Doobie Brothers reunite with Michael McDonald on country collabs disc

TORONTO – To hear the Doobie Brothers tell it, the best part of reuniting with former bandmate Michael McDonald was the jokes.

“A lot of people won’t realize this, but Michael is so funny,” said longtime Doobie Brother John McFee during a recent visit to Toronto, seated in a triangle between fellow members Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston.

“We got to hear him tell jokes a lot and it was great. Michael’s a great joke-teller.”

His bandmates nod.

“’95, we did a tour with Michael and we were on the road with Steve Miller and … that’s the first time I’ve really toured with Michael before, and I said: ‘You could do a standup show,’” recalled an animated Johnston. “He had us all in tears. And the joke … would go on for 20 minutes. And he kept it up and made it work for 20 minutes.

“I said, God. That’s a talent in itself.”

The Doobie Brothers have kept it up for a minute themselves. The yacht-rockers had a run of gold- or platinum-certified albums between 1972 and 1989. They’ve just wrapped a Canadian tour (sans McDonald) and just released new (old) music in the form of “Southbound,” a tribute record that finds the venerable California band reworking their own songs with help from the modern stars of Nashville: Blake Shelton, Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Hunter Hayes.

Though they never really considered themselves country, the Doobie Brothers’ smoothly chart-conscious mixture of roots, soul, Southern rock and R&B seemed an easy fit for the record’s guests.

Some of those guests gave the Doobies flattering feedback. Others merely intended to give flattering feedback.

“(Hayes) said, ‘My grandfather was influenced by the Doobie Brothers,’” recalled Simmons of the 23-year-old with a chuckle.

“We met a lot of the parents of the artists,” added McFee.

This record marks the first time that these three and McDonald have appeared on a Doobie Brothers record together since 1976’s platinum-selling “Takin’ It to the Streets.”

In the band’s ever-evolving lineup, McFee, Simmons and Johnston constitute a rare constant, having been together for over 20 years now.

They’re asked how they tolerate each other after all that time.

“We do like each other,” McFee replied. “We’re friends, at least I like to think. Nobody’s wised up to me yet.”

“We do have a good time onstage,” added Johnston. “That’s to me what keeps this band going.”

“I think we try to be considerate,” Simmons concluded. “And that wasn’t always the case. It’s a family. And you say things to each other that sometimes you wish you hadn’t.”

Given that “Southbound” finds the Doobie Brothers rolling with a younger generation who attested to their influence, do the band members themselves see the same imprint around music now?

“We’re probably not the best judges of that,” McFee said.

“The Doobies were influenced by so much roots music. How do you take credit for the Doobie Brothers’ music? Because we stole from everybody.”

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