It was an afternoon in Nashville in late May, when the Doobie Brothers were beaten to death along the coast of the Cumberland River, playing a live version of the new song titled “Angels and Mercy.” It's a song about overcoming the demons, and the thought of the thought and singing Patrick Simmons wants his Doobie siblings Tom Johnston to let go of the dismantled electric guitar.
"Annoyed!" Simmons barked at Johnston, like OG Doobie since the band formed in 1970. "Twisted shit."
Johnston’s obligation and “Angel and Mercy” (to this day) are defined primarily by the organization’s original harmony, which becomes a raucous jam, heavily rooted in rock and attitude. Utility man John McFee joined in 1980, adding violins, while Michael McDonald returned to the group in 2019, returning to Mandolin from behind the keyboard.
All four fools look satisfied, especially when it comes to complex sound arrangements. A few minutes ago, they figured out the harmony - Singing "My knees"Over and over again - in a loose circle. There is still a request: "Let's try again." ”
"Angel and Mercy" is one of 10 tracks that appear on Doobie Brothers' new album Take this road. June 6, this is the first record for the band and McDonald's in nearly 40 years. This is also a retro insecticide. All the signs of the power made by the seventies and eighties--irresistible melodies, sparks and cold atmospheres, these sounds--are here without any trace of the past.
“It was like riding a bike for me with these guys,” McDonald’s said. “But, I almost felt like I went all the way to this record to make the Doobie Brothers better than anything I wrote, and hope the band would be interested in that.”
McDonald's achieved its goal Take this roadwriting four songs that scream classic fools. "Learn to let go" is the most smooth soul, almost the message of Buddhists, that is, giving up control and refusing to persist too tightly. "It's a lesson we've learned over and over again," he said. McDonald's also produced the album's record track, a celebration of longevity, which included three main songwriters of the group - Johnston, McDonald and Simmons, as well as guest appearances from Mavis Staples.
Written with John Shanks, who made albums and co-wrote each track, “Walk This Road” started as a self-reference song about the history of Doobie Brothers. Despite some lineup changes, the band has been together for over 50 years. In 2020, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and it was their subsequent 50th anniversary tour that paved the way for the new album. But McDonald and Shanks began to see the song as a universal commentary on humanity, even right and wrong. "But it's not preaching. It's easier to observe than preaching," Johnston said.
Johnston released the album's fanatical Singalong, "Call Me". With its bright Memphis-style trumpet and twisty rhythm, it's a song about relationships, even a song made through a phone line. “Call me when you need some cover/need friends,” he sings.
"It's about someone with a phone connection, but it's a positive thing," Johnston said.
The album also travels to two important places for Doobie Brothers: Maui and New Orleans. In the song "Lahaina" written and sung by Simmons, the organization pays homage to the village of the village that destroyed the 2023 wildfires in Hawaii, a part-time resident. "The idea is just an attempt to keep this memory alive, because it will be a long time (year and year) before reconstruction," he said. "It's not a lost song, but a commemorative song."
The band has a long history with New Orleans, going back to the title of their second album, Toulouse Street. They return to the crescent-shaped sound at a second-line rhythm and are powered by a sound that Johnston immediately recognizes.
For decades, it was a song with the likes of "China Grove", "Long Train Runnin'" and "Rockin' Down the Highway". The lasting power of these hits and other things like “Listen to Music,” “Black Water,” and “Long Train Run,” helped expand Doobie’s audience: In other words, this is not all gray hair.
"I'm always surprised how they got there and how they turned it to songs," Johnston said of the new generation of fans. "And why they resonate with them. That's all the best part."
When this idea surfaces, perhaps Gen Z's curiosity about "yacht rock" may play a role in introducing young fans to decades of history, and fools aren't brave. But it was obvious that they were asked too much at once.
McDonald's sits on a chair. "Let me say," he's dead, "'Go fuck yourself.'"
"A lot of my friends hate it," he said. "It was interesting for the first time I heard it. But the company we kept - Toto, Steely Dan - I had no problem at all. That's not to say we were included in the 1910 Fruitgum Company category."
To be fair, McDonald's is indeed the only "yacht rock" member in the group. The entire Doobie Brothers have been a rock band, more countercultural than Captain's hat.
"Every decade, the music industry seems to love turning around and peeing over the past decade: 'If we were to be something, we wouldn't be (what was before).'" It's produced' I'm going to reinvent myself with the artists on each album, and the rest are musicians like listen. Yacht Rock is a reactionary thing. ”
With the dial of "Angels and Mercy", the wildcats prepare for lunch. Then back to more new songs from the summer tour. After running through the UK next month, they will be on a US tour in Detroit in August, with the late Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band being supported. Another album may even be in production.
McDonald's smiled and said, "We talked about trying old-fashioned things, we went to a room together and streamed it live."