Having been around for so long, to surprise any of the original members of the Doobie Brothers requires a lightning strike inside of a tornado on an iceberg.
“New technology” they have seen before. They have seen, and most likely outlived, all of the fads and trends that were going to make society better. The antics of a political candidate aren’t apt to do much, either.
The legalization of cannabis? Now that’s the one that would make any member of the Doobie Brothers stop.
“I never thought that would happen. I just thought, ‘That’s too much for some people,’ ” said Patrick Simmons, one of the founding members of the band that is now in its 50th year.
When you consider the longevity of Willie Nelson and his renowned affinity for pot maybe the Doobie Brothers sticking around for 50 years makes sense. The Doobie Brothers and Willie could tour sometime in 3045.
“Being a longtime pot smoker I wondered, ‘What’s the big deal?’ ” Simmons asked in a recent phone interview from his home in Hawaii. “The first time I smoked it, I was 16 or 17. I smoked it and I said, ‘I don’t get it.’ People said, ‘You’re supposed to feel high.’ And then 30 minutes later I was laughing so hard at everything and then I said, ‘OK. I get it.’ ”
Simmons is 75, and he’s still playing. This summer the Doobie Brothers are touring, and on various dates they will be joined by Robert Cray and Steve Winwood.
Simmons discussed the tour, creating a “hit,” the guilt over the band’s breakup, and riding a motorcycle across America.
Whose idea was this to do a 50-year reunion tour?
Probably our manager. A lot of times, name a tour, and it’s a ‘Take no prisoners’ or that kind of thing. Fifty years came up and we decided that would be a good moment, right? And then it came and went because it was in the middle of COVID. So a year and a half later we started the tour.
(Fifty years) went by in a flash. It’s amazing. That’s the way life goes. Life is like a roll of toilet paper.
You all recorded a new track last year. Was that process like riding a bike, or was it difficult?
It has to be something I haven’t heard before, and something that is fun and interesting and feels a certain way. It feels good. Music is like sex; no matter how many times you experience it the next time you want it to be the best ever. No matter how you experience it, it always feels good. That’s the criteria for me.
A lot of times you think you have something that really works, and you record it and you go, ‘Hmmm, that doesn’t sound as good as it does in my end.’
Miranda Lambert said in an interview that when she records an album she doesn’t want it to have any “filler songs.” She wants each one to be great; how can an artist tell the difference?
I don’t think you can know that, simply by the fact that it’s your creation. You are way too close to it. Everyone else is saying, “This isn’t great,” and you’re thinking, “Yes it is. Yes it is. They don’t know how great it is.”
You can’t really know if something is going to be a hit or not. I’ve heard the same thing from producers; they struggle with knowing something is a hit or not. In the end, it’s really going to be up to the audience whether (the song) will rise above the rest. You can promote all you want. I found that out more than once.
You create something you think is really great, and it doesn’t float. And the thing you didn’t see comes up on the radar and other people made it a hit that no one saw coming.
Michael McDonald once recounted the story of recording with the Doobie Brothers for the first time after you left the group. That it just wasn’t the Doobie Brothers anymore. Was there any guilt about that decision to leave?
For me it was an evolution. It wasn’t something that we were trying to make happen. We had a band, one of the main writers-singers had dropped out. We had an album we were in the middle of, and it was easy for me to see Michael’s talent.
I don’t think I was alone in making that call. At that time myself and (the late John Hartman) were the original founders of the band but we knew weren’t in charge, per se. We had more say in the direction of things; we went, “Hey, we have a band, a record contract, a producer, studio time booked, here is a good song, let’s go record it and see where it ends up.”
You just go for it and hope that you come up with something good, and you’re pleasantly surprised what a gift that is. You can’t plan that, or buy it, or anything else.
Was the creation of your band name from a friend named Keith “Dyno” Rosen who said, “Why don’t you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you’re always smoking pot?”
That is absolutely true, and now pot is legal. I think the more outrage that was expressed (over the name) the more we liked it.
When do you recall having learned about the business of music and did it affect your passion to keep going?
I’d say it created anger. I was playing at a bar in Los Gatos (California), where I was living as a teenager. People were coming, drinking and having a good time. The bar owner said to me, “I hate to break it to you but we’re going to have to let you go. We’re not fond of the clientele you’re attracting. We don’t like these hippies.”
I said, “I don’t need this job. I’ll find other jobs, and you’ll always remember this moment you passed judgment on a poor, struggling guitar player. You are uptight and living in an alternate universe.” Two years later I ran into him and he said, “I am really sorry. I realize now I was all wrong and I should not have done that.”
Is true that you rode the 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Ride?
Yes. I did that three times. It lasts for 16 days. My favorite part was the day off. You ride every day and it’s a tough ride. You get a day off to semi-recuperate, to sleep and get something that you can eat that’s good. You never have time to sleep or eat. You’re riding and riding, and it’s exhausting.
How do you want the Doobie Brothers to be remembered?
The music tells everything. That’s remembering us. I hope they remember the music.
