Feature Photo: Anne Jacko from Portland, Oregon, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Patrick Simmons is the only member of the Doobie Brothers to appear on every release in the group’s catalog, and that body of work spans from The Doobie Brothers in 1971 through Liberté in 2021. Across those years, the band released fourteen studio albums listed in his discography, and Simmons helped shape many of the songs that defined their sound. Among the best known are “South City Midnight Lady,” “Dependin’ On You,” “Echoes of Love,” “Wheels of Fortune,” and “Black Water,” the song that became the group’s first number one record. The Doobie Brothers also sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, a figure that speaks to the reach of a band Simmons helped build from the ground up.
The commercial peak of that era came with Minute by Minute in 1978. The album reached number one for five weeks and earned the Doobie Brothers a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The single “What a Fool Believes” from the same album won three Grammys of its own, adding to the recognition surrounding one of the most successful periods in the band’s history. Simmons remained central to the story even when the group fractured.
The Doobie Brothers disbanded in 1982 after his decision to leave, by that point as the last original member still in the lineup. When the band re-formed in 1987, Simmons returned, and as of 2024 he and Tom Johnston were still leading the group on the road. His stature within the band’s legacy was later reinforced by induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of the Doobie Brothers. In June 2025, Simmons, Johnston, and Michael McDonald were also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame as members of the band.
Away from the Doobie Brothers, Simmons also carved out a solo career. He released his first solo album, Arcade, in 1983 on Elektra Records, and followed it with Take Me to the Highway in 1995. Arcade reached number 52 on the United States chart, and it produced his only top 40 solo hit, “So Wrong,” which climbed to number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The same single also performed strongly on the United States dance and disco chart, reaching number eight, while “Don’t Make Me Do It” later peaked at number 75. During that period he also formed the band Skin Suit.
Simmons is so loved in this business because his career has never depended on one phase, one lineup, or one commercial window. He wrote and sang major songs inside a band that evolved dramatically over the decades, stayed active through reunions and changing personnel, and remained the one musician tied to every chapter of the Doobie Brothers’ recorded history. That kind of continuity matters, especially in a band whose sound moved through rock, pop, and R&B influences over time. He also extended that legacy onto the page in 2022, when he and Tom Johnston co-wrote Long Train Runnin’: Our Story of The Doobie Brothers, adding an author’s credit to a career already filled with songwriting, recording, and touring achievements.
His life outside music has been specific and substantial, not a vague collection of celebrity causes. In 1981, Simmons opened a vintage motorcycle shop with author William J. Craddock. He and his wife, Cristine Sommer, whom he met in 1989 at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, are both avid cyclists and members of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. Their enthusiasm for that world went far beyond hobby status, since they took part in the 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Ride and also rode in the 2016 Motorcycle Cannonball, traveling from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to San Diego, California.
# 10 – Dangerous
To me, this song still feels like a relatively new Doobie Brothers song, even though it was released over 35 years ago. Time goes fast. “Dangerous” was written by Patrick Simmons and released on April 15, 1991, as a single from the Doobie Brothers’ album Brotherhood. The song was recorded in 1991 and produced by Rodney Mills. Featuring Simmons on lead vocals, the track centers on a motorcycle rider embracing risk and freedom on the open road, including a reference to Harley Davidson. The song also appeared on the soundtrack to the 1991 film Stone Cold.
# 9 – Evil Woman
This is another one of those classic Doobie Brothers deep cuts. The song first appeared on the legendary Doobie Brothers album The Captain And Me. The opening guitar riff rocks the roof of the house. There have been a lot of rock songs written with the title “Evil Woman,” but this is one of the best.
# 8 – Slippery St. Paul
This one always reminded me a little of “Black Water.” Of course, this one came first, as it was released on the band’s debut album, The Doobie Brothers. The album was released in 1971. This was placed as the second track in the album. Just take a listen to that guitar picking. If you know nothing about music and you hear this song right after the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes,” you would swear it was two completely different bands.
# 7 – 8th Avenue Shuffle
It’s quite a jump from the last album to this one in terms of the band’s sound, but the vocals, guitar sound, and the group are still the same. This was always one of my favorite tracks from The Doobie Brothers’ Takin’ It To The Streets album. That Patrick Simmons’ guitar sound and vocals you could tell from a mile away.
# 6 – I Cheat The Hangman
Well, this one was kind of dark. Released on November 12, 1975, as the third and final single from Stampede, with “Music Man” on the B side, the song was written by Simmons and produced by Ted Templeman. Its story follows a man leaving the gallows, with Simmons connecting the idea to a ghost returning home after the Civil War without realizing he is dead, a concept that gave the record the feel of an old West ghost town. Jeff Baxter described the piece as being done in three parts, and that structure helped shape a recording built around guitars, piano, vocals, strings, bass, and drums. The single featured vocals by Simmons and Maria Muldaur.
# 5 – Angels & Mercy
It may be hard to believe, but the Doobie Brothers had not released a studio album with Michael McDonald on board in over 45 years. In 2025, the band released Walk This Road. I was completely blown away by how good this album is. But this album represents is the perfect balance between the original sound of the Doobie Brothers and the Michael McDonald years. The band is playing as well as they ever have, and the vocals are just killer. Songwriting is once again top-notch, and the second track on the album featured this Patrick Simmons song that will just knock you rock and roll socks off.
# 4 – Dependin’ On You
If you look back at the music that Patrick Simmons contributed to the Doobie Brothers, you’ll find the southern-sounding Simmons that we heard often during the early years, and then, of course, the soulful style that he turned to during the Michael McDonald years. Many fans are split between these two different periods, while others like myself love both of them. “Dependin’ on You” was released on July 25, 1979, as the third single from Minute by Minute, backed with “How Do the Fools Survive.” The track features backing vocals from the late Nicolette Larson and Rosemary Butler, Commercially, the single reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 37 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
# 3 – Wheels Of Fortune
I remember the first time I purchased his album and threw it on my turntable. I could not believe the sound of the guitars and how they just kind of blew out of my speakers. It’s one of the best-sounding records I’ve ever bought. It was Michael McDonald’s debut, and the band sounded completely different. Yet on the opening track, front and center was the killer voice of Patrick Simmons.
# 2 – South City Midnight Lady
Whenever I have composed any sort of Doobie Brothers song list, this is the song that people always comment about. “South City Midnight Lady” stands as one of the most loved Doobie Brothers songs of all time. It was originally released on the album The Captain and Me. The album’s two biggest hits, “Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove,” were so massively successful that they kind of overshadowed the gem “South City Midnight Lady”. But the real Doobie Brothers fans heard it, and they loved it.
# 1 – Black Water
“Black Water” was written by Patrick Simmons and recorded by the Doobie Brothers for their 1974 album What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits, with Ted Templeman producing the track. Recorded in 1973 at Warner Bros. Studios in North Hollywood and Burbank Studios in Burbank, California, the song features Simmons on acoustic guitars and lead vocals, Tom Johnston on backing vocals, Tiran Porter on bass guitar and backing vocals, Keith Knudsen on backing vocals and dubbed-in drums, John Hartman on drums, Novi Novog on viola, and Arlo Guthrie on autoharp and wind chimes. Simmons developed the basic guitar lick during sessions for The Captain and Me, then completed the song during a later stay in New Orleans, drawing on both his early imaginings of the South and his direct experiences in the French Quarter and on the St. Charles Streetcar line.
The record was first issued as the B side of “Another Park, Another Sunday,” but strong regional airplay, especially in Virginia, pushed it toward an A side release, and by March 15, 1975, it had become the first of the Doobie Brothers’ two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number nine in Canada, number 22 in Australia, number 38 on the Adult Contemporary chart, number three on the Cash Box Top 100, and finished number 15 on the year-end Billboard Hot 100 for 1975.
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