THE DOOBIE BROTHERS will be in concert Thursday at the UT Tyler Cowan Center. Members include (from left) Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston and John McFee.

‘KEEP ON ROLLIN” | THURSDAY SHOW

The Doobie Brothers are bringing their current “Keep on Rollin'” national tour to Tyler for a concert Thursday at the Cowan Center.

The band, which has hits dating back to the early 1970s, is best known for the hit singles “Black Water,” “China Grove,” “Listen to the Music” and “Long Train Running.”

Over the years the band, with a changing lineup, has sold more than 48 million albums. The current lineup includes founding members Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston and longtime members John McFee and Bill Payne.

Also touring as part of the band are Marc Russo, saxophonist; Ed Toth, drummer; and John Cowan, bass player and vocalist.

The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. at the University of Texas at Tyler performance hall. Tickets range from $57 to $147 and can be bought on the venue’s website, cow ancenter.org.

In 1969 John Hartman, a drummer, and Tom Johnston, a singer/songwriter and guitarist, began playing together in San Francisco bars. Soon, Pat Simmons, a singer and guitarist, joined the band. The foundation for the Doobie Brothers was set.

In 1972, their album “Toulouse Street” became a breakout sensation. Producer Ted Templeman helped the band craft a sound that was organic and radio friendly and brought in keyboardist Bill Payne.

The Doobies established themselves with a run of hits: “Listen to the Music,” “Jesus Is Just Alright,” “China Grove,” “Black Water,” “Rockin’ Down the Highway” and “Long Train Runnin’.”

In 1974, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, who had been a guitarist in Steely Dan, joined the band. The lineup was augmented in 1975 by Michael McDonald, whose soulful vocals and songwriting led to “What a Fool Believes,” “Minute by Minute,” “Takin’ It to the Streets” and “You Belong To Me.”

Instrumentalist and vocalist John McFee, who had worked with Van Morrison, Steve Miller, Elvis Costello and the Grateful Dead, joined the band in 1978.

After a respite, the band reunited in 1987 for gigs benefiting veterans’ groups and children’s charities.

The Doobies were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, have won four Grammy Awards and have sold more than 48 million records, including five Top 10 singles and 16 Top 40 hits.

In 2010, The Doobies released “World Gone Crazy” and in 2014 “Southbound,” which featured new recordings of their hits with country music stars, including Blake Shelton, Zac Brown Band, Brad Paisley and Toby Keith.

“We’re basically an American band — we cover a lot of areas,” says Johnston. “We cover blues, R&B, country, bluegrass and rock ‘n’ roll. It’s based on rhythms, rhythm structures, picking and harmonies. That’s been the signature of the band.

“You take Pat, who comes from a folk/blues background, with a lot of picking and stuff like that; he was a big fan of Rev. Gary Davis and Dave Van Ronk. I come from a blues, soul, R&B, and rock ‘n’ roll background. Then you stick John McFee into that mix. John came from a country background when he started out and was in the country band Southern Pacific. And he is a session musician — he’s played with everybody from Steve Miller to Van Morrison to Elvis Costello. If it’s got strings, he can play it.”

McFee says that they all have the same work ethic.

“Tom, Pat and I are still surging ahead. We’ve stayed together as friends as well as musicians. We are compelled to challenge ourselves. I mean, I love playing the

Editor’s Note: The following is an edited and condensed version of a story posted on the band’s website, thedoobiebrothers.com.

old songs. But when we’re working on new material now, I think we’re coming up with better parts. The band has always been good, so it’s kind of like we’re competing with ourselves. But honestly, we’re playing better than ever.”

Simmons notes, “We didn’t really sit around and think, ‘Oh, we need this element or that element.’ The music has always been an honest representation of whatever we happen to be working on at the time. We had all been playing music for a long time before we put the band together, and our roots influences are what come out. Those influences always overtake whatever conceptual ideas you might have. It’s always been that way with this band — you always return to who you really are.”

The ability of the Doobie Brothers to connect with fans spans generations.

Simmons adds, “We have a hard-core fan base that has handed our music down through the years to their children and their children’s children. Repeatedly, people go to our concerts and come up to us and say, ‘My dad turned me on to you guys years ago, and I’ve loved you guys all this time, and my kids are listening to you now.”

Some of the band’s earliest hits, including “Listen to the Music,” “Black Water” and “China Grove,” are still getting played.

“Any song that stands the test of time for 40 years or is getting played around the country on a daily basis — that to me is a testament to the quality of the tunes, and that they have something to say that resonates with people,” Johnston says. “I’d like to say this band has been relevant — it’s been relevant musically, it’s been relevant lyrically, and we’ve always put out a high quality of music.”

The appeal of the Doobie Brothers may be best expressed by Simmons: “In a certain sense, what this band has always had in common with everyone else is the word hope. We hoped we would make some good music, and we hoped there would be some acceptance, and we hoped that things would get better in the world. In that respect, we’re just the same — we’re still hopeful about the future.”