Tom Johnston

Tom Johnston, renowned primarily for his guitar contributions to the Doobie Brothers, entered the world on August 15, 1948, in Visalia, CA. R&B captivated him early on, and once he acquired his first guitar at age 12, he mastered tracks by Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and James Brown. During his teenage years he performed with soul and blues outfits as well as a Mexican wedding band, later sustaining his blues work while enrolled at college in San Jose. There he encountered Skip Spence, the legendary lead singer of Moby Grape who was then drumming for the Jefferson Airplane. Spence connected Johnston with John Hartman, and the pair collaborated across multiple groups before achieving recognition upon forming the Doobie Brothers.

Although the debut Doobies record merely went “Teflon” rather than gold or platinum, leaving Johnston disappointed, he remained and penned “Listen to the Music” and “Rockin’ Down the Highway,” two songs central to the group’s widespread breakthrough. A stomach ailment sidelined him from the 1975 tour, after which Michael McDonald stepped in and gradually altered the ensemble’s direction. Unhappy with the shift, Johnston exited in 1977 to pursue solo work. His efforts Everything You’ve Heard Is True (1979) and Still Feels Good (1981) generated little attention. In 1988 he returned to the Doobies without McDonald and supplied their minor 1989 hit, “The Doctor.”