When The Doobie Brothers disbanded in 1982 singer/keyboardist Michael McDonald faced the daunting task of matching the level of success he had achieved with that much-loved combo. After joining the group in 1975 he quickly emerged as co-lead vocalist (with Patrick Simmons) and contributed such memorable tunes as "Takin' It To The Streets", "It Keeps You Runnin'" and "Minute By Minute" to the Doobies' catalog. Most Impressive of all was "What A Fool Believes", which topped the U.S. Singles chart in 1979 and earned three Grammys. At the dawn of the '80s McDonald was a talent on the rise with no limit in sight.
Three years after "What A Fool Believes" hit #1, the Doobies embarked on a farewell tour and McDonald emerged as a solo artist with his album If That's What It Takes, featuring the single "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)". Since then the curve of his career has taken him from the synthesizer-driven sounds of the '80s back to the rootsier rhythms he delves into today. Through it all, he has continued to tour and compose, proving himself an artist of enduring appeal above and beyond the pop fads of the moment.
Twenty year ago McDonald was considered part of the ultrapolished Southern California pop music school that so often dominated the charts. But despite his technical finesse as a singer, he never lost his passion - for all the production gloss on his recordings, his emotional warmth on the mike was genuine an palpable. As a songwriter, his lyrics were filled with idealism and romantic wistfulness, with a spiritual tinge coming through as his solo career progressed.
McDonald was born December 2, 1952, in St. Louis. As a teenager he was influenced primarily by R&B and country music; Ray Charles was an artist who particularly shaped his later vocal style. During his teenage years he performed on the local club scene in a succession of bands, including Mike And The Majestics, Jerry Jay And The Sheridans, The Del-Rays, and Blue.
After releasing several little singles on his own via RCA and Bell Records, McDonald was hired on by Steely Dan in 1974 as a touring keyboardist and background singer. From there, he received a request from old friend Jeff "Skunk" Baxter to fill in for Tom Johnston on a Doobie Brothers tour in April '75. This short-term gig blossomed into a full-time partnership when McDonald was asked to sing on and contribute songs to the band's next album, 1976's Takin' It To The Streets. The rejuvenated Doobies went on to release Livin' On The Fault Line, Minute By Minute, and One Step Closer during the next four years, with McDonald taking an increasingly prominent role. Still, he never assumed that his tenure in the group would be permanent. Going solo in 1982 seemed a natural and appropriate move.
"I probably wanted to go a little more in the direction of what I had grown up doing, which was more straight-on rhythm & blues grooves," says McDonald of his first solo album, If That's What It takes. "With the Doobs, we'd always tried to fashion a song to where it would be something that the band would do in a live context. So sometimes the stuff wasn't as syncopated - probably 'What A Fool Believes' was the most syncopated thing we did. Whereas 'I Keep Forgettin'' and some of the other things on the first record were more in the rhythmic direction that I would do naturally."
Produced by Ted Templeman (The Doobie Brothers' longtime studio partner) and Lenny Waronker (Warner Bros.' A&R chief), If That's What It Takes drew upon McDonald's love of old-school pop and R&B recordmaking. The album yielded a hit right out of the box with"I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)," a new spin on a classic Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller tune. The song's simmering groove and bittersweet lyric helped it to reach #4 as a single in October 1982. McDonald shares vocals on this track with his sister Maureen, singer with the band Delta.
"I Keep Forgettin'" was followed by "I Gotta Try," which rose to #44. The tune's upbeat R&B/pop feel is akin to that of "What A Fool Believes" - not surprising, considering both were collaborations between McDonald and Kenny Loggins. "I Gotta Try" addresses the need for social change, a theme that McDonald previously touched upon in "Takin' It To The Streets." "During the '80s it was kind of fashionable to be cynical about the things we stepped up to the plate for in the '60s," McDonald says. "So this is really a song about not forgetting the importance of the social issues of our generation and trying to persevere with making a difference."
It might've been the gospel strain in McDonald's music that spurred him on to deal with themes of brotherhood during this period. "I'd always had a phobia about sounding too preachy, because I never liked that in songs," he says. "I remember journalists criticizing me for not talking about topical issues more in my songs. But I always felt like these things all start with human nature, and I always intended to write about the human nature of whether you can make a difference, rather than the actual topics themselves. What was more important to me as a writer was (the theme of) believing in yourself as an individual."
"Yah Mo B There," McDonald's duet with singer James Ingram, was perhaps the most explicitly spiritual song he had recorded up to that point. Taken as a single from Ingram's 1983 album, It's Your Night, this uplifting number became a #19 pop hit and went on to receive a Grammy for best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. McDonald recalls that he and Ingram wrote the initial version of the tune, then brought in Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton to complete the process: "'Yah Mo B There' was kind of an original phrase on our part, although I have to give James most of the credit on that one. We were talking about how to write 'God will be there' without scaring most of the audience away. We wanted the message to be strong, but we felt that certain words would be too overwhelming to the mainstream audience. So James said that the original name for God in Hebrew is Yahweh. It would be something that everybody could relate to - the song is about God as you've come to know Him. So, therefore, we're not excluding anyone, but we're getting the idea across that faith is a powerful thing. That's really what the song is about."
Meanwhile, Mcdonald continued to pursue his solo career releasing No Lookin' Back in 1985. This album featured a harder, more rock-slanted production approach on many of it's tracks. McDonald says that the tougher sound was intentional: "Basically, I was more responsible for the production on that record up to mixing stage. That album was a series of demos that I'd cut in my garage and decided to keep. It was a much more live-sounding record. I wanted to try my hand at a record with certain technical aspects, with the live drums hitting the tape harder, the kind of things that make a record sound hotter."
The album's title track is a good case in point - this collaboration with Kenny Loggins and Ed Sanford was the most aggressive tune that McDonald had cut since the early days with the Doobies. Michael describes "No Lookin' Back" as dealing with "a certain metamorphosis where you have to let go. I think [it happens] all the way up until death; I think death is just another - and maybe the ultimate-form of letting go and going on to whatever the next consciousness is. I've gone through that lately - it's like trying on old clothes and wondering why you don't feel right and look right. Suddenly you realize it's time to be naked for a while." Released as a single, "No Lookin' Back" made it to #34 on the Pop chart.
Moments of personal crisis and self-knowledge are also examined in the sleek, understated "Bad Times": "A good friend of mine was going through so much, and he was just being stripped down to his barest form by luck and events in his life. The feeling I got from talking with this guy was, This is something we will all go through at some point in time, and this just happens to be his time, and I wonder when mine will be. What lasts through those times are the people you love."
"By Heart" matches a celebratory modern pop track with a desperately lovelorn lyric. Mcdonald cowrote the tune with former Ambrosia lead singer David Pack and Chuck Sabatino, an old bandmate from McDonald's St. Louis days. "Chuck was a keyboard player, bass player, guitarist - a man of many talents," he recall. "He and I played together when we were 14 or 15 years old in Jerry Jay And The Sheratons. Then he came out to California to work with my band in the '80s. Just a great guy and a world-class musician. He died about four years ago, and there's not a day goes by that I don't think about him.
As far as 'By Heart' goes, David and Chuck and I had kind of knocked that one around for a while in my studio. It was one of those synthesizer-sequencer songs that you write by punching a lot of buttons. Then we wrote some lyrics after that. I wish it had been a single. I'm still hoping that one of the newer Latin pop artists will do it."
Sabatino also collaborated with McDonald on "Any Foolish Thing", which McDonald says has a "kind of West African high life feeling, with a more American lyric." The yearning "Our Love (Theme From No Mercy)," cowritten with Pack, is another standout track. McDonald recalls that "David and I wrote that on a vacation with our wives in Hawaii. The girls were down at the pool, and we were just sitting around the room with a keyboard and guitar. I wrote it for my wife Amy." The sadder side of love is explored in "Lost In The Parade," which McDonald calls "kind of a strange song, almost a country-rock thing." This tune, cowritten with bassist Grady Walker, became a #40 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart.
McDonald returned to the top of the Pop Singles chart in june 1986 with "On My Own," a duet with R&B diva Patti LaBelle that was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager and taken fron LaBelle's LP Winner In You. McDonald had worked with Bacharach on a previous project and jumped at the chance to sing with LaBelle on this exquisite ballad. Though "sing with" is a bit of a misstatement - the duet partners cut their vocal tracks separately in studios at opposite ends of the U.S. "I sang to Patti's voice on tape, and I think I got the better end of the deal," McDonald says. "Patti's such an awesome performer that I would've been a little apprehensive to go one-on-one with her in the studio.... The first time we sang it together live was on The Tonight Show after [the song] was a #1 hit. It was great - Patti was a sweetheart. I've enjoyed getting to know her over the years."
Later in '86 McDonald was back in the Top 10 with "Sweet Freedom," a tune written and produced by Rod Temperton for the soundtrack to the film Running Scared. "It's a great song." Michael says today. "We still play it live every night. Of course, we do it a little different - more organic, with more of a gospel feeling."
McDonald's next album, 1990's Take It To Heart, was an eclectic mix of tracks divided among a number of producers. Don Was, who's known for his stellar studio work with Bonnie Raitt and many other artists, was one of them. "Don is one of my all-time favorite producers," Mcdonald says. "He was very much a hands-on producer. A lot of guys will just listen to what you've got and then go in and cut it. But Don was really musically involved. He would hear a song and suggest how to cut it down to something more succinct, give arrangement ideas, things like that."
Coming from a background in Detroit's R&B scene, Was proved to be a natural recording partner for McDonald. "Get The Word Started," Take It To Heart's second track, brings back some urban funkiness of the singer's scuffing days. "We just wanted to have a real R&B-feeling thing for that," Michael says. Featured on sax is Vince Denham, a veteran touring musician with Loggins & Messina's band who went on to form his own group, Above The Cloud.
Take It To Heart title song shows the hitmaking touch of cowriter Diane Warren, composer of such pop/rock chart-toppers as Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and Chcago's "Look Away." "I was really impressed with her whole approach," says McDonald. "She's a very confident songwriter, and I appreciate that, because I'm more second-guessing. Basically, I played her a small piece of melody and the chords - a rough song idea. We built it from there. It's one of my favorite things that I've ever done." Sad to say, "Take It To Heart" wasn't embraced by pop radio, reaching only #98 on the Pop Singles chart.
One of the gems from the Take It To Heart sessions somehow didn't make the final cut: McDonalds stirring version of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground." This outstanding track makes it's first appearance on this collection.
As the '90s wore on, McDonald was increasingly drawn back to the sounds of his youth. He signed on with ex-Steely Dan singer Donald Fagen's New York Rock And Soul Revue, participating with Boz Scaggs, Phoebe Snow, and other artists in a live recording of vintage R&B material, which was released by Warner Bros. in 1991. A tour with the Revue helped to prime him for his next album, 1993's Blink Of An Eye, the title track of which is included here.
Coproduced with Russ Titelman, this album veered away from synthesized technology in favor of a more traditional rhythm section and live-sound feel. "Matters Of The Heart" finds McDonald exploring Southwestern sonic terrain: "I originally wrote that song with Freddie Fender in mind - I was hoping that The Texas Tornados would cut it. It was in a style of music that I hadn't written in before, a Tex-Mex kind of thing. I thought of all the songs I'd loved by Ry Cooder, and I think I was heavily influenced by that." Equally as tasty is the album's title number, slinking along to a New Orleans-style beat. McDonald says that "the song is talking to my kids, and mentions the sights and sounds of my life, and how you never know what's going to affect you."
The mid-'90s was a time of transition for McDonald. He moved with his wife and children from California to Nashville in 1995, in part to be closer to the source of the music he grew up with. "I'd always thought that Tennessee, Missouri, and New Orleans were the bedrock area of R&B music, and, basically, I was a product of having grown up there," he says. "I'd lived long enough in California to feel a kind of detachment from anything that I loved about music as a kid. In Nashville I've found it again."
In early 2000 McDonald released Blue Obsession on his own Ramp label. Its tracks attest to his continuing love affair with classic American music, ranging in style from blues-rock to string-laden Philly soul tunes. As this collection demonstrates, McDonald's songs have become classics in their own right, their messages heartfelt and timeless, their grooves still unstoppable. He remains a voice with soul to spare.

- Barry Alfonso

No Lookin' Back
(Michael McDonald/Kenny Loggins/Ed Sanford)

From the album No Lookin' Back
Also issued as Warner Bros. single #28960 (7/10/85); Pop #34, AC #18
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, keyboards • David Pack: guitar • Willie Weeks: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums • George Perilli: tom (drum) solo

I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)
(Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/Michael McDonald/Ed Sanford)

From the album If That's What It Takes
Also issued as Warner Bros. single #29933 (7/21/82); Pop #4, R&B #7, AC #8
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer • Greg Phillinganes: clavinet • Steve Lukather: guitar • Louis Johnson: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums • Maureen McDonald: background vocals

I Gotta Try
(Michael McDonald/Kenny Loggins)

From the album If That's What It Takes
Also issued as Warner Bros. single #29862 (10/20/82); Pop #44, AC #28
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, piano, synthesizer • Michael Boddicker: synthesizer • Greg Phillinganes: Fender Rhodes • Steve Lukather: guitar • Willie Weeks: bass • Steve Gadd: drums • Paulinho Da Costa & Ted Templeman: percussion • Kenny Loggins: background vocals

Our Love (Theme From No Mercy) (Single Version)
(Michael McDonald/David Pack)

From the album No Lookin' Back
This remixed version was issued as Warner Bros. single #28596 (10/17/86)
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer • Brian Mann: synthesizer • Steve Lukather: guitar • Abraham Laboriel: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums, percussion • Bobby LaKind: congas

Yah Mo B There (Single Version) - with James Ingram
(James Ingram/Michael McDonald/Rod Temperton/Quincy Jones)

From the James Ingram album It's Your Night
This remixed version was issued as Qwest single #29394 (10/12/83); Pop #19, R&B #5, AC #10
Featuring/Michael McDonald & James Ingram: vocals, synthesizer • Michael Boddicker & Rod Temperton: synthesizer • John Robinson: drums • Paulinho Da Costa: percussion • Quincy Jones: African voices

On My Own - with Patti LaBelle
(Burt Bacharach/Carole Bayer Sager)

From the Patti LaBelle album Winner In You
An edited version was also issued as MCA single #52770 (3/86); Pop #1, R&B #1, AC #2
Featuring/Michael McDonald & Patti LaBelle: vocals • Burt Bacharach: acoustic piano • Greg Phillinganes: DX-7 • David Foster & Peter Wolf: synthesizer • Dann Huff: guitar • Neil Stubenhaus: bass • Carlos Vega: drums • Paulinho Da Costa: percussion • Carla Benson, Evette Benton, Barbara Ingram, Clydene Jackson, Julia Tillman Waters & Maxine Willard Waters: background vocals

By Heart
(Michael McDonald/Chuck Sabatino/David Pack)

From the album No Lookin' Back
Also issued as Warner Bros. singles #28847 (10/9/85) & #28787 (1/29/86)
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer • Scott Plunkett: synth horns • Chris Pelonis: Emulator programming • David Pack: guitar, synthesizer • Willie Weeks: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums • George Perilli: drum programming • Staff Fieldhouse: Simmons toms • Paulinho Da Costa: percussion

Bad Times
(Michael McDonald)

From the album No Lookin' Back
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer • Michael Hanna: synthesizer • David Pack: guitar • Joe Walsh: slide guitar • Nathan East: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums

Matters Of The Heart
(Michael McDonald)

From the album Blink Of An Eye
A remixed version featuring a duet with Vince Gill was also issued as Reprise single #18164 (4/21/94)
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, keyboards • Dean Parks: acoustic guitar • Jimmy Bralower: drum programming • Lenny Castro: triangle, finger cymbals • Vince Gill & Alison Krauss: background vocals

Sweet Freedom (Single Version)
(Rod Temperton)

From the album Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack "Running Scared" [various artists]
This edited version was issued as MCA single #52857 (5/86); Pop #7, R&B #17, AC #4
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals • Larry Williams: keyboards, synthesizer, horns • Anthony Patler, Greg Phillinganes, Danny Sembello & Rod Temperton: keyboards • Wells Christy: Synclavier • Paul Jackson Jr. & Michael Thompson: guitar • Chuck Findley, Gary Grant & Jerry Hey: trumpet • William Reichenback: trombone • Dave Boruff & Kim Hutchcroft: sax, flute • Rod Temperton & Larry Williams: horn arrangement • Siedah Garrett: background vocals

Get The Word Started
(David Pack/Michael McDonald)

From the album Take It To Heart
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, keyboards • Michael Hanna: keyboards • Bernie Chiaravalle: guitar • Charles Frichtel: bass • George Perilli: drums • Deborah Dobkin: congas • Vince Denham: sax solo • Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, David Lasley & Kathy Walker: background vocals • Paul Riser: string arrangement

Any Foolish Thing
(Michael McDonald/Chuck Sabatino)

From the album No Lookin' Back
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer, B-3 organ • Chuck Sabatino: synthesizer, background vocals • Willie Weeks: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums • Cornelius Bumpus: tenor sax

Take It To Heart
(Diane Warren/Michael McDonald)

From the album Take It To Heart
Also issued as Reprise single #19828 (4/27/90); Pop #98, AC #4
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer • Michael Hanna, Michael Mason, John Tesh & Don Was: synthesizer programming & sequencing • Bernie Chiaravalle: guitar, Coral sitar • George Perilli: drums • Paulinho Da Costa: percussion • Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens & David Lasley: background vocals • Paul Riser: string arrangement

Higher Ground (Previously Unissued)
(Stevie Wonder)

From sessions for the album Take It To Heart
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer • Other personnel unknown

Lost In The Parade
(Michael McDonald/Grady Walker)

From the album No Lookin' Back
Also issued as Warner Bros. single #28847 (10/9/85); AC #40
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, synthesizer • Brian Mann: synthesizer • Robben Ford: guitar • Willie Weeks: bass • Jeff Porcaro: drums • Staff Fieldhouse: Simmons drums

Blink Of An Eye
(George Perilli/Michael McDonald)

From the album Blink Of An Eye
Featuring/Michael McDonald: vocals, Wurlitzer piano • Benmont Tench: Hammond organ • Jeff Bova: clavinet, synth bass • David Frank: synth horns, horn arrangement • Warren Haynes: guitar solo • Robben Ford & Randy Jacobs: rhythm guitar • Pino Palladino: bass • Manu Katche, George Perilli & John Robinson: drums • Jimmy Bralower: drum programming • Lee Thornberg: trumpet • Brandon Fields: alto sax • Albert Wing: tenor sax

Compilation produced by Michael McDonald & Gary Peterson
Executive Producer: David McLees
Project Coordination: Jo Motta
Sound Produced by Bill Inglot
Remastering: Dan Hersch & Bill Inglot at DigiPrep
Tape Research & Discographical Annotation: Gary Peterson
A&R Editorial Coordination: Shawn Amos
Editorial Supervision: Steven Chean
Art Direction: Hugh Brown
Design: Nancy L. Hopkins
Cover Photo: Deluze/Retna ltd.
All Photos Courtesy of www.michaelochsarchives.com, except where noted
Licensing: Wendi Cartwright
Project Assistance: Ken Levitan, Emily Cagan, Amy Utstein & Randy Perry
Rhino's Special Thanks: Gregg Geller, Steve Lang, John Strother & Rose Landauer (at Penguin Recording)

Representation:
Ken Levitan
Vector Management
P.O. Box 120479
Nashville, TN 37212
vectormgmt@earthlink.net

www.michaelmcdonald.com

Also Check Out Michael's latest album - Blue Obsession, Ramp #1005 (Released 2/21/00)

All selections 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1993 & 2000 Warner Bros. Records Inc., except: "Yah Mo Be There" 1983 Qwest Records, produced under license from Warner bros. Records Inc. • "On My Own" 1986 MCA Records, Inc., and "Sweet Freedom" 1986 MCA Records, Inc., under license from Universal Music Enterprises, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

This compilation 2001 Warner Bros. Records Inc. & Rhino Entertainment Company.

2001 Warner Bros. Records Inc. & Rhino Entertainment Company