Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Oh captain, my captain.
(Filibuster-length acceptance speeches with an epic interlude of Minute by Minute and Listen to the Music?)
McDonald, though, is cheerfully keeping busy amid our new normal.
In the meantime, McDonald set sail with our latest Superlatives.
Best Doobie Brothers song
Thats a hard one.
Some of the songs that I really enjoy playing the most werent necessarily my songs.
I always enjoyed doing Long Train Runnin.
It was the highlight of every show.
We took turns singing it when Tom wasnt performing with us.
Its the moment when the audience would come to life.
Its one of those tricky songs that felt so key-sensitive to me.
Ill admit that I shy away from the song more than I should.
For that reason alone, that song has always been anOh God, here it comesmoment for me.
Most soulful song
I think Here to Love You fits that nicely.
For a while, it was our opener.
Jesus Is Just Alright is another good example of that.
It had a certain kind of gospel feel that I always enjoyed doing with the Doobies.
It was one aspect of a band that had many facets.
Song that epitomizes yacht rock
There are a few.
[Laughs] I wouldve never thought it would be a genre, for one thing.
Im kind of stuck on that.
Or there are periods that counter that and everybody is actually trying to do something different.
We came up in that [latter] period.
When you heard them, you knew exactly who it was.
Im grateful for that.
Im not saying that in a critical sense.
Its funny how yacht rock has become almost popular again when at first it was discouraged.
I have a good sense of humor about it.
It never sounded better than when Tom sang it.
Dark Eyed Cajun Woman is another one of my favorite songs by him.
They transcended all the stylistic changes and flavors that radio chose to embrace over the years.
Doobie Brothers song that sounds the most like Steely Dan
Ive never thought about that before.
Probably Minute by Minute.
They went into areas where a real blues purist would be like,That aint the blues.
You cant play a major seventh chord when youre playing the blues.Which is not true, by the way.
[Laughs] Youll get those people that will insist anyway.
I think all genres of music deserve experimentation and deserve to be approached in different ways.
Thats what moves popular music along as an art form.
It created a whole different harmonic ambience to what was really just a blues song.
Minute by Minute had the same idea in mind.
Just floating on a raft on a river hoping that you had some good bud to enjoy yourself with.
Not that I do that anymore.
Favorite harmonies to sing
Ive always enjoyed singing Minute by Minute especially because of the harmonies.
We wrote songs that would employ all of our vocal talents.
We did it on so many songs, but Minute by Minute was the most fun to sing.
And physically, its one of the easier ones.
Nerdiest song for keyboardists
I think What a Fool Believes.
That was one of those songs that came at the peak of our harmonic experimentation with rock and blues.
As a band, we had always been known for doing that.
We were experimenting with chords, a lot of complex chord progressions, counter-rhythmic stuff, and key changes.
I enjoyed modulations even though its a thing that, used wrongly, can really be terrible.
Its like tucking your napkin into your shirt at a fine restaurant.
It shows more of what you dont know than what you do know.
What a Fool Believes reflects that idea with my keyboard.
Fondest memory of the Doobieliner
There were so many wonderful aspects to the Doobieliner.
We actually had a string of Doobieliners.
We started off with a Convair model, and it was an older plane.
We only got older planes that were refurbished, and this one was in the worst shape ever.
It would shake in the air.
We had great parties on that plane and lots of long poker games.
Something that I remember the most and nobody really knows what happened that night involved the first Doobieliner.
It was a quirky plane with a lot of weird jerry-rigged parts.
I remember coming out one morning to the airport, and it was a record-cold day.
Well below zero degrees.
As we pulled up to the plane, a bunch of guys were standing on the tail looking down.
There was something weird, I couldnt put my finger on it.
And I realized there was no rudder on the tail.
It got so cold that night that the screws snapped and fell off onto the ground.
Everybody was perplexed about this.
Thankfully, it didnt happen when we were taking off.
The plane really was a death trap.
It had outlived its life, but it was still in use.
That song was the foundation of my love for R&B music.
So it was a great feeling.
Coolest cover pose
Minute by Minute.
Its a great photo.
We had just walked offstage from a performance, and its very apparent because were all sweaty.
