Cris Sommer Simmons, something of an American motorcycle pioneer herself, has been collecting photographs of women motorcyclists for nearly thirty years. A long time rider, often on a Harley-Davidson, she has scoured photo collections across the country and spent hundreds of hours researching the contents of the photographs. This book is the best of her veritable treasure trove. ‘Charming’ is the best word to describe each and every shot. Equally, one might say ‘informative’ or even ‘evocative’ but in truth this is a hugely significant work that seeks to charm and inject the reader with nostalgia for a surely bygone era.

• Download the official press release here (PDF), for a small preview of the book.
• Pre-Order it on Amazon.com now!

The 2006 Collector Series is the fifth and last limited production set and is produced from a special blend of premium Bordeaux varietals with exceptional rich flavors of black cherry and plum. Aging with premium French oak adds to a smooth, long finish.

The 2006 Doobie Red Series contains:

• “Cycles”
• “Brotherhood”
• “Sibling Rivalry”

This wine was produced in memory of Keith Knudsen, long time drummer for The Doobie Brothers since 1974.

A portion of the proceeds for this wine are donated to various Veteran Organization

• Order now at BRCohn.com

In between tour dates, the band is currently in the studio working on their upcoming full-length album, which marks the return of the longtime Doobie Brothers producer Ted Templeman. 15 songs have been written for this release.

We’ll keep you posted with updates regarding the album and tour as information becomes available!

More information:

B.R. Cohn Charity Events Proudly Present a BENEFIT CONCERT for the People of the Gulf Coast, the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Concert was held October 2005 at the B.R. Cohn Winery. The proceeds from the concert and DVD sales are being donated to Habitat for Humanity.

Featuring Performances by:

• The Doobie Brothers
• Loggins & Messina
• Little Feat
• Taj Mahal
• The Turtles
• Lisa Loeb
• Joe Satriani
• Norton Buffalo

While supplies last - Order it here!

We just wanted to take a moment to send out our best wishes for a very Happy Holiday Season, to all our Friends and Family. Here’s hoping you and your loved ones are all warm, healthy and happy during this season of giving. It has been a crazy, challenging year for all of us, but it looks like 2009 will be a new year full of hope and promise.

We are so thankful for the gift of soon having Mike Hossack back on the bandstand and on the bus with us. His unanticipated absence during the summer, fall, and now winter months, has been hard for the band, and Mike as well. We will be glad to be past this chapter in our lives, and are looking forward to seeing many of you next year. Mike and the band want to thank all of you for your love and support during his convalescence.

We are almost finished with a new Doobie Brothers album. The first one in almost a decade! Can you believe it? So far we have cut 13 songs, and possibly there are still more to come. We are once again working with our longtime friend and collaborator, Ted Templeman, in the producer’s chair. Ross Hogarth, Phil Kaffel, and Dave Russell have been doing the engineering duties. We are feeling really good about the direction, and performance of the songs. It’s been a lot of work, but so much fun, and as always the creative process is just amazing. To hear ideas that have been floating around in your head for so long finally brought to life in the studio, with the help of your friends, is a feeling that’s hard to describe. Sort of like Christmas and graduation day… hmm… we don’t know… Anyway it’s gonna be great to have some new songs to play next summer. There’s no title yet, we’ll let you know.

Like we said, mainly we want to tell you all how much we appreciate your continued support, and to wish you the best of everything as we move forward into the new year. We hold our families and friends close to our hearts, we try to reach out to those less fortunate, and we give thanks for all the blessings that have come our way. Those are the things we value in our own lives, and we hope you won’t mind if we pass this on. As we move through life, we have come to realize the small moments of happiness we experience in our lives through simple acts of love and sharing, are the best life has to offer. A child’s eyes on Christmas Day, a kiss under the mistletoe, angels in the snow… The memories of this wonderful time of year and those we love. Bless you all and Happy Holidays.

Love,
Pat Simmons

- The Doobie Brothers

Brand new classic rock? Yes, and here’s the story…

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Doobies guitarist John McFee and long time Doobies drummer, the late, great Keith Knudsen formed a band with Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist and fellow Southern Pacific bandmate Stu Cook. Diehard fans have been aware for years that a post-Southern Pacific project existed, although the songs they wrote and recorded have never been released - until now!

Sonic Past Music (the same label that recently released some of John’s work with his pre-Doobies band Clover) is proud to announce the October 21 release of Jackdawg.

This is earthy, creative, truly innovative rock at its finest - the music itself was the only goal here, which is perhaps why it has taken so long for these recordings to become available to the listening public. You can hear the fun in the music, and almost all the material was written by the three members together. The only “outside” songs are Jackdawg’s swampy rendition of Roky Erickson’s haunting Cold Night For Alligators and Van Morrison’s classic Wild Night. Even these two songs are close to home for the lads, as Stu produced Roky’s original version of Alligators and John played on Van’s original hit version of Wild Night. Check it out - the songs and the playing epitomize what a contrast a REAL band, who actually write, play, and sing on their own recordings makes to so much of the plastic, pre-fab offerings of today.

Relevant Trivia

• Jackdawg was a project that naturally evolved out of the dissolution of country rock band Southern Pacific, whose core lineup included John, Keith, and Stu plus keyboardist Kurt Howell (who went on launch a career as a successful solo artist, producer, and songwriter.)
• Jackdawg features John McFee on lead vocals, in addition to guitar.
• John and Keith were both long time touring and recording members of legendary Japanese artist Eikichi Yazawa’s band during the years of the Jackdawg sessions.
• Van Morrison’s version of Wild Night was Doobie Brothers producer (also Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, and more) Ted Templeman’s first hit record as a producer - and John McFee played on the record.
• This release was remixed, restored and remastered by John McFee from the original source tracks.

Listen to clips of all the songs and purchase the album for immediate download now at SonicPastMusic.com!

Alternatively, if you would like this album on an actual, physical CD, go to CDBaby!

In keeping with this tradition, The B.R. Cohn Charity Events 22nd Annual Fall Music Festival (held this past Saturday and Sunday) was a huge success. We will be posting more details and pictures of the event shortly. Thank you to everyone that came and participated in this great charity event!

The event featured:

• The Doobie Brothers
• Kris Kristofferson
• Todd Rundgren
• The Turtles
• Robert Cray
• Dave Mason
• Lara Johnston
• Michael Finney (Comedian/Magician)

A Benefit for:

• Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance
• Valley of the Moon Boys & Girls Club
• Sonoma Valley Education Foundation
• National Veteran’s Foundation
• CommonBond Foundation

The Doobie Brothers are continuing their current tour with Doobie drummer Ed Toth keeping the beat for the band. All of our best wishes go out to Mike for a speedy recovery.

It’s actually Pat Simmons Jr. - he is singing a few tunes and accompanying himself on the guitar and harmonica. Just goes to show the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Or the grape from the vine? Here’s a picture from the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif. near San Jose where it all began.

How cool is this? Every musician has influences and people they admire for their abilities and musical accomplishments. For a multi-instrumentalist player-singer such as the Doobies’ own John McFee, it’s hard to imagine a greater role model and musical inspiration than the legendary Glen Campbell.

Well, when the opportunity presented itself for John to work with Glen for a video recording session featuring songs from Glen’s new (August 19 release date) album, Meet Glen Campbell, John naturally jumped at the chance to play with one of his idols.

Without revealing too much about the session, suffice it to say that according to John “it was an unbelievable honor” to get to perform with Glen - both the newer music and some of Glen’s classics (including at least one of Glen’s songs that ranks at the top of the list of John’s all time favorite records).

An air date hasn’t been set yet for the video - check out Glen’s official web site for updates and more information about his new album, which includes some great material from what might be surprising sources (such as songs by Green Day, U2, and Tom Petty, among others). ]]> http://www.doobiebrothers.net/2008/07/22/john-glen%e2%80%a6/feed/