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Rain continues to fall in this week’s forecast

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To your health: Don’t believe everything you read

<p>PLAINS &#8212; The Doobie Brothers rocked a sold-out crowd at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Saturday night with a nice mixture of hits and album tracks highlighting its early-&#8216;70s material.</p><p>Fronted by co-founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, the 2015 incarnation of the band is an eight piece, complete with two drummers and a saxophone player.</p><p>The band took the stage with &#8220;Jesus Is Just Alright,&#8221; the band&#8217;s 1972 revival of a 1966 gospel tune by The Art Reynolds Singers (also recorded by The Byrds in 1969), treating the Keystone Grand Ballroom audience to some terrific five-part harmonies.</p><p>In a nice touch, the Doobies followed with the first song&#8217;s original B-side, &#8220;Rockin&#8217; Down the Highway.&#8221;</p><p>Simmons, the only member included in every version of the band since its inception in 1970, then sang &#8220;Dependin&#8217; on You,&#8221; his contribution to the Doobies&#8217; most successful album, 1978&#8217;s four-time Grammy winner &#8220;Minute by Minute.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;And the place is rockin&#8217; tonight, ain&#8217;t that right,&#8221; Johnston said as Simmons led the group through the post-psychedelic acoustic number &#8220;Clear as the Driven Snow&#8221; from 1973&#8217;s &#8220;The Captain and Me.&#8221;</p><p>Johnston nudged a few people to their feet for 2010&#8217;s &#8220;World Gone Crazy,&#8221; then multi-instrumentalist John McFee played pedal steel for Simmons&#8217; &#8220;Neal&#8217;s Fandango&#8221; from 1975&#8217;s &#8220;Stampede.&#8221;</p><p>The Doobies went all the way back to its 1971 self-titled debut for &#8220;Slippery St. Paul,&#8221; then Simmons sang 1973&#8217;s &#8220;South City Midnight Lady.&#8221; The band followed with two tunes from 1974&#8217;s &#8220;What Were Once Vices are Now Habits&#8221;: the Simmons-led &#8220;Spirit&#8221; and the Johnston-led &#8220;Eyes of Silver.&#8221;</p><p>A piano solo by Guy Allison led to the band&#8217;s only nod to its 1976-1982 Michael McDonald years &#8211; a great version of &#8220;Takin&#8217; It to the Streets&#8221; with Simmons and bassist John Cowan sharing lead vocals.</p><p>The band returned to &#8220;Stampede&#8221; for its version of the Motown tune &#8220;Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me),&#8221; then Johnston sang Sonny Boy Williamson&#8217;s &#8220;Don&#8217;t Start Me To Talkin&#8217;,&#8221; just as he did on the 1972 album &#8220;Toulouse Street.&#8221;</p><p>McFee played fiddle on a great version of the band&#8217;s first No. 1 hit, 1974&#8217;s &#8220;Black Water,&#8221; which had the entire crowd singing along.</p><p>The main set ended with Johnston&#8217;s &#8220;Long Train Runnin&#8217;,&#8221; the band&#8217;s first Top 10 hit from 1973,</p><p>which left the crowd on its feet clamoring for more.</p><p>Many in the crowd gathered around the stage for the three-song encore, which started with a fantastic &#8220;China Grove,&#8221; followed by &#8220;Road Angel&#8221; from the &#8220;Vices&#8221; album.</p><p>The Doobies then brought the evening to a close with &#8220;Listen to the Music,&#8221; the band&#8217;s first big hit that has gone on to be one of its most enduring classics.</p><p>If all you know of The Doobie Brothers is the lightly funky, jazzy pop tunes sung by McDonald, the band went a long way on Saturday to prove they are so much more.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Doobie Brothers performed at the Keystone Grand Ballroom at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Plains Aug. 1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_doobie-brothers-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Doobie Brothers performed at the Keystone Grand Ballroom at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Plains Aug. 1. </caption0><photoCredit0>By Amanda Hrycyna | For the Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_doobie-brothers-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tom Johnston and John McFee perform with their band the Doobie Brothers to a lively crowd at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_doobie-brothers-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Tom Johnston and John McFee perform with their band the Doobie Brothers to a lively crowd at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </caption1><photoCredit1>By Amanda Hrycyna | For the Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Doobie-Brothers-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">John Cowan of The Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers performed at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Doobie-Brothers-4.jpg</photo2><caption2>John Cowan of The Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers performed at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </caption2><photoCredit2>By Amanda Hrycyna | For the Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Doobie-Brothers-5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers performed at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Doobie-Brothers-5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Patrick Simmons of The Doobie Brothers. The Doobie Brothers performed at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </caption3><photoCredit3>By Amanda Hrycyna | For the Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Doobie-Brothers3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Doobie Brothers members Patrick Simmons on guitar and Marc Russo on sax perform at at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Doobie-Brothers3.jpg</photo4><caption4>The Doobie Brothers members Patrick Simmons on guitar and Marc Russo on sax perform at at Mohegan Sun Pocono on Aug. 1. </caption4><photoCredit4>By Amanda Hrycyna | For the Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>The Doobie Brothers entertain sold out crowd at MSP</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brad Patton</p><p>For the Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Brad Patton has been reviewing concerts and writing about music for the Times Leader and Weekender for more than five years. He also hosts a two-hour radio show on 88.5 FM-WRKC (Radio King&#8217;s College) every Tuesday at 7 p.m.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

The Doobie Brothers, still burning strong four decades later