The song Kenny Loggins wrote with The Doobie Brothers before he walked through the door
Kenny Loggins and The Doobie Brothers are responsible for several songs. The means by which these tracks were made will almost certainly vary, with some taking hours, days, weeks and months to put together, whilst others are more of a spur-of-the-moment production.
Have you ever woken up from a dream and in a crusty eyed haphazard daze decided what you were just dreaming about would be a great story? You write it down, and upon waking up the next morning, remember this moment of midnight motivation so check your notes, only to see you have written the word ‘cat’ five times and then drawn a smiley face. Frustrating, isn’t it? Now, imagine your career relies on your creativity and you need good on the spot ideas in order to thrive. That’s really frustrating, isn’t it?
It’s for this reason that a lot of artists, when they have an idea for something, need to vocalise that idea immediately. They catch it whilst it is still in one piece before it breaks apart and becomes impossible to put together again. This is what happened with Kenny Loggins when he helped The Doobie Brothers write the song ‘What a Fool Believes’.
The concept of the song is relatively straightforward. It follows a man and a woman meeting in a restaurant, both of whom previously had an affair with one another but who have since moved on with their lives. The man wants to get back together but the woman is well and truly over it. She excuses herself and he doesn’t take the hint, hence “love makes a man a fool”.
Michael McDonald is responsible for the original version of the song, which he liked but also knew wasn’t finished. He continued to work on it and eventually showed it to the rest of The Doobie Brothers. Bassist Tiran Porter said he should consider working with Kenny Loggins as he thought he would be able to help.
One day, McDonald was waiting for Loggins to arrive at his home, so was playing his sister some of the “work in progress” songs to pass the time. As the story goes, Loggins arrived at the home as McDonald was going through ‘What A Fool Believes’. He stood outside while McDonald played the verses melody, nodding his head and enjoying the music, but McDonald stopped at the bridge. Loggins knew what was missing straight away so wrote it there and then, kicked on the door, went inside and played it for everyone. After that, the song was near enough finished and everything was wrapped up the next day as the two finished the lyrics over the phone.
If anything can be taken from this, it’s that inspiration needs to be harnessed quickly. If you ever find yourself stood outside your friend’s house and suddenly think of a melody that could work, don’t waste any time in making a reality. You never know… it could be a hit?
