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Teaming with some of Nashville’s brightest stars on their new album, “Southbound,” iconic rockers the Doobie Brothers have scored their highest-charting recording in almost 35 years.
The Doobie’s Pat Simmons, Tom Johnston and John McFee – reunited with former member Michael McDonald – collaborated on their greatest hits with country stars like Blake Shelton on “Listen to the Music,” Brad Paisley on “Rockin’ Down the Highway” and Sara Evans on “What a Fool Believes.”
Some of the highlights range from a blazing “Long Train Runnin’ ” with Toby Keith and “South City Midnight Lady” with Jerrod Niemann of “Drink to That All Night” fame, to Amanda Sudano Ramirez from the Americana duo Johnnyswim, teaming with McDonald on “You Belong to Me,” joined by Vince Gill on guitar, and country superstar Evans (who will play the Castle Theater on Feb. 19) knocking “What a Fool Believes” out of the park.
“That was one of the best cuts; she killed it,” Simmons enthuses. “For me, it almost makes more sense having a woman singing it. I think Mike’s performances are stronger than the originals. Maybe it’s true of all the songs.”
With this new context, some of the songs sound even more vibrant and vital than the originals. And unlike some of their contemporaries, whose voices have faded over time, the Brothers’ three lead singers sound as strong as ever. A fan on Amazon exclaimed, “Never thought these classic Doobie tunes could get any better – but they did.”
“We’ve played them all these years and have a little more conviction than maybe on the originals,” says Simmons, who will play along with other rock stars at a New Year’s Eve party at Mala Wailea. “When you’re in the studio cutting a song you just wrote, sometimes things are slightly tentative. You’re doing your best, but sometimes you don’t know a song well enough until you’ve been doing it a few years. It was fun to see if you could do them better than before.”
Opening with “Black Water,” backed by the Zac Brown Band – “The most country thing we ever cut,” says Simmons – the band delivers the classics pretty straight, rather than countryfying them, with only a more pronounced steel guitar on a few tracks.
“We stayed pretty true to the original arrangements,” Simmons continues. “It was smart because it allowed the listener to see that we’re not really far away from that format, and to not sound corny and phony. The addition of the vocalists and some of the solos take it to the country side without trying very hard. It’s a more honest approach.”
The project was spearheaded by Nashville producer David Huff, a longtime Doobie Brothers fan, who wanted to introduce the band to a new generation.
“David met with our manager, and he told us there was some interest in doing some kind of country collaboration album,” Simmons explains. “At first, we thought it was just a tribute, but David said, ‘I want you guys to be part of it.’ So that’s what happened.”
Besides the country stars, Huff brought in some of Nashville’s top session players including drummer Chris McHugh (Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood), steel guitarist Dan Dugmore (Linda Ronstadt, Dwight Yoakam) and bluegrass fiddler/mandolinist Aubrey Haynie (George Jones, Porter Wagoner).
“They’re kind of one-take guys,” Simmons notes. “They’d cut a track, and I’d go, ‘I’m not sure I got my part right,’ and they’d go, ‘You can come back and play your part, the rest of the guys got it.’ “
While McDonald appeared on one song on the Doobie’s 2010 CD, “World Gone Crazy,” “Southbound” marks the first time McDonald, Johnston and Simmons have shared song-writing credits on an album since 1976’s “Takin’ it to the Streets.”
“I wasn’t sure Mike would want to be part of it,” Simmons reports. “We’re friends, and he plays gigs with us once in a while, but he has his own career. He said it sounds fun, and of course it makes total sense, as Mike has a good catalogue of songs. It really helped the project make more sense.”
McDonald contributes a rousing, gospel-flavored version of “Takin’ it to the Streets” on the album, collaborating with rising country stars Love and Theft. He also led the Doobies to close the recent Country Music Association awards show with the hit song, joined by Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles.
“We just did what we do, but music has changed,” Simmons says. “What we did 40 years ago is now more mainstream country than mainstream rock.”
So was it a little distracting to have Nicole Kidman dancing with Urban in the front row at the show?
“That was pretty cool,” he says laughing.
On New Year’s Eve, Simmons and McDonald, both Maui residents, will perform together at a special party at Mala Wailea and Migrant. They recently teamed as a trio with Pat Simmons Jr. to play a cancer benefit at the Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu.
“We played some Doobie songs and some covers for cancer patients and cancer survivors and their families,” he notes. “Mike and little Pat played ukuleles. We had a really good response. It was a special moment.”
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Brilliant show by Jason Mraz backed by the amazing Raining Jane at the MACC on Sunday night. Closing his tour on Maui, it marked one of the most memorable shows in ages.
A perfect combination of his sunny, engaging presence, heartfelt lyrics, exceptional musicianship, exquisite harmonies, massed crowd sing-alongs, with catchy favorites like “I’m Yours,” a guest spot by Derick Sebastian on ukulele, a surprising snippet of “Mele Kalikimaka,” and even quotes from Sufi poet Hafiz and Yogananda.
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The free fourth annual Lanai Slack Key Guitar Festival features Palani Vaughan, Brother Noland, Kevin Brown, John and Hope Keawe, Benny Uyetake, and Darren Lopez performing this weekend at the Four Seasons Resort’s Lodge at Koele.
Performances will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening at the Lodge, and during the weekend, some of the musicians will play at various venues in Lanai City.
The event is dedicated to the memory of Hawaiian music legend the Rev. Dennis Kamakahi, who was a frequent performer at the festivals.
For more than four decades, Vaughan has served as an authority on King David Kalakaua. Since the release in 1973 of his first volume in the groundbreaking “Ia ‘Oe E Ka La” series, Vaughan has continued to extol the virtues of Hawaii’s Merrie Monarch.
Vaughan, a founding member of the pioneering group Sunday Manoa, was honored with the first Hawaiian Album of the Year award for Volume III in his “Ia ‘Oe E Ka La” series when the Na Hoku Awards were founded in 1978. In 2006, this revered musician was bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The festival is free. Call (808) 565-4000 for Four Seasons Lanai room reservations.
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Kohala’s “First Family of Hawaiian Music” will celebrate the holiday season with a “Lim Family Christmas” concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the MACC’s Castle Theater.
The legendary, multi-talented family includes musical matriarch Mary Ann Lim, Grammy-winning slack key guitarist Sonny Lim, kumu hula Nani Lim Yap and Hoku-award winning vocalist Lorna Lim.
Having performed on Hawaii Island’s Kohala Coast for more than four decades, in 2012, the Lim Family was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
As a family, their recordings include the 2002 Group of the Year album “Na Mele No Na Hanauna,” and their most recent “Following Traditions.”
Tickets are $12, $25, $35, and $45 (plus applicable fees) and are available at the box office, by calling 242-7469 or by visiting www.mauiarts.org.
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Coming up in the new year, we’ve got Willie K’s annual BBQ Blues Fest on Jan. 10 at the War Memorial Complex special events field in Wailuku with headliners Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top and Taj Mahal, plus the Doobie’s Pat Simmons and drummer extraordinaire Mick Fleetwood. Also on the bill are Nick Hernandez from Common Sense, Yoza, Kings of Spade and the Deborah Vial Band. Tickets are $40 for adults and $10 for children ages 5 to 11. For more information, visit www.williekbluesfest.com.
Other shows on the horizon include hip-hop act Atmosphere on Jan. 4, virtuoso Indo/blues guitarist Harry Manx on Jan. 10, and the god of classical cello, Yo Yo Ma on Jan. 22, all at the MACC. For more information, visit www.mauiarts.org.