Listen To The Music - Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. They have sold over 30 million albums in the United States from the 1970s to the present. The Doobie Brothers were 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 "Sc! ratch", 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. In a recent interview, Johnston attributed the band's eventual name to friend and housemate Keith "Dyno" Rosen, who noted the guys' fondness for "doobies" (slang for marijuana cigarettes). They considered the new moniker an improvement over Pud.
