Posted on 03/03/2021 1:38:35 AM PST by nickcarraway
If Michael McDonald had followed his gut instinct, he may never have written the 1978 Doobie Brothers hit “What a Fool Believes.”
The song, which he created with Kenny Loggins, topped the chart the following year and went on to win two Grammys, but as McDonald told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe recently, he almost abandoned the rough version.
“The first verse was something I jotted down on an envelope … on a flight from New York back to L.A,” he said. “It just kind of popped in my head … and the piano verse was basically something that I’d been messing with for the better part of a year.”
He happened to be playing the idea on his piano at home as he waited for Loggins to arrive one day: “I thought, ‘This is just kind of a strange pop ditty. I don't know that I'd play that for Kenny.’ And when I answered the door he goes, ‘Before we say anything, you were just playing something on a piano, I could hear it through the door. Is that something new?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, I was actually thinking of playing it, but I wasn't sure.’ And he goes, ‘That's what I want to work on first.’ So, thankfully he heard it through the door, or I might never have played it for him.”
McDonald also recalled how the envelope with the scribbled lyric went on an unusual six-year journey before it got back to him. “There was just song lyrics, unfinished lyrics, you name it, just piled on the piano all the time,” he said. “And our publicist at the time was David Gest … he came to my house and I was at the piano working. … He looked down and he saw that jotting of that lyric. He goes, ‘What is this?’ I said, ‘Oh, that's actually the original thought I had.’ And it had already been a Grammy winner by then. … He goes, ‘Can I have this?’ And I said, ‘Sure.’”
He thought no more about it until, years later, he was eating at a Hard Rock Cafe. “I looked up, and behind my booth … there's this framed little piece of paper," McDonald recalled. "I recognized the doodling on it. And I went, ‘That couldn't be … .’ And sure enough, it was that lyric I gave to [Gest], and he’d had it framed. … I wrote a letter to the Hard Rock corporation. I said, ‘If it's not too much to ask, I’d like to buy that piece. Because I wrote the song with my friend Kenny Loggins, and I regretted giving it away.’ And they sent it to me gratis.”
Haha, I always thought he sang like he had a sweat sock in his mouth...
Count me in the pre-McDonald Doobie camp...
Thanks for the explanation. If you do a search on whether or not remastering is necessary you will find plenty of people who disagree with you but I doubt most of them have your expertise.
I love that song. It is one of my go to and never gets old. The Doobies are awesome even as they changed and evolved.
GOPee Delenda Est! I like it. May I use it?
Why couldn’t he have just followed his gut instinct? That song is absolutely horrible.
They used to refer to the Tom Johnston-less Dobbies as “Doobie-Dan”. Loved Jeff Baxter’s guitar, MM’s vocals were grating. Good backup singer though...
so i’m not alone in my folly?
must be a pretty cool radio station.
Man...unbelievably, I just listened to Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic” in full for the first time yesterday and was blown away by Baxter’s guitar work throughout that record.
McDonald ruined the Doobies by trying to make it all about himself.
Yet you took the time to post your negative dribble. You must be a busy soy-boy.
They dedicated this album to the place.
SD was ADD with their studio albums and session players. They seem to recognize talent and add it to make their songs better. I heard a breakdown on the guitar solo in Kid Charlemagne on the Rick Beato website, quite interesting.
I have all the Steely Dan albums through ‘Aja’ when I sort of lost interest. They still kicked out interesting stuff, but it wasn’t consistently brilliant IMO.
I’ve always thought it was dumb song and was only a hit because of the bouncy tune and MacDonald’s lack of enunciation.
But, for a laugh, here’s Rick Moranis of SCTV’s imitation of Michael MacDonald:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0HzWMqLeiE
He made quite a name for himself as a guitarist but he is also a top adviser on missle defense
That’s not fair.
But good for you and yours. I’m green with envy.
I have always liked the song. It got a lot of airplay during my last year or so of college. Those were good years, and it reminds me of them. The same for certain cuts from Steely Dan’s “Aja.”
Googling for comments from “experts” who are not experts would be a huge waste of my time.
Just basic common sense of knowing modern technology can provide higher sound quality should suffice...but the “experts” disagree.
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