Back in the day, Michael McDonald was one of my favorite musicians. He was with the Doobie Brothers at the time.
During the '80-'81 school year, I went to see them in Philly with some friends in college. As I recall, in attendance were my roommate Bill (his family lives 10 minutes away, and our children are best friends), my other roommate Dave (he was a character, and disappeared part way through the year), Paul (he would be my roommate two years later), and another Bill (he lived across the hall from us, and I was disappointed that he transferred to another college later).
Little did I know that during that era in my life, McDonald's voice would set the bar for voices. The question is - is it really that good, or was it related to the fact that I heard him during impressionable years, and he would become one of the people from "The Good Ole Days."
We all know "Good Ole Days" people (present company included). They harp on what it was like "back then". Nothing compares to "back then". Something happened "back then" that made a huge impression. It wasn't necessarily about the quality of the thing - it was about the time, the people, the whole event. I think it has something to do with the theory that the mind is a blank slate, and new memories receive much more hard drive space on the brain, thus making them more "memorable".
This is McDonald in 2006, singing a Doobie Brothers song.
Turns out, this is NOT one of those "Good Ole Days" events. In fact, he was good then, and only improved with age. You may not like his style, but I can't imagine anyone disputing the quality of his voice.
And those guys at the concert with me? There is no dispute about the quality of those friendships.
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