Tom Johnston, Doobie Brothers founder. August 15, 1948 to September 25, 2022 died yesterday. A legend, he will be missed. Heaven has a hell of a rock band now.
10 thoughts on “Tom Johnston, Doobie Brothers founder. August 15, 1948 to September 25, 2022 died yesterday. A legend, he will be missed. Heaven has a hell of a rock band now.”
I’m a fan of the music they put out when it was Johnston and Simmons. Didn’t care for the Michael McDonald version of the band.
I saw them live a couple of times over the years. Once was in the small town of Fillmore in Ventura County, CA in the ’90s. I think that they were ending a tour and headed north to the Bay area. I’ve always thought that their one night show was a semi-impromptu one. There was no opening act as I recall and the venue was a local park. Seating was rows of folding chairs arranged on the grass. I didn’t mind…they were great and there wasn’t a bad seat.
I saw them again in 2003 at the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary bash. A bunch of us rode our bikes from Ventura to Milwaukee. The H-D folks had set up several small music venues in the park where Summerfest occurs. I was able to see and hear The Doobies, Joan Jett, and many others perform for free. At another venue just outside the city, I also saw B. B. King and Jeff Beck, again for free.
Later that week, The Doobies also performed at the infamous Elton John closing concert. Elton John at a concert attended by 200,000 bikers? What were the H-D folks thinking. I doubt that Willie G. and Barbara voted for that.
The first rock concert I ever attended was in 1973. The warm up groups were the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. The main act was Rare Earth. Rare Earth’s flight was seriously delayed for some reason, causing them to be quite late getting to the venue. Doobies played first, then Steely Dan. When they had finished, Rare Earth had just landed at the airport. Both bands came back out on stage and did a combined jam session for about 45 minutes to fill the time until Rare Earth arrived at the venue and were ready to come out on stage. I had to leave about 30 minutes into Rare Earth (about midnight) to go straight to work. The radio station was signing off at 1:00 AM and I was assisting the chief engineer with transmitter maintenance. He was at the concert too. Good times!
Bummer. They’re one of my favorite bands, but I agree that they changed too much after McDonald joined them.
RIP. My third concert.
Maybe Keith Richards will join heaven’s band soon, but I think he identifies as a cat with 9 lives.
Loved the Doobs, pre and post Mcdonald.
RIP, made some great music
If I knew where to buy some pot to roll a doobie I would in commemoration. I was a teenager in the 70’s but unfortunately I no longer know how to score a lid of grass.
Why does everyone think all these musicians that die go to heaven? Without a relationship with Jesus, you ain’t getting in!! 99% of these musicians wouldn’t know how to spell the name Jesus, much less have any relationship with Him. Guarantee you these folks ain’t heading to heaven. You don’t get to heaven just because people like your music. Look at their lifestyles. “Sex, drugs and rock and roll” is a saying for a reason. You know damn well they are not going to heaven.
Let Johnson not pass without mention that the Doobies were early and frequent supporters of Viet Nam veterans. We are diminished.
no offense intended, but I can’t find anything that says Tom passed. I am a follower and nothing on their social media or on a google search. They did just lose a drummer from the early days of The Doobies, John Hartman.
I’m a fan of the music they put out when it was Johnston and Simmons. Didn’t care for the Michael McDonald version of the band.
I saw them live a couple of times over the years. Once was in the small town of Fillmore in Ventura County, CA in the ’90s. I think that they were ending a tour and headed north to the Bay area. I’ve always thought that their one night show was a semi-impromptu one. There was no opening act as I recall and the venue was a local park. Seating was rows of folding chairs arranged on the grass. I didn’t mind…they were great and there wasn’t a bad seat.
I saw them again in 2003 at the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary bash. A bunch of us rode our bikes from Ventura to Milwaukee. The H-D folks had set up several small music venues in the park where Summerfest occurs. I was able to see and hear The Doobies, Joan Jett, and many others perform for free. At another venue just outside the city, I also saw B. B. King and Jeff Beck, again for free.
Later that week, The Doobies also performed at the infamous Elton John closing concert. Elton John at a concert attended by 200,000 bikers? What were the H-D folks thinking. I doubt that Willie G. and Barbara voted for that.
The first rock concert I ever attended was in 1973. The warm up groups were the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan. The main act was Rare Earth. Rare Earth’s flight was seriously delayed for some reason, causing them to be quite late getting to the venue. Doobies played first, then Steely Dan. When they had finished, Rare Earth had just landed at the airport. Both bands came back out on stage and did a combined jam session for about 45 minutes to fill the time until Rare Earth arrived at the venue and were ready to come out on stage. I had to leave about 30 minutes into Rare Earth (about midnight) to go straight to work. The radio station was signing off at 1:00 AM and I was assisting the chief engineer with transmitter maintenance. He was at the concert too. Good times!
Bummer. They’re one of my favorite bands, but I agree that they changed too much after McDonald joined them.
RIP. My third concert.
Maybe Keith Richards will join heaven’s band soon, but I think he identifies as a cat with 9 lives.
Loved the Doobs, pre and post Mcdonald.
RIP, made some great music
If I knew where to buy some pot to roll a doobie I would in commemoration. I was a teenager in the 70’s but unfortunately I no longer know how to score a lid of grass.
Why does everyone think all these musicians that die go to heaven? Without a relationship with Jesus, you ain’t getting in!! 99% of these musicians wouldn’t know how to spell the name Jesus, much less have any relationship with Him. Guarantee you these folks ain’t heading to heaven. You don’t get to heaven just because people like your music. Look at their lifestyles. “Sex, drugs and rock and roll” is a saying for a reason. You know damn well they are not going to heaven.
Let Johnson not pass without mention that the Doobies were early and frequent supporters of Viet Nam veterans. We are diminished.
no offense intended, but I can’t find anything that says Tom passed. I am a follower and nothing on their social media or on a google search. They did just lose a drummer from the early days of The Doobies, John Hartman.