Quotes from Michael McDonald

Pat Simmons and I always had a great blend together. We did the background vocals on a Little Feat track called 'Red Streamliner,' and that was great fun. I always really loved the way it turned out.

I've always written short stories.

I could never be grateful enough to the Doobies for the opportunities the organization gave me over the years.

In order for life to be more than a frustrating game of one-upsmanship, one has to remain emotionally open and vulnerable.

I use Facebook, but I find that I'm... if I put up a picture of my dog there or a sunset or something, I get a million hits. If I mention anything to do with my career, three people respond. And/or if I say anything political, I have to duck afterwards. I try to be selective.

Warner Bros. was a great label to be affiliated with. It's the best label out there, and the fact that I was with them for 20 years was just an honor.

I hope to capture the public's imagination, but I can't live in the anxiety of that.

Throughout my career, there has always been an element of surprise. Sometimes there are moments of disappointment; sometimes there are moments of surprising success.

It was surprising, really, that 'Minute by Minute' did as well as it did and as quickly as it did.

I played so many clubs growing up, and back in that period, in the '60s, we'd play, like, four, five sets a night.

I love Coldplay.

I don't know that we ever overcome doubt. We just have to remember that it's more than likely a poodle in the bushes and not a grizzly bear.

I write about humility, because it's something I hope I one day actually possess.

I love writing Christmas music. It's some of the easiest songs to write... You draw from your own memories - it's kind of a wellspring of inspiration, in a way. With other songs, you know, you spend six months just trying to figure out what to write about.

Looking back, I sometimes wish I had done things differently. But if I had, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have proven to be my own worst enemy.

In the '70s, there was no shortage of people taking themselves too seriously, as 'artistes,' if you will. I think we all had a tendency to do that at some point in our career. So looking back on that, it's fun to laugh at it.

I have friends who write all the time, and I envy them terribly.

I love Hank Williams songs, but I love hearing Ray Charles sing them much more.

Where I grew up in St. Louis, Saturday was country music day on television. We'd watch the Bill Anderson show, the Willie Nelson show, the Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner show, and always the Grand Ole Opry. My parents were fans of that music, and my friend's parents would pull the TV out and watch those shows on the porch.

I think that's the one thing we all hope for in this life is we leave something of a legacy, that's meaningful to someone else, when we leave here.

Since the '60s, we've lived so much in an age of quick fixes that the culture itself has become a quick fix.

My friendship with The Doobie Brothers never really changed. We're all still good friends, and I really admire those guys a lot.

I love to write songs, but they don't come easy to me - I spend a lot of time writing really dumb stuff that I have to look at the next day and think, 'God, what was I thinking?' That's my process, is just to go through a lot of dumb stuff and hope that, after a lot of hard work, I'll find a good idea.

I'm a big country fan. I remember, as a kid, when Ray Charles did the 'Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music' record. That's one of the reasons I became a country fan.