Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers

Name  Tom Johnston

Best known for  Being a singer, guitar player, songwriter for the Doobie Brothers.

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Current city  Marin County, north of San Francisco a little bit.

Really want to be in  Dublin, that’s a great town. I really like Dublin.

Excited about  Our new album, Walk This Road. We’re starting the U.S. version of touring on that right now. We’ve been over in the UK and in Ireland for five shows.

My current music collection has a lot of  Jazz.

Preferred format  I don’t really listen to streaming. I just never got into it. My daughter does. A lot of people I know do. My sister does. It’s depending on what you like. I just never got into that. I listen mostly to music either off my phone, which I’ve downloaded over the years.

I listen to some new stuff occasionally on Sirius XM in my car. Other than that, I pretty much program my own radio, if you will.

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: 

1

Nantucket Sleighride, Mountain

I remember when they came out, which was in the ’70s. “Mississippi Queen” was just everywhere. Corky Laing back there, banging on the cowbell. I never heard anybody playing drums quite that aggressively before. Maybe aggressively is the wrong word, but it’s just powerful. This is all about power.

They were a good band. I never got to see him live, which is a regret of mine. I would love to have seen him live, and I didn’t get to do it. [I’m] a big fan of Leslie West.

Felix Pappalardi is a great producer as well as bass player and singer and everything else. As a unit, they were flipping amazing. They were a powerhouse.

2

Upfront, David Sanborn

That particular album just knocked me out. It was done in ’92. He’s got Steve Jordan playing drums, Marcus Miller playing bass, Ricky Peterson playing B3 and other keyboards. He also has Richard Tee on it; is another phenomenal keyboard player. It’s just great.

If you want grooves and if you want phenomenal musicianship and stellar timing and all that stuff, that’s the album. It’s just incredible. It’s great for working out, and it’s great for driving. It’s great for a lot of stuff.

3

Fresh Cream, Cream

Fresh Cream album cover

Fresh Cream, it just really got my attention when it came out, which I believe was late ’66 or something like that. Songs like I Feel Free, some of the other tunes on there. Nobody was doing that. It was a very original sound. Those guys had their own thing going on, and of course, Eric Clapton. God, so what are you going to do? You can’t beat them. I have to say the whole band is a unit was just amazing.

4

Born Under a Bad Sign, Albert King

One of the most lyrical blues players I’ve ever heard. As soon as he plays like two or three notes, you know exactly who it is. That particular album with that song on it, as well as “Crosscut Saw,” which was huge.

Albert King is like a standalone blue guy. I like all the Kings, B.B., Freddie, Albert. They all have their own signature way of doing things.

Albert, I’ve never heard anybody play like that. It’s a very original style of all the bends in it, and his crazy upside-down tuning and stuff on. I saw him live a couple of times, and I was blown away. In fact, we played some shows with him in 1972, I think it was.

That was unbelievable just getting to see him up close and live like that, playing with him. He was really something.

5

Rock Me Baby, B.B. King 

B.B., he’s a blues legend all unto himself. There’s a lot of songs he did that I just loved. That one [“Rock Me Baby”] is a staple of blues guitar. Just his way of phrasing, his way of singing, too. He had a great voice. He was a cool guy.

As soon as you hear a couple of notes or the vocal you know who it is. B.B.’s playing, like I said, has been the bedrock of electric blues for, geez, decades.

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