The Doobie Brothers' new virtual teamup with old friend Peter Frampton on Eric Clapton's “Let It Rain” is a classic rock dream come true. Frampton — who was such a Doobies fan back in the mid-'70s, he wrote his own “Doobie Wah” as a salute to the Bay Area rockers.
We caught up with Doobie Brothers co-founder and guitarist Tom Johnston, who shed light on how the collaboration was set in motion: “It's great having Peter on board and I love that song. I've always loved that song and it was just a fun project to do. Peter and I were chatting about doing a song and about maybe even doing a video and his keyboard player (Rob Arthur) is also a very good videographer and has been taking video of Peter on the road for two years. It's been a great substitute for being on the road, I guess you could call it. And it's not the same — I mean, you're obviously not on a bus, you're not traveling, and you're not seeing huge crowds — but at least it's creative and it requires a lot of work. You'd be surprised how much time it takes to get some of these things done.”
The '70s legends last hit the road together back in 2014 with the Doobies opening for Frampton during a string of shed dates.