Tom Johnston

Tom Johnston

Johnston is most well known for both his lead guitar and vocal role in the band The Doobie Brothers, as well as for his adaptation of his own acoustic guitar style, blending a unique strum and percussive accented rhythm at the same time on one instrument. This style, interwoven with melodic hammer-ons (Example Early Johnston Riff and Vocal) gave Johnston an early signature sound inside of popular 1970's rock music. All the rhythm structures behind "Long Train Runnin'" and "Listen to the Music" were formulated first for an acoustic guitar, and then re-applied in similar style on an electric guitar.

Johnston was born in Visalia, California. His favorite music as he grew up included Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Elvis Presley, James Brown, and other rhythm and blues artists featured on the radio in the 1950s. After brief school stints with the saxophone and clarinet, at the age of twelve Johnston took up guitar. Following the blues and rhythm styling of Freddie King, Jimmy Reed and Chuck Berry, he had formed his first band by age fourteen. Johnston recounted to Vintage Guitar Magazine that he was a "huge James Brown fan – still am. I saw him in 1962, after "Live at the Apollo" came out, and it was a life-altering experience."[2] In his early career he played in a variety of bands, including a Mexican wedding band that played half soul and half Latin music. His interest in rhythm and blues led to his singing in a soul group from a neighboring town and, eventually, his own blues band.

Johnston moved to San Jose to finish college and started playing in bands around town. It was there that he met Skip Spence, a former drummer with Jefferson Airplane, and founding member of a group that had a major influence on the Doobie Brothers - Moby Grape. Spence introduced Johnston to John Hartman. Johnston was a graphic design art major at San Jose State and wound up living at 285 South 12th Street, which was a musical center for San Jose at the time. "It didn’t matter if they played B-3 or drums, guitar, bass, or horns, they all ended up in our basement" Johnston recalls. Johnston and Hartman soon formed their own band, Pud, featuring Greg Murphy on bass. Pud played many clubs in and around San Jose, including the Golden Horn Lounge in Cupertino, California, (which no longer exists). John Hartman and Johnston lived in the 12th Street house for about four years; whereupon once Dave Shogren joined them to replace Greg Murphy and Pat Simmons was recruited, they had the nucleus of a new band, and Pud gave way to the Doobie Brothers.

Throughout much of an initial seven-year and six-album discography, Johnston wrote and sang many of The Doobie Brothers' early hits, including "Listen to the Music" (#11 Top 100 Billboard Hit -1972), "Jesus Is Just Alright" (written by Arthur Reynolds and covered by the Byrds)(#35 Billboard Top 100 Hit -1973), "Rockin' Down the Highway," "China Grove" (#15 Billboard Hot 100 Hit), "Long Train Runnin'" (#8 Billboard Hot 100 Hit), "Another Park, Another Sunday” (#32 Billboard Hot 100 Hit), and "Eyes of Silver" (#52 Billboard Hot 100 Hit). He also sang the hit song "Take Me in Your Arms" (#11 Billboard Hot 100 Hit -1975) (written by Holland-Dozier-Holland)



Doobie Brothers

Doobie brothers-One the edge of rock and country rock

The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The band has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide throughout its career. The group was inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004. Drummer John Hartman arrived in California in 1969 determined to meet Skip Spence of Moby Grape and join an aborted Grape reunion. Spence introduced Hartman to singer, guitarist and songwriter Tom Johnston and the two proceeded to form the nucleus of what would become The Doobie Brothers. Johnston and Hartman called their fledgling group "Pud" and experimented with lineups (occasionally including Spence) and styles as they performed in and around San Jose. They were mostly a power trio (along with bassist Greg Murphy) but briefly worked with a horn section.

In 1970 they teamed up with bass player Dave Shogren and singer, guitarist and songwriter Patrick Simmons. Simmons, who had belonged to several area groups (among them "Scratch", an acoustic trio with future Doobies bassist Tiran Porter) and also performed as a solo artist, was already an accomplished fingerstyle player whose approach to the instrument complemented Johnston's rhythmic R&B strumming.

The Doobie Brothers improved their playing by performing live all over Northern California in 1970. They attracted a particularly strong following among local chapters of the Hells Angels and got a recurring gig at one of the bikers' favorite venues, the Chateau Liberté in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and they continued playing the Chateau through the summer of 1975 (although some of these concerts did not include all band members and they were unannounced and of a completely impromptu nature). An energetic set of demos (eight of which were briefly and illegally released on Pickwick Records in 1980 under the title Introducing the Doobie Brothers, and have since been bootlegged on CD under that title and On Our Way Up as well, both with expanded song selections), showcased fuzz-toned dual lead electric guitars, three-part harmonies and Hartman's frenetic drumming and earned the rock group a contract at Warner Bros. Records.

At this point in their history, the band's image reflected that of their biggest fans—leather jackets and motorcycles. However, the group's 1971 self-titled debut album departed significantly from that image and their live sound of the period. The album, which failed to chart, emphasized acoustic guitars and frequently reflected country influences. The bouncy lead-off song "Nobody", the band's first single, has surfaced in their live set several times over the ensuing decades. Most recently, this song was rerecorded and added to their 2010 CD  World Gone Crazy.

Doobie Brothers- Stampede

Stampede

Stampede is a semi-concept album from The Doobie Brothers. There isn't a running theme to the album, but most of the songs conjure up the feeling of life on the open range. The album also marks the first appearance of the indominantable Jeff "Skunk" Baxter as a full-time member and the band's founder, Tom Johnston's last full effort. Although he would appear on the follow-up, Takin' It To The Streets, Stampede was Mr. Johnston's finest effort with the band. The songs on the album are all first rate including a rollicking version of the Motown standard, "Take Me In Your Arms". "Slat Key Soquel Rag" and "Precis" are strong instrumentals while "I Cheat The Hangman" has a tense, jittering sound. "Sweet Maxine", "Texas Lullaby", "Music Man" and "Neal's Fandango" are all excellent cuts. Despite no big hits from the album, it became the band's highest charting album to date, peaking at number 4 in 1975. Stampede" runs seamlessly through the "pre-McDonald" Doobie Brother tapestry--as surely as do "The Doobie Brothers," "The Captain and Me," and "Toulouse Street." The album paces from tortoise-to-hare; from light-to-sentimental. (Caveat: Don't listen to Neal's Fandango while driving, lest a speeding ticket be in your future.)