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♪ Whoa, whoa ♪ - My dream is being free to tell my story.

- I play the life-changing kind of music.

- These songs are just really important parts of my DNA.

- I have an opportunity to give people hope.

- Okay, let's have some fun.

(upbeat music) (audience cheering) - Thank you for coming.

Thank you for being here.

(audience cheering) This is very exciting.

Michael, I understand you have a book.

- Yes.

- Tell us about it.

I'm gonna do my Johnny Carson.

I understand you have a book.

How does that feel?

All these wonderful accolades, and now you're an author.

How is that?

- Well, I mean, it's surreal really.

I don't think I've been this nervous about doing anything for a long time.

- Really?

Wow.

- Coming out here and talking about a book.

But my ace in the hole is this guy right here, without whom there would be no book, that's for sure.

- Well, not quite so, but- - He was my cheerleader and truant officer all at the same time.

- Well, it started very selfishly, 'cause I wanted to read it.

I said, "Would you write a book?

I'd like to know, who are you?"

I've been a fan of Mike forever, and I never really understood the story.

And we had met a couple of years ago, and then we became friends.

And then I would ask him things periodically.

I said, "Well, I don't understand.

If you're with Steely Dan, how could you also be with the Doobies?

It doesn't make sense."

And then he would explain it to me and I go, "Okay."

And then like a week later, I would forget.

And so I jokingly said, "You know, you should write a book, and then I wouldn't have to bother you all the time."

And this was March of 2020.

It was just when lockdown started.

And Mike luckily said, you said, "You know, I've always, I've thought about it sometimes, but I don't know how to write a book."

I go, "Well, I've written a book or two, plus we got nothing to do now for a couple of months."

So we just started talking and we just, on Zoom, 'cause the, and then he would tell stories, and then we wrote them down and put them in order, and there's a beautiful book.

Were there surprises to you going through it?

- You know, yeah.

Many.

And so much of what I thought was true, that wasn't true, as we looked into it, dates and places and times and things.

But for me, you know, it seemed like a daunting task for anyone to write down what they think encapsulates their life experience.

But we had a great time doing it.

- But I have to say for not having understood the Michael McDonald story, I now understand it.

Like, I mean, I didn't know like how big music was in your house growing up.

- Yeah, very, very, very much so.

My dad was a singer.

- Yeah.

- And a popular singer in the St. Louis area.

Had appeared on TV in the area.

But he mostly kept it in his amateur status.

He didn't do it for a living, but he loved to go and sing at all the saloons in the North County, in St. Louis area.

And back in those days, in the '50s, any, you know, good saloon on the corner always employed a piano player, a good piano player.

There was a lot of great piano players, people you wouldn't expect to be in a saloon on a Saturday afternoon.

But they would play for the customers, and that was kind of a staple in that arena, in that area of social life.

And so my dad got to know a few of them, some of the better ones, really.

And they loved having him come down and sing, you know?

- And so he would, see a lot of times, and what was to me the great fun of the book, Mike would just say something very casually and not realize how funny it was or how rich it was.

I go, "Say that again."

And one of the things you said early on, you said, "You know, the reason I'm a singer," he said, "I might not have, I'm a singer because of my dad."

I said, "Oh, really?

Did he push you?"

He said, "Well, no, really, if my mom had trusted my father more, I wouldn't have become a singer."

I went- (audience laughing) What's that?

So, 'cause your dad would go out, as you told it.

- Well, my dad was a veteran of World War II, you know, most of us who have grown up in that era.

- Fans of the war.

- He was a Marine in the Pacific.

And, you know, they didn't have the moniker PTSD back then.

But one of my dad's residual, I think, looking back on it all, the effects that his experience in the war had on him was he couldn't sit still.

You know, he always had to keep moving, you know?

Four walls around my father was like, torture, you know?

He always had one foot out the door.

And my mom understood that, and she was fine with it, because he didn't drink.

And she knew that he loved to sing and he loved the camaraderie of that scene, if you will, with his friends, the piano players, a few different ones.

And, you know, he never walked into a saloon in North County where people didn't immediately yell out, "Hey, Bobbo, sing a song," you know?

And he actually sang for a young senator from Massachusetts during his first run for president, John F. Kennedy, at a big rally in St. Louis.

- And the song he sang was?

- "It's a Great Day for the Irish."

- There you go.

(audience laughing) And it's so perfect.

- I used to tag along with my dad and, you know, our drill was, he would get me my Shirley Temple, and he would get his Pepsi-Cola, and he would go get ready to go up and sing, and I would sit on the windowsill behind the piano player sucking down my Grenadine and club soda.

The bartender was kind enough to call it a Roy Rogers, you know, from my sake.

And I would sit there and I would watch the piano player.

Piano players, they were all great, but Ida Byrnes was probably his favorite piano player.

And he was her favorite singer.

And I would watch Ida's hands glide effortlessly up and down the keyboards and just be mesmerized by this whole harmonic world that she would create.

And my dad would step up at the microphone, and his Irish tenor voice soar over the top of that.

And the crowd would love it.

And I watched him bring the house down time and time again.

Well, one night, or one day, I put my Roy Rogers down, I walked up to Ida, and I tapped her on the shoulder from behind the piano.

I said, "I'd like to sing a song."

- Five.

- I was about five.

Yeah.

- Five.

- And she just kinda looked at me like, she goes, "What do you wanna sing, honey?"

And she looked at my dad, and he looked at me, and I said, "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing."

(audience laughing) And she just kinda looked over her glasses like, yes.

She goes, "Okay," you know, so she played this kind of intro and she realized I'm not gonna have any idea where to start.

So she ends with this can't-miss-it starting note, you know, and I belt it out for all I was worth.

"Love is a many-splendored thing."

- How many people find their career at five?

But what did they listen to in the house?

What was the music growing up?

- Well, my sisters and I grew up being introduced to a lot of great music.

We had a great love, the McDonalds, for a good song and a great songwriter.

'Cause my parents, they always seemed to know who wrote that song.

- Really?

- Yeah, yeah.

- That's great.

- And we had an uncle, Johnny Sadler, who wrote, I guess, some well-known songs back in the Tin Pan Alley era.

You know, you don't think you make money nowadays; you really didn't make money back then.

And apparently he was a heroin addict and he laid in bed with a guitar and wrote "Heart of My Heart" and "The Wedding Bells are Breaking Up This Old Gang of Mine," and all these like World War I kind of, you know, mostly sold just in sheet music, you know?

- But so yeah, so you heard "This is Your Country," you heard Ray Charles and Etta James.

And what, actually, what tickled me most personally, when you started talking about your first band, 'cause I went, "That sounds like my band when I was 12."

We weren't very, it was called The Upper Deck, my band, and we were very popular in my building, really.

It was a narrow- - Gotta start somewhere.

- Yeah, and I wouldn't say quite, really, the bottom floors mainly.

We didn't make it to the top.

Never did.

But you had, tell them the name of your band, my friend.

- My first real band, my sister was our manager, Kathy, and we were called Mike and the Majestics.

- I love that you got top billing, Mike.

- Yeah, I got top billing.

I think that was my sister's idea.

- Oh, nice.

- But yeah, and we played our first gig, she got us a gig for $9.

A woman's PTA group luncheon at this Episcopal church in Ferguson.

And the pastor came up somewhere in the, you know, right after our first break and handed me the envelope with the $9 and said, "That was great, boys."

I said, "Well, we have a whole nother set of music."

He goes, "That won't be necessary."

(audience laughing) So he paid us to stop, you know?

- Here's money.

Go away.

- That's not the last time that's happened in my career.

- Yeah, I know.

So you were really working as a kid.

I mean, you were 14.

See, I never knew any of this.

You were 14 and you joined, what was it, an 18-piece band that, Mike, that- - Yeah.

14-piece band.

It was Jerry Jay and the Sheratons.

- Who were kind of big in St. Louis.

- Yeah, they were kind of a renowned soul dance band, you know.

- And they're all 18 and 20 and 21.

- Yeah.

- And you're 14.

- And myself and two of the singers, myself and Chuck Sabatino, he was 15 and I was 14.

- So you're playing at, what was, the Castaway Club, which is kind of famous.

- Castaway.

So we were the house band at the Castaway Club.

Yeah.

- Okay, so here's little things that Mike would just throw out casually, like, "Yeah, you know, we would back up whoever was coming to town.

I backed up Chuck Berry and Howlin' Wolf," and I'm going, "Go back, what?"

You're 14, you're playing behind, or how old were you?

Chuck Berry comes into town.

- About 14, 15, yeah.

I wasn't 15 when I left the band probably.

- Wow.

And how about the stones on you?

I'm gonna leave this band 'cause I'm 15 and I'm going places.

(Michael laughs) - Yeah.

- I'm gonna move these people aside.

- Yeah, you know, it wasn't, my best thinking never really got me too far.

- No, it's working out for you.

Okay, it worked out.

But, so now here's another cool fact.

Now, I was not aware of Jerry Jay and the Sheratons, but your first gig, your big gig, when they flew you to New York to play Shea Stadium.

- Irv Satinowski was a guy who owned a music store.

And he was a great guy, a sweetheart, and very supportive of young bands.

And he got us a sponsorship with Vox Instruments.

And we got to make a demo tape.

And we were the Midwest representative band.

And there was a West Coast and an East Coast band.

I don't remember the East Coast band, but the West Coast band was an acid rock band, which was just kind of new to all of us, and called the Orphan Egg.

And looking back, they were great, you know, but yeah.

So the three bands met in New York at Forest Hills, at the Forest Hills Music Festival, to open for, they carved out this opening, opening slot for these bands from Vox.

- But the headliners were huge.

- It was Simon & Garfunkel and the Doors.

- So you're thinking you're opening for the Doors, this is pretty big.

- And we thought, you know, in our cardigan sweaters and our patent leather shoes and, you know, our houndstooth slacks, and dressed exactly alike to get on the airplane.

We were dressed alike.

I'll never forget people looking at us, walking by going, "What the hell is, what's going on here?"

- It's the king family.

- Yeah, yeah.

Right.

And so, and then of course we were all in middle seats, but, you know, that seemed to be a theme throughout my life.

So we went to New York to play, and we thought, you know, when we come back, we're gonna kill this thing, you know?

'Cause we had choreography.

We had a little strobe light that one of the guys' fathers made.

And so, you know, our last couple numbers, we had the strobe light going, and you know, we were awesome, you know?

And the horn players would swing their horns over each other's heads.

And with the strobe light going, there was a lot of busted lips.

Near fist fights and stuff.

But we were awesome, that's what we thought, you know.

And we thought we'd get up there.

Well, first of all, we found out we had like 10 square feet to play in.

And it was a huge stage with lighting trusses.

- But you guys are here.

- Yeah, we're like here on this postage stamp.

And so we didn't realize we're gonna be going on about 5:30, and it's still daylight, there's no lights.

- And the crowd's not in yet.

- Yeah.

The crowd's still looking for their seats.

You know, we thought, well, we open for the Doors.

If nothing else ever happens, you know, we can always say that.

- So then, so I was trying to follow the trajectory, and it took an effort to find the through line.

So there were a couple of bands, and then you left them.

You did a couple of other bands, the Guild, the Blue.

And then what got you out to California, now you're 18 and somebody hears you sing with a band, and his brother is a big producer in L.A., Rick Gerard, right?

- Right.

- Who produced- - Jefferson Airplane.

- Jefferson Airplane.

- Jose Feliciano's first album "Light My Fire," "Aerial Ballet," Harry Nilsson.

- So he sends you tape, and that basically says, "Come on out to California and make a record."

That was your plan.

You had nothing else, you knew nothing.

- Yeah, no, I didn't need to hear any more than that.

And I had good friends who really were in the music business back there at the time and who, you know, could look at this contract and go, "You don't wanna sign this," you know?

But I, you know, I wasn't having it.

I said, "You know, I may never get this chance again, you know, I gotta go."

And so my good friend at the time said, "You know, well, go ahead."

And you know, "But just don't give away your publishing, whatever you do.

You don't need to give away your publishing."

- Right.

- That belongs to your kids.

- Right.

You're 18.

- Yeah, first thing I did when I got to California was sign away my publishing.

- Yeah.

(audience laughing) - But, yeah, anyway, luckily- - That's how you learn.

You live and learn.

- You live and learn.

Yeah, yeah.

- So impress me, so this guy, Rick Gerard- - And given those songs, I think they got the worst end of the deal.

- Yeah, okay.

Fair enough.

So Rick Gerard says, "Okay, we're gonna make a demo," and he's gonna then shop that to, he had an independent label, or he had his own?

- He had just gone as an independent production company.

- Okay.

- Yeah, he was a staff producer at RCA.

- So you're 18, this is '71?

- '70, 1970.

Yeah.

- He finds a song that a publisher in the UK sends him.

"Try this, Mike," and he makes a record.

The song that he picked was- - It was a song written by an unknown duo, writing duo, Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

(audience gasps) And- - See if he can make this crap work.

- Yeah.

(audience laughing) And it was a song called "Take Me to the Pilot," which I loved because it was, see, you know, it was like the kind of music I liked.

It was a gospel kind of song.

And the metaphor, you know, for the lyric, the lyric was for a kind of a spiritual, you know, higher level of thought.

I liked it, you know, and I thought, "Wow, that's just a great song."

- On the basis of that demo, they went, "Yeah, this kid's good, sign him."

- Yeah, I got signed to RCA.

- So now you're making an album with not your band.

So they bring in musicians who are like, it turns out- - Like the wrecking crew guys.

- The wrecking crew.

Played with Elvis on Tuesday and the 18-year-old kid on Wednesday.

- Yeah, at which point, I remember on one of the sessions, the drummer leaned over to me, he goes, "You know, Mike," he goes, "the first one to the chorus doesn't get the solo."

- [Paul] Yeah, you don't have to speed up.

- [Michael] Try to relax a little bit.

Yeah, yeah.

- So you cut the album.

- We cut the album.

We found out that that song, I thought, "Wow, boy, this is a great start for my album.

I love this song and the band played the heck out of it."

We found out that it was the actual track from Elton John's first album, which was coming out that month.

- Yeah.

So you didn't get it.

- Yeah, we, that song was gone.

But, you know, we wound up doing an album full of my songs.

And like I say, for better or worse.

But, you know, it was a wonderful experience.

And I learned so much.

- One of the gigs you got that you told me, and again, pure accident, somebody asks you, "Hey, I got a gig, I can't do it.

It's put together a band for a party, for a wrap party for a TV show."

- I met a girl who was a bass player who worked, you know, she was pretty good at working.

And she said, "I got this gig for New Year's Eve."

When New Year's Eve was always a big night, you know?

You made more money usually on New Year's Eve.

- And they're drunk, they won't remember.

- That's right, yeah.

And she goes, "It's a wrap party."

- And you have to put together the band.

- Put together the band.

- "'Cause, you know, organizational skills are really-" - "Not my strong suit."

- Yeah.

- Well, and she said as much.

You know, she said, "Don't wait.

I know you."

She goes, "Do not wait till the last minute."

- Cut to- - Yeah, so cut to me a week out, I've got a sax player sitting across from me.

We're smoking a joint, and I've got my head in my hands.

I'm going, "I am screwed.

She is gonna kill me."

I said, "There's no way, you know, no way in hell we're gonna get this together."

And he's looking at me, he goes, "I know some cats."

He goes, "They actually play in sessions mostly."

He goes, "But you know, they're working on an album right now, and they're working during the day.

They're usually done by six on this project, so they might want to do it just for fun."

You know, I go, "Oh, that would be too good to be true."

I said, "Well, we don't have any time to rehearse."

And he just kind of laughed.

He goes, "Eh," he goes, "these cats don't need to rehearse, man."

He goes, "You just make the core charts, put the songs in the right key, and just pass 'em out, and they'll handle it, you know?"

- So these people you happen to- - The drummer was Jeff Porcaro.

The bass player was Mike Porcaro.

David Page came down and sat in with us for a while.

Kent Henry on guitar.

And that was about it for us.

- Like L.A. is just teeming with all these musicians who basically defined the '70s and the '80s.

- Basically Toto came down and sat in with me.

You know, they weren't Toto yet.

And they were actually, the album they were working on was Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic."

- Right, which, and at the time, you were just a huge fan.

- My favorite band in the world, and I was just so jealous hearing these stories.

- How did these guys get it?

- How do you get a gig like that?

And so we did the gig.

We had about two hours worth of music.

We got through the two hours.

The place was more than happy.

- But this is what I love, these sort of random things.

So your friend happens to get Jeff Porcaro.

Cut to, it's like a year and change later.

- Yeah.

- You get a call.

"Jeff Porcaro is looking for you."

- Yeah.

Yeah, it was the same girl, as a matter of fact.

She calls me, she goes, "You know, Jeff Porcaro called me.

He's looking for you.

Here's his number.

He wants you to call him back right away."

So I'm like, wow.

I never really expected to hear from him again, necessarily.

So I call him and he says, "Hey, man, we're finally going on the road with this album."

- The Steely Dan.

- Steely Dan album.

He goes, "They're looking for somebody to play some keyboards and sing backgrounds, you know?

And I knew you could sing the high parts, you know, on this stuff, so why don't you come down and audition?"

I said, "Great, when should I come down?"

He goes, "Like, right now."

(audience laughing) And so I threw my Wurlitzer in my Ford Pinto and I drove down there, and the guys- - No preparation.

- No preparation.

I didn't really know that many of their songs.

I knew the ones I loved.

- Nobody knows how to play those songs.

- Just like three songs.

Yeah.

And I certainly didn't know how to play 'em, you know?

But I was so, I guess, so adrenalized and determined to get that gig - That's crazy.

- that Donald just kind of taught me the songs and the background parts.

We're rehearsing.

And about five hours later, I realized, I think I'm in the band.

- Yeah.

They don't tell you.

- Yeah, no.

And- - 'Cause usually that would be like, 30 minutes and thank you.

- Yeah, yeah.

"Hey, we'll call you."

- We'll call you.

So, because they didn't throw you out, I must be in.

- Yeah, and Jeff kind of gave me one of those, you know?

And so I thought, "Wow."

- And then you're in Steely Dan.

- Yeah.

- That's how it happened.

See what I'm saying?

It doesn't make sense.

(audience applauding) The end of that tour, they kind of did have their famous, we're changing things up.

- Yeah.

Everybody's fired.

- Everybody's fired.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Nice.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

- [Michael] On the way out.

- So now you're back, you're back in the States, and playing the Trojan Room in Pasadena.

- Yeah, which particularly smarted, because I was doing Steely Dan songs at the Trojan Room, you know?

- That you just played.

- I'm in Glendale, yeah.

- Oh, that's so sad.

- Onto like, you know, a couple of pretty uninterested barflies.

You know, that was about it.

- You should have seen me last week!

- Yeah.

(audience laughing) - I know these guys.

So now you go, you have reason to think, "All right, my career's over, I'm 20.

I'm playing Pasadena for the third time."

So then I said, well, out of the blue comes another call.

This is what I'm trying to explain to you people.

There's no reason for any of this to happen.

So you get a call from- - I'm home for a while, I'm back at the Trojan Room, and I get a call from, again, the same girl.

She goes, "Jeff Baxter called for you, and-" - What, is she like the switchboard operator for- - Yeah, she was, well, she was kind of the, everybody knew her.

- Everybody goes through her.

Wow.

- So she goes, "Jeff Baxter- - "One moment, please."

- left his number, he wants you to call him."

So I gotta call him.

- Jeff Baxter, who was in Steely Dan.

- He was with the Doobies at this point.

He was in Steely Dan, yes.

- He had been.

- And now he was out touring with just about anyone leaving town.

I mean, he would get on the bus with every band going out.

He played with the Eagles.

- He was already with the Doobies at this point.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- So Jeff says, "Listen, we need somebody.

We thought maybe keyboards might be nice for a change, and you know, we want you to come down and you could take some leads.

And, you know, I told these guys you could handle it."

So now I'm not even auditioning.

I'm just showing up, you know, for the gig.

And I said, "Well, you know, I don't really have enough money to fly to New Orleans."

He goes, "Don't worry about it.

Your tickets there.

There's some per diem when you get here."

- More free money.

Per diem.

- Yeah, yeah.

More free money.

"And just, you know, put your keyboard in baggage and they'll meet you at the airport."

- And at least you knew their, you were familiar with their songs, I mean, you could play.

- Yeah, and I was familiar.

I had played many of them at the Trojan Room, you know.

- See, you're just warming up.

So two days rehearsal, and then you're playing in arenas.

- Yeah, with a lot of little sticky notes all over my piano, yeah.

- Oh, yeah.

And then you're a Doobie.

- Yeah, my first show with them was at an arena.

And really with Steely Dan, we hadn't played any places this big, you know, yet.

You know, we played a lot of theaters and, you know, smaller, you know, kind of venues.

Steely Dan went on, of course, later to play huge places.

But the Doobies, they were a bonafide touring rock and roll band.

You know, and as big as it got back then.

And first show, I remember my dad lived in New Orleans at the time, so I hooked up with my dad and had lunch.

And at the end of my rehearsal- - The way you told the story first time, he said, "My dad and I," and it was a circular arena, he said, "And, you know, there's no back door on a round building."

And he goes, so we just had to pick, you had a map, and you run around a building.

And your father goes, "Are you sure you got the job?"

Because, which is like, perfect.

You need your dad in the car to go, "I don't think you're in this band, Mike."

- Well, you know, back then- - They would've let you in if you were in the band, they would tell you where to go.

- And my dad, everything for him was like, "Who's paying for this?"

You know?

That was his take on everything, you know?

He watched all these people with their specific jobs running around, you know?

There was somebody to take pictures.

There was somebody to, you know, serve the food.

There was, you know, somebody that tuned the guitars.

- It was bigger than Mike and the Majestics.

- Oh, definitely.

Yeah.

The last time he heard me play prior to this gig was at the Panorama Bowling Lanes.

You know, so this was an eyeopener to both of us.

And even before showtime, the road manager said, "Did your dad wanna sit on stage and watch the show?"

I said, "Sure," you know.

My dad, he goes up and sits on stage, and nobody knows me.

So I sat next to him while the house lights were up.

All of a sudden the house lights go out, and this roar, this crowd just roars.

And my dad and I both kinda went, you know, (chuckles) and I got up when the band walked by me and just followed them out on stage.

(audience laughing) And sat at my piano with all my posty notes, you know?

- I should go with them.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

And we played, we started playing, you know, and it was like being strapped to an Atlas rocket, you know, on the nose of an Atlas rocket, you know.

And this, it was just such an amazing experience to hear the reaction of the crowd.

- I bet.

So now you're a Doobie.

How did that work out for you?

- Well, it was kind of under the radar.

Yeah, you know?

Yeah.

- It might not work out for them, but- - I think at that point in time, yeah, yeah, I mean, I remember, you know, as you would imagine, there were people in the crowd when I would sing one of Tom's songs, you know, they would go, "Who the hell's that?"

You know, "Where's Tommy?"

And, you know, but, you know, other than that, Pat introduced me as Michael McDonald.

- Michael, you had never been, yeah.

- The last time I was called that was by a nun in grade school.

- You were just Mike, you were always Mike.

- I was always just Mike, you know?

- So it's his fault.

- Yeah.

So the next day in the paper it said, "Well, the strange guy singing Tom Johnston's songs was Michael McDonald."

And so it's kind of stuck ever since then, you know?

- Could have been worse.

- Yeah, no, sure, sure.

- Could've called you Ruth.

- [Michael] Yeah, yeah.

(laughs) - So, well then, so now there's a whole thing.

So now you're writing with the Doobies, and some of them you wrote yourself, and then you had some really interesting partnerships.

So the song, and the name of the book, "What a Fool Believes," which was a huge Doobie's song, that was yours, but it always made me like, songs don't like come out, they're not born fully formed.

Right, I mean, how did that one start?

- Back then, you know, for me, I could be working on a song for years, you know, and some songs do come like seemingly in 20 minutes, or you know, less.

They fall outta the sky.

- That's like the rarity.

- Yeah, and you never feel like you actually wrote it.

You think, well, you know, some spirit in a past life, you know, wanted to write a song, and I was it, you know?

But typically I would have these pieces of songs, you know, and I would play them for the producer, our producer at the time, Ted Templeman.

And I played him this little piano riff I had.

And he said, "That's a hit."

He goes, "You've gotta finish that song."

- We can, if we can take a quick pause, 'cause we happen to have a keyboard here.

- Yeah, sure.

- Perhaps you can tell us.

We're gonna take a quick pause and play this.

We were talking about "What a Fool Believes."

So that was, so that song was not a quickie.

"What a Fool Believes" took a while.

- No, no, no.

I- - Ted Templeman heard the riff.

- Ted Templeman heard this much.

(jaunty keyboard music) - [Paul] Yeah, that.

(jaunty keyboard music) - And I had some words, you know.

- And you, you're sitting on it for a year.

- At least a year, and I just could not finish it.

You know, I couldn't think of what should come next, you know?

So Tiran Porter, our bass player, Doobies, had run into Kenny Loggins, and Kenny said, "You know, I really dig what you guys are doing, and I like Mike McDonald's songs."

And he goes, "I'd love to write with him.

Would you give him my number?"

- [Paul] So here's the part that killed me.

Which, so Kenny's coming over to write, and your sister- - So I'm playing songs for, little bits of songs I have.

I'm looking at pieces of paper, you know, and books, and looking for anything that might be a start, you know?

'Cause now I'm realizing I've got this world-class songwriter coming to my house, and I don't really have anything finished or, you know, anything.

I don't know what to play for him.

So I'm playing it for my sister, and she's going, "Yeah, that's good."

- So she just hears da, da, da, da.

- So I play her this.

(jaunty keyboard music) She goes, "Yeah, I don't know if I would play him that one."

She goes- (audience laughing) "He might think you're writing circus music or something."

(audience laughing) (Paul laughs) - I don't think I'd play that for Kenny.

- Luckily for me, you know, I was playing that for her just at the time that Kenny Loggins was about to knock on my, to ring my doorbell, you know?

I go to the door, he goes, "Yeah, before you say anything, you were playing something just a minute ago."

And I go, "Oh, yeah."

- Circus music?

- Yeah.

(audience laughing) He goes, "You were playing something a minute ago."

He goes, "I wanna work on that first."

Because he had already written - Standing at the door.

- the B section of the song.

- That kills me.

- Before I even answered the door he had, his mind had gone to ♪ She ♪ ♪ Had a place in his life ♪ - [Paul] It's crazy.

♪ He ♪ ♪ Never made her think twice ♪ - And then we started writing this because we didn't really know where to go.

(jaunty keyboard music) Okay, there's gotta be a chorus here somewhere.

(jaunty keyboard music) And then nothing, you know?

We both kind of knew that the gist of the song was gonna be you can't fix stupid.

You know, I mean that, you know, basically is the theme.

It's like, here's this guy, and he's convinced that this is the way it was, and nobody's gonna convince him differently, you know?

- You can't fix stupid.

- Not even the person that's the object of his, yeah, you know, of his love and admiration.

And so somehow between us, we came up with, "What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power."

We still don't have any music to that.

But it's a reason away.

I said, "Okay, yeah, that's where we're going."

And we somehow found this key change.

(jaunty keyboard music) We've gotten this far, you know?

(Paul laughs) ♪ What a fool believes ♪ ♪ He sees ♪ ♪ Wise man has the power ♪ ♪ To reason away ♪ ♪ What seems ♪ ♪ To be ♪ ♪ Is always better than nothing ♪ ♪ Nothing at all ♪ ♪ Keeps sending him somewhere back in her long ago ♪ (audience cheering) And that's how that song got written.

(laughs) - That worked out pretty good for you.

- It worked out pretty good.

- Song of the Year, so yeah.

I was a big fan of, as were many people, of your Motown Records, which seemed like the most natural... You talked about this pivotal moment that your friend Chuck Sabatino, so now you're still kids, you're 12, and his mother, I love this story, His mother worked at E.J.

Korvette's, which is, they don't have anymore, but department store.

And they always had record departments in those stores.

And he brought you down, and he introduced you to a song that ended up being like a big piece of your life.

- Yeah, well, you know, like I said, I was in this English Invasion band and we played like, you know, the Kinks and the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

- The St. Louis British band.

- Yes.

Yeah, exactly.

And so I went to hear his band play 'cause they had this really slick gig playing at the food court.

- Oh, they were playing it.

Right, right, right.

- Yeah, and that was big time.

- Right, right.

- So I went down there, and here's Chuck with this great band, and they had a three-piece horns section.

- Wow.

- And they were doing all these great songs that I was just starting to become familiar with.

You know, soul R&B songs mostly.

And here's this guy with this great voice, you know, one of the first people I ever heard that I thought, "Wow, that's the first white guy I've ever heard sing with that much soul."

So after they got done with their set, I went up and I'm talking to him, and he takes me down to the record department, and you could sample 45s back then, you know?

So he's taking all these 45s out, you know, and the woman knows his mother, so she's letting him do it.

- Right.

- And he's got a bunch of 45s, and he's putting 'em on one at a time.

And he's playing me all this great stuff.

And I knew the Temptations, 'cause they had a big hit at the time, "My Girl."

But I didn't know some of the other stuff by them.

And he played me this one song that stuck with me from that day on.

- Temptations?

- Temptations.

"Since I Lost My Baby."

I just, I love that song.

- Perhaps, and I'm just pitching, maybe you could play it.

(audience laughing) The way Michael McDonald does it.

(gentle keyboard music) ♪ Birds are singing ♪ ♪ Children are playing ♪ ♪ There's work and bosses are paying ♪ ♪ Not a sad word ♪ ♪ Should my young heart be saying ♪ ♪ But fun is a bore ♪ ♪ With money I'm poor ♪ ♪ Since I lost my baby ♪ ♪ Since I lost my baby ♪ ♪ Next time I'll be kinder ♪ ♪ Won't you please let me find her ♪ ♪ Someone please remind her ♪ ♪ Of a love she left behind her ♪ ♪ Till then I'll be trying to ♪ ♪ Every day be that much kinder ♪ ♪ I'll find her, remind her ♪ ♪ Oh, determination ♪ ♪ Is fading fast ♪ ♪ Inspiration ♪ ♪ Is a thing of the past ♪ ♪ Don't know how my hope's gonna last ♪ ♪ What's good is bad ♪ ♪ And what's happy is sad ♪ ♪ Since I lost my baby ♪ ♪ Since I lost my baby ♪ ♪ Oh I, I feel so bad ♪ ♪ I feel so sad ♪ ♪ Since I ♪ ♪ Since I lost my baby ♪ (gentle keyboard music) (audience cheering) - Not bad.

- How were those around?

- Wow, wow.

"Takin' It to the Streets."

You were sharing about that, how that, that came out of a very sort of left-field way, the way that, right?

- Yeah, that was actually another conversation with my sister Maureen.

- Thank God for your sisters.

- Between my sisters, you know, I- - Yeah, it's everything.

Without your sisters, you got nothing.

- God only knows where I would've wound up.

But she was in college at the time, and we were talking about, she was doing a thesis, I think, on poverty in America, and how if we weren't careful, the ever-widening gap, would, you know, sink more and more of us as we went along, you know?

- And you said, "That's a hit."

- Well, yeah, yeah.

It was as prone to the morbid, you know?

I had been writing a song that I knew was a gospel song.

I thought it was.

And my original idea for it was, I would go someday to a church and record it with a big choir and a rhythm section, the kind that plays in church.

And somewhere along the line, in that conversation with my sister, I thought, well, that would be the perfect, kinda like "Take Me to the Pilot," you know, kind of a metaphoric- - Yeah.

- Quasi-spiritual idea of, you know, just kind of telling it like it is, which, what better motif for that, or underpinning for that than a gospel song kind of an idea.

So I didn't, you know, I remember I was driving to a show one night and it popped in my head, and I didn't, it was driving me crazy, as I wasn't near a piano to see if it actually was something that you could play on the piano, you know?

But in my head, I heard this.

(jaunty keyboard music) - [Paul] Wow.

It's hard to picture without a piano.

- And, you know, and then I got to the gig and I thought, well, that's the verse, you know, kind of.

And I had some words, you know, "You don't know me, but I'm your brother," and all that, you know.

And I knew it would go here, you know?

And I knew that eventually, you know, it would have to just kind of break out into, (jaunty keyboard music) you know, but I didn't know.

My sister and I, our conversation left off with, you know, more and more people are gonna be falling through the cracks, you know?

And I think when I first thought of it, I thought, well, you know, take it to the halls of Congress, take it to the courts, you know?

I said, "No, you know, probably it's gonna just be taking it to the streets at some point."

And so I didn't really think that much about it.

- [Paul] Share that if you would.

(jaunty keyboard music) - I feel so lonely right now.

(audience laughing) (jaunty keyboard music) ♪ You don't know me, but I'm your brother ♪ ♪ I was raised here in this living hell ♪ ♪ You don't know my kind in your world ♪ ♪ Fairly soon, time will tell ♪ ♪ You ♪ ♪ Telling me the things you're gonna do for me ♪ Anybody that feels like singing along, you know?

♪ I ain't blind, but I don't like what I think I see ♪ ♪ Takin' it to the streets ♪ ♪ Takin' it to the streets ♪ ♪ Takin' it to the streets ♪ ♪ Takin' it to the streets ♪ ♪ Take this message to my brother ♪ ♪ You will find him ♪ ♪ Everywhere ♪ ♪ Wherever people ♪ ♪ Live together ♪ ♪ Tired of poverty's despair ♪ ♪ Oh, you ♪ ♪ Telling me things you're gonna do for me ♪ ♪ Yeah, I ain't blind, I don't like what I think I see ♪ ♪ Takin' it, takin' it ♪ ♪ We can make it better ♪ ♪ Better for my brother ♪ ♪ Better for my sister ♪ ♪ I know we can, yes, we can ♪ ♪ I know we can ♪ ♪ Takin' it, takin' it ♪ (jaunty keyboard music) ♪ You know, the man said ♪ ♪ Said I may not get there with it ♪ ♪ Sure enough, we got to keep on walking ♪ ♪ That's the flame of freedom ♪ ♪ A real bop-a-rop, everybody now ♪ ♪ We're takin' it, takin' it ♪ (jaunty keyboard music) ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Takin' it, takin' it ♪ ♪ I know we can, yes we can ♪ ♪ Better for my brother, better for my sister ♪ ♪ Better for each other ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Takin' it, takin' it ♪ (audience cheering) Thank you.

Thank you.

- You know, it's like I always say, I think the band is slowing you down.

(audience laughing) We were thinking, since we're here in beautiful Nashville, that we should do something from Nashville.

So one of the, you were talking about all these wonderful writers and artists that you worked with.

One that I didn't know you worked was Brenda Lee.

- That's right.

(audience cheering) Well, and, as I- - How did that- - I mentioned to you, yeah, my aunts, you know, originally turned my sister and I on to Brenda Lee, and they taught us her songs.

Patsy Klein, you know, and Brenda Lee.

And, you know, we loved those artists.

You know, Brenda Lee was probably all of 13 when she made these records.

- But you were 11, so- - Yeah.

You know, and I remember listening to these, you know, we could've been a couple, yeah.

Listening to these records.

So I grew up with Brendan Lee, and I, when I got to Nashville, the opportunity, I met her, and I told her what a big fan I was for so many years.

And she thought that was sweet.

And so, you know, I said, you know, "I'd love to write a song for you someday."

She goes, "Well, maybe we could write one together."

- That's crazy.

- And I said, "You're on."

You know?

- Yeah.

- Well, this is one of the songs, one of the classic Brenda Lee songs that I always love to play.

(gentle keyboard music) ♪ Don't sigh a sigh for me ♪ ♪ Don't ever cry for me ♪ ♪ This is goodbye for me ♪ ♪ I know it's true ♪ ♪ I'm losing you ♪ ♪ Love sang its song for me ♪ ♪ Then things went wrong for me ♪ ♪ The nights are long for me ♪ ♪ Because I'm losing you ♪ ♪ Our love and our devotion ♪ ♪ Were deep as any ocean ♪ ♪ Then one day, like the tide ♪ ♪ You began to change ♪ ♪ And you became ♪ ♪ A perfect stranger ♪ ♪ Whose arms are holding you ♪ ♪ Sharing the love I know ♪ ♪ I can't believe it's true ♪ ♪ That I am losing ♪ ♪ You ♪ (gentle keyboard music) (gentle keyboard music continues) (audience cheering) Thank you, thank you.

- I love so many of Michael's songs, and this one from his first, well, not his 18-year-old, but his first solo grownup solo album.

The song is "I Can Let Go Now."

(gentle keyboard music) ♪ It was so right ♪ ♪ It was so wrong ♪ ♪ Almost at the same time ♪ ♪ The pain and ache ♪ ♪ A heart can take ♪ ♪ No one really knows ♪ ♪ But the memories cling ♪ ♪ And they keep you there ♪ ♪ Till you no longer care ♪ ♪ I can let go now ♪ (gentle keyboard music) ♪ It's wrong for me ♪ ♪ To cling to you ♪ ♪ Somehow I just needed time ♪ ♪ From what was to be ♪ ♪ It's not like me ♪ ♪ To hold somebody down ♪ ♪ I was tossed ♪ ♪ High by love ♪ ♪ Almost never came down ♪ ♪ Only to land here ♪ ♪ Where love's no longer found ♪ ♪ I'm no longer bound ♪ ♪ I can let go now ♪ (gentle keyboard music) (gentle keyboard music continues) (gentle keyboard music continues) (audience applauding) - That's a killer.

That is a killer.

That is a killer song.

So you tell me all these, you've written with so many great people, James Ingram and Paul Anka.

But one of the, again, the happy accidents, and one of your big hits, writing with Carly Simon, which is again, totally accident that she's recording with the Doobies and she just happens to come by to visit.

- I had this, you know, kind of a riff again, you know.

And the only words I had were, "You belong to me."

It just seemed like something to, you know, but it was a- (lively keyboard music) And you know, I kind of had a melody, and I just mumbled a melody into a cassette, and I played it for Ted.

And he goes, "Yeah, that's nice."

He goes, "You know, you should give this to Carly and let her write the lyric."

She just wrote this beautiful lyric, and I, to this day, I could shoot myself because I don't know where that handwritten lyric is.

But she sent it back, this note, in a little letter.

- And it's all done.

It is perfect.

- It was done.

It was perfect, you know.

- Well, we should do that, and then we'll let these people go home is what I think.

- Yeah.

(audience applauding) (mellow guitar music) (mellow guitar music continues) ♪ Why'd you tell me this ♪ ♪ Were you looking ♪ ♪ For my reaction ♪ ♪ What do you need to know ♪ ♪ Don't you know ♪ ♪ That I'll always be the one ♪ ♪ You don't have to prove to me ♪ ♪ You're beautiful to strangers ♪ ♪ I've got loving eyes ♪ ♪ Of my own ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ In this life ♪ ♪ Anyone can tell, any fool can see ♪ ♪ Who you need ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know you ♪ ♪ You don't have to prove to me ♪ ♪ You're beautiful to strangers ♪ ♪ I've got loving eyes ♪ ♪ Of my own ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ (mellow music) (mellow music continues) ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ You belong to me, baby ♪ (mellow music) (mellow music continues) (mellow music continues) (audience cheering) Paul Reiser on piano.

(audience cheering) (bright keyboard music) I feel so lonely right now.

(bright keyboard music) ♪ You don't know me, but I'm your brother ♪ ♪ I was raised here in this living hell ♪ ♪ You don't know my kind in your world ♪ ♪ Fairly soon, time will tell ♪ ♪ You ♪ ♪ Telling me the things you're gonna do for me ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following.

- [Announcer] Bang-Olufsen, sound, craft, and design since 1925.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (chiming music)