Life looked great to the Doobie Brothers in the Spring of 1975. Having just scored their first # 1 hit single with "Black Water", their preceding two albums each had gone Top 10, and with the addition of Steely Dan's Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitar, the Doobies were arguably the most popular hard rocking band in America.

But right in the middle of that 1975 tour, founding member, lead singer, and songwriter Tom Johnston developed a bleeding stomach ulcer and had to leave the tour. There was no way that the band members could have known at that time just how much Johnston's misfortune was going to change the course of their lives and music history.

InTheStudio host Redbeard speaks with former and current singer Tom Johnston, his then-unknown replacement singer/songwriter Michael McDonald, and co-founding current guitarist/songwriter Pat Simmons about the transitional period, including the recording of Takin' It To The Streets when the band's future was uncertain and the pressure to deliver was monumental.

"Mainly I feel kind of lucky, certainly to have had the hit record with it, but to have met that group of people, to have the good times we had for a long time, and to have left it all with everybody still being good friends. And then sometimes when I hear "Takin' It to the Streets", I just wish that I'd sung the second verse in pitch! (laughs)" - Michael McDonald Stream the episode - here.

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