Do you remember the beginning lyrics from the Barbra Streisand song “The Way We Were”? “Memories light the corners of my mind, Misty water-colored memories of the way we were”. The song continues with word images that make us remember our personal pasts. Recently, I was discussing my life during high school which almost always leads to music. It’s understandable. Those years mark a period when I discovered my real love for music and making music. Of course, that means there were several musicians that provided inspiration at the time. One of my favorites at the time, and still to this day is Michael McDonald. Join me as I feature the long, illustrious career of one of the finest musicians of our time.
For me, it all started toward the late 1970’s as Michael McDonald was starting out as a new member of the Doobie Brothers. Of course, his musical career started several years earlier than his time with the Doobie’s, but this was where my memories really began. Just before I entered high school, the Doobie Brothers released their seventh studio album, Livin’ on the Fault Line. After joining the Doobies as a temporary replacement for the ailing Tom Johnston in 1975, his work with the band proved so successful that they decided to keep him as a full-time member. Livin’ on the Fault Line was just the second album McDonald recorded with the Doobies, but it solidified him as an integral part of the group. The Doobie Brothers had a different sound with the influence of McDonald, and I loved what I was hearing.
As I mentioned before, Michael McDonald’s career began some years before his stint with the Doobie Brothers. McDonald attended McCluer High School in Florissant, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis), where he played in local bands including Mike and the Majestics, Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, the Reeb-Toors/Younger Brothers, and the Guild. He was ‘discovered’ while playing with a band called Blue, and moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1970 to pursue a career in music. In 1974, McDonald became a member of Steely Dan’s touring band, singing lead and backing vocals. He also became one of the many in-studio adjunct members of the band. The fact that a then 22-year-old McDonald secured a place with Steely Dan speaks volumes about his musicianship. He has only improved through the years.
Arguably some of the best Doobie Brothers music came with the release of album number eight Minute by Minute at the end of 1978. The album spent 87 weeks on the chart. In the spring of 1979 Minute by Minute was the best-selling album in the U.S. for five non-consecutive weeks. It was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA. The song “What a Fool Believes” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1979 and became the band’s biggest hit. Minute by Minute made the Doobie Brothers one of the big winners at the 22nd Grammy Awards. The album got the trophy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group; the single “What a Fool Believes” earned them three Grammys, including Song and Record of the Year.
1982 marked the end of the Doobie Brothers with their farewell tour. At the time, and even today I feel that the 1982 band lineup was one of the best bands to take any stage. Michael McDonald was ready to add another chapter to his career as a solo artist.
After the Doobie Brothers’ first farewell tour, McDonald released his first solo studio album, If That’s What It Takes, in 1982 on the label Warner Bros. The album featured the hit singles “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)”, a duet with his sisters Kathy and Maureen, and “I Gotta Try”, a song co-written with Kenny Loggins. “Yah Mo B There”, a duet with James Ingram, won the 27th Annual Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. In 1985, he released his second studio album No Lookin’ Back, which for the first time, he coproduced, as well as wrote or cowrote all of the tracks and featured a minor hit with the title-track, cowritten by Kenny Loggins. By June 1986, the album had met little success, but McDonald then had a huge boost with the release of the single “Sweet Freedom”, which appeared on the soundtrack to the Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines film Running Scared, and was McDonald’s last top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The No Lookin’ Back album was then re-released in some markets with the new hit single included, as well as a few songs remixed. The single “On My Own”, a duet with Patti LaBelle, reached number one on the U.S. charts in 1986.
Michael McDonald’s solo career took off and continued with several more collaborations through the 1990’s. I never had the privilege of meeting McDonald, but I did see him live in concert a couple of times during the 1990’s. Both times the shows proved to be among the best concerts I ever attended.
In 2003, he earned two Grammy nominations for his album Motown, a tribute to the Motown sound. A year later, Motown Two was released. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated, “The album follows the same blueprint as the first record, offering highly polished, professionally produced, expertly performed interpretations of gems from the Motown vaults.” I will never forget McDonald’s rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. It remains one of my favorite versions of the song to date.
Michael McDonald is far from finished with his musical career. In 2017 he released Wide Open. In an interview with Billboard, McDonald said many of the songs on Wide Open have to do with sobriety: “I realized that a lot of the songs, I put them in different context, storyline wise, but if they’re about anything, they’re about my coming to terms with my living out in the open and learning to live without substances to fill the hole, without self-medicating.” We learned a little more about McDonald after so much music under the bridge.
All of this music and Michael McDonald just paid a visit to South Florida November 24th. When you sit down and listen to Doobie Brothers music, or McDonald’s solo music and duets, I’m sure like me it brings back memories. If you’re just getting an introduction to Michael McDonald, please stream, download and enjoy a real musical treasure.