When guitarist Pat Simmons stops to ponder his 50-plus years with The Doobie Brothers, it can get a little surreal to him. The band celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020 (with a tour pushed back to 2021-22 because of the covid pandemic), and Simmons still isn’t quite sure how to feel about it.
“I don’t know whether it was gratifying or not,” he said with a laugh in a recent call from Washington. “The alternative is not the greatest. Of course, we’re thrilled to still be working after all these years. It’s not something that I could, to be honest with you, ever have visualized. I probably thought, oh, after two or three years, well, we had a good run.
“If it had been over then, I would have felt like, well, what a great accomplishment. We actually got a record deal and had some records out there, but for 50-plus years to have gone by, it was kind of unexpected. I didn’t think I’d live to be 50, let alone be playing 50 years later.”
It doesn’t appear The Doobie Brothers are slowing down much, as they’re on the road for more than 40 shows this summer and fall, including an Aug. 20 stop at the Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown. They’ll be joined by Steve Winwood, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from his time in Traffic.
“He’s kind of one of my favorite musicians of all time, to be honest with you,” Simmons said with a laugh. “It’s a huge honor actually to have him working with us. We should be opening for him, right?”
The Doobie Brothers’ roster of hits — “What A Fool Believes,” “Black Water,” “China Grove,” “Listen to the Music,” “Long Train Runnin’” and “Taking It to the Streets,” just to name a few — helped secure a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Simmons said he looked at the induction as affirmation of the band’s success.
“Absolutely, it was. It’s not that we live off of awards or anything, but when you say validation, I think that’s really what it’s all about. There’s something really gratifying for our fragile egos,” he said, pausing to laugh, “to have a little bit of validation once in a while. That’s a big validation to be accepted within that umbrella of greatness.”
The Doobie Brothers have sold almost 50 million albums worldwide — with seven platinum and 14 gold in the U.S. — so there’s no doubting their commercial success, but the respect from their peers in joining the Hall of Fame just hit a little stronger.
“It’s hard to quantify that. It’s different than any other kind, different than a Grammy. … It’s being kind of accepted within a group of people that you have ultimate respect for yourself and to be able to — I don’t want to say stand alongside them but — stand near them,” he said with a laugh, “means a lot.”
Related
• James McMurtry on scaled-down touring, Americana and more ahead of free Pittsburgh show
• Interview: Former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure brings Band in a Box tour to Pittsburgh
• 2024 Pittsburgh area concert calendar
Founded in 1970 by Simmons and guitarist Tom Johnston, the current iteration of the band includes longtime singer Michael McDonald, who’s gone through multiple stints and fully rejoined in 2019, and John McFee, who first started in 1979.
“I think the songs really keep us alive in people’s minds and hearts. And really that’s what it’s all about for this band, is the music,” Simmons said. “That’s why we do it: for the music, something I always dreamed about, from the time I was a kid, being in a band and having songs that you’d composed. It was more of a dream than a reality. And now that it’s a reality, it’s something I don’t take for granted. I really feel so fortunate to be doing what I love to do and with people that I enjoy playing with.”
At 75, Simmons doesn’t see retirement coming along anytime soon, as long as he’s able to play. The Doobie Brothers, in fact, already have a new album done, with an expected release in the fall of 2025. He mentioned they’ve been rehearsing one of the new songs to possibly debut on this tour too.
There’s also a new documentary in the works, coming on the heels of two autobiographies: “Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of The Doobie Brothers” by Simmons and Johnston; and “What a Fool Believes: A Memoir” by McDonald.
“We’ve had some documentaries before about the band but nothing that has been very insightful, I didn’t think, and it was a little abbreviated. I’d like to see something that’s a little more in-depth perhaps and a little more honest, a little more soulful hopefully,” Simmons said.
”I think it would make it more interesting to see a little bit about who we are a little more personally.”
The most recent song by The Doobie Brothers came last November, when they released “Lahaina” to help benefit people affected by the Hawaii wildfires in August 2023. The tragedy hit close to home for Simmons, who lives on the island of Maui.
“It just was a great town for sightseeing and had a rich history, wonderful restaurants, just a great place too, especially in the evening, and it’s so nice to go there. The weather is always wonderful, the trade winds blowing through and just totally comfortable place to stroll at night,” he said. “And it’s gone, really in the blink of an eye after the fires. It just destroyed it so quickly. I think something that we, all the residents there, have their hearts set on helping that city to rebuild and come back and be what it once was.
“So that’s something that, as a resident there myself, that’s a serious consideration and concentration for me, trying to keep the memory alive and remind people of the needs of the residents and the town itself to rebuild. The news cycles turn over so quickly. As a musician, the first thing I could think of was I’m gonna write a song and get the band and get some Maui people to help out to record the song and that’s what we have done. That’s just one step on the road to helping to rebuild the town.”
Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.
