s that featured singer/keyboardist Michael McDonald.

There were brief periods where both singers were in the Doobies lineup simultaneously, but the Johnston and McDonald eras mostly existed as separate entities.

Then year 50 for the band rolled around and the chance came for all of the chief architects responsible for the enduring Doobie Brothers sound to hit the road together.

Bringing all the songs

“Musically, it’s really cool working with both of those guys on their songs,” said guitarist/vocalist Patrick Simmons, the only band member to be part of every Doobies incarnation since the San Jose band formed in 1970. “For me, it’s pretty special to recreate my parts on the various tunes. I really haven’t been able to do that for a long time. So, selfishly, I’m having a good time. Obviously, it’s great for the audience because they get to hear all the songs they were wanting to hear. Mike’s been out there touring on his own and doing a lot of those songs. But there’s something to be said for having the original guys performing the songs and playing together. That brings a special element to it for the audience, as well.”

The breakdown of the Doobies’ hit history goes like this: Johnston was the dominant singer on the band’s first five albums, which boasted the major rock radio hits “Listen to the Music,” “Long Time Runnin’” and “China Grove.” McDonald took the reins on the four albums that followed before an initial ensemble split in 1982, yielding the more pop-soul directed “Takin’ It to the Streets,” “What a Fool Believes” and “Minute by Minute.”

But perhaps the most curious and overlooked component of a band so commonly viewed as the product of two distinct eras with two stylistically different vocalists was Simmons. It was a 1974 single he wrote and sang lead vocals for, the country-folk flavored “Black Water,” that became the Doobies’ first No. 1 hit and remains one of the band’s most popular works.

“It’s always been a gift for me to be playing with all these great artists,” Simmons said of bringing “Black Water” to life onstage in 2022. “They certainly make my tune sound great. I think all the songs take on a certain extra vitality with this lineup of guys. There is something to be said for, 50 years later, playing these songs. We know them pretty well. We’ve finally figured out our parts. If only we could have recorded the performances now for the records we did then.”

Who’s playing now

The Doobies’ current anniversary tour, which places Simmons, McDonald, Johnston and longtime guitarist John McFee onstage this weekend just before Kentucky country monarch Chris Stapleton closes out the massive Bourbon and Beyond festival in Louisville, was to have commenced in 2020. COVID, of course, triggered a delay. But as rescheduled dates got underway, another shift in the band’s ranks occurred. After the reunion tour’s first leg concluded in October 2021, keyboardist Bill Payne departed. While a touring member of the band for just a few years, Payne’s studio history with the band was extensive. He was a guest on all of the Doobies’ early ’70s albums (the prominent piano colors on “China Grove” are his). He departed the touring lineup to return to Little Feat, the roots-driven rock troupe he co-founded in 1969 (Payne and the reconstituted Little Feat play the Lexington Opera House on Oct. 7).

Instead of seeking a replacement, the Doobies simply called on one of their own.

“When we were getting ready to do this tour, Bill said, ‘I’m putting Little Feat back together, so I won’t be able to play with you guys this summer.’ We were thinking, ‘Well, do we really need another keyboard player?’ Mike stepped in and said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I can do all these parts,’ because he had already been out there with us with Bill in the lineup. So he just took over all the keyboard playing. And, man, he’s been killing it. The other side to that is Tom, who didn’t play on some of Mike’s tunes, has turned around and come up with all these cool guitar parts, so he adds these funk elements and great R&B stuff to Mike’s tunes.”

What remains for Simmons, who turns 74 in October, is a tour that not only unites two camps of the band he has been a part of for 52 years, but offers the opportunity to embrace a musical legacy he still finds personally and professionally uplifting.

“I’m having a great time doing this. It never gets old for me. You’re on the road and you’re out there throughout a summer, which might mean three, four or five months of touring. You hit it with a lot of enthusiasm and expectation and by the end of the year, you’re going, ‘I need a break.’ But by the time a few months go by, you’re just chomping at the bit to get out there and start playing again.

“A friend of mine said happiness is having something to look forward to. True happiness.’ I thought, ‘Never were truer words spoken.’ Having this band to look forward to is something that really brings me a lot of happiness.”

The Doobie Brothers

When: Sept. 18 as part of Bourbon and Beyond

Where: Highlands Festival Grounds of the Kentucky Expo Center, 1016 Phillips Lane in Louisville.

Tickets: are $99.99-$1039.96 at bourbonandbeyond.com

Bourbon and Beyond lineup

Here is the full artist lineup for all four days of Bourbon and Beyond.

Thursday, Sept. 15: Jack White, Alanis Morissette, Father John Misty, The Revivalists, Japanese Breakfast, Shakey Graves, Jimmie Vaughan, Shovels & Rope, Buffalo Nichols, Gary Brewer and Kentucky Ramblers, The Blue Stones, Hogslop String Band, Tyler Boone

Friday, Sept. 16: Kings of Leon, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Courtney Barnett, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Houndmouth, Charley Crockett, JP Saxe, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Eric Gales, S.G. Goodman, Jocelyn and Chris Arndt, Missy Raines and Allegheny, Tray Wellington

Saturday, Sept. 17: Pearl Jam, Greta Van Fleet, St. Vincent, The Always Sunny Podcast, Neil and Liam Finn, Cold War Kids, Elle King, Drive-By Truckers, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Robert Randolph Band, Reignwolf, The National Parks, Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, Jon Stickley Trio, Matilda Marigolds

Sunday, Sept. 18: Chris Stapleton, The Doobie Brothers, Needtobreathe, Caamp, Marcus King, Yola, Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, Jukebox the Ghost, Boy and Bear, Madison Cunningham, Gin Wigmore, Hannah Wicklund, Sierra Hull, Jake Blount, Bella White