It’s said that after the singer/songwriter Michael McDonald joined the Doobie Brothers in 1976 the band’s then-core fan base – largely leather-clad, motorcycle-riding rockers, including most notably the Hells Angels – abandoned the group when hearing its new, R&B “blue-eyed soul” direction evident in songs like “It Keeps You Runnin’.” But rock’s loss was clearly soul’s gain: McDonald has one of the truly distinctive voices in music, with a gritty, soulful falsetto that is perhaps the most powerful ever recorded.
In 1982, when McDonald released his debut solo album If That’s What It Takes, he indulged his soul/R&B jones once again, bringing onboard keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, who had been performing with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, and “slap” bassist Louis Johnson of the Brothers Johnson, to help him capture the perfect groove. We feature here McDonald performing the lead single off that album, “I Keep Forgettin’,” on Soul Train. The track peaked at # 7 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and launched McDonald into a wildly-successful solo career in which he released 7 additional albums and won 5 Grammy awards. Enjoy.
By Robb Patryk
Michael McDonald – “I Keep Forgettin'”
