JC Post
JUNCTION CITY — One of the original Doobie Brothers is traveling cross country on a vintage 1929 Harley Davidson as part of the Cannonball Motorcycle Endurance Run.
Pat Simmons, 66, singer-songwriter-guitarist for the Doobie Brothers, is participating in the ride, which stopped in Junction City on Thursday. The group was scheduled to head west Saturday, with a lunchtime stop scheduled in Graham County.
Click here to read more about Saturday’s stop in the region.
Simmons said his bike is a 1929 JD Harley Davidson Twin 74-cubic-inch motorcycle, nicknamed “Norge” because of the similar blue color to Norge refrigerators popular in the 1950s.
He guessed the bike had a value of $15,000 or $20,000.
“We’ve probably got a lot more into it because we rebuilt the engine. We did a little bit of cosmetic stuff to it, not a lot. Nice tank anyway,” he said. “I had to acquire quite a few parts for it … a lot more than I actually thought it was going to need.”
For Simmons, the cross-country motorcycle ride from Daytona Beach, Fla., to Tacoma, Wash., is a good time.
“We’re having a ball out here. All the antique motorcycle nuts are out here,” said Simmons, whose wife Cristine is also riding in the Cannonball. “It is tiring, but it’s fun. That’s why we’re out here…to ride these old bikes.”
Simmons is an original member of the iconic Doobie Brothers, founded in 1969.
“We’re still working. We’re still out here playing,” he said. “We just finished a new album (“Southbound”),a collaboration with a bunch of Nashville artists — Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Zach Brown and Band, to name a few. It’s an album of Doobie Brothers songs with Nashville artists.
Of course, the Doobie Brothers have left their mark on American music, with anthems such as “Black Water” and “What a Fool Believes.”
Simmons was performing in a band called “Scratch” in 1969. When it broke up, he accepted an invitation to join Tom Johnston, John Hartman and Dave Shogren — and the Doobie Brothers were born.
“You know we’re just folks. We’re just people like everybody else,” Simmons said. “If we did something good along the way we’re proud of that.”