Keith A. Knudsen ( ; February 18, 1948 – February 8, 2005) was an American rock

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. Knudsen was best known as a drummer and vocalist for

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...

. In addition, he founded the band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie Brother John McFee. He was posthumously inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as a member of The Doobie Brothers in 2020.

Biography

Knudsen was born in Le Mars, Iowa. He began drumming while attending Princeton High School in Princeton, Illinois, where he graduated in 1966. After short stints playing in a club band and the Blind Joe Mendlebaum Blues Band, he became the drummer for

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

/vocalist Lee Michaels. He played in The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils from late 1972 through mid 1973. He never participated in any formal studio recording with them, but recorded a live Texas Special on KSAN-FM in San Francisco with the Hoodoos and Johnny Winter. His big break came in 1974 when he was invited to join

, replacing the departing Michael Hossack. Knudsen joined the band during the recording of the 1974 Top 10 platinum album, '' What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits''. He made his recording debut with the Doobies on that album in 1974, performing

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

over instrumental tracks that included Hossack. Knudsen did not get behind the drum kit in the recording studio until ''

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Although the term is most often applied to animals, there are cases of humans stamped ...

'' in 1975. Knudsen was co-drummer with John Hartman, (and later, Chet McCracken) until the Doobies disbanded in 1982. His contribution to the group's vocal harmonies in the studio and in concert was as crucial as his drumming. After the Doobies disbanded in 1982, Knudsen and fellow Doobie John McFee formed the

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

band Southern Pacific. The group was successful in the country charts but disbanded in the early 1990s. By then, the two men had formed a writing partnership and despite not rejoining the group at that time, co-wrote the song ''Time Is Here And Gone'' with Doobies' percussionist

Bobby LaKind Robert Jay LaKind (November 3, 1945 – December 24, 1992) was an American conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional backup drummer with The Doobie Brothers. Originally a lighting roadie for the band, he was invited to join as a sideman ...

, featured on the Doobies reunion album '' Cycles'' in 1989. Knudsen organized a one-off Doobies reunion in 1987 to raise funds for the National Veterans Foundation. After Southern Pacific folded, both he and McFee rejoined the Doobie Brothers on a full-time basis in 1993. Ironically, Knudsen found himself drumming alongside Michael Hossack, whom he had once replaced. Of the multiple pairings of Doobie Brothers drummers over the decades, Knudsen's partnership with Hossack lasted the longest. He featured prominently as a songwriter on the album ''

Sibling Rivalry Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among siblings, whether blood-related or not. In childhood, siblings generally spend more time together than they do with parents. Sibling bonds are influenced by factors such as parental ...

'' (2000). He also featured on the albums '' Rockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert'' (1996), and '' Live at Wolf Trap'' (2004). In 2005, he played drums on

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

"Shores Of White Sand" off her ''All I Intend To Be'' album. Though Knudsen was a frequent backing vocalist for the Doobie Brothers, he did not sing lead on many released Doobies tracks. On "Double Dealin' Four Flusher" (from ''

'') he is heard trading brief lead vocal lines with Pat Simmons and Tom Johnston. (The box set ''Long Train Runnin': 1970–2000'' has an early rehearsal version of this song, called "Shuffle," with vocals only by Simmons and Knudsen.) Knudsen can also be heard singing lead on songs from the 1982 Doobie Brothers Farewell Tour ("Don't Start Me To Talkin'" from '' Farewell Tour''; "Listen To The Music" from the Farewell Tour video and the album ''Live at the Greek Theater 1982''). ''

'' features two later, and very different sounding, Knudsen lead vocals. Knudsen died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at a rehabilitation hospital in Kentfield, California, at the age of 56. He was living in

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

with his wife, artist Kate Knudsen, and his daughter, Dayna Keyes, a radio disc jockey and voice over actor, at the time of his death.

Discography

With the Doobie Brothers (studio albums)

*'' What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits'' (1974) (US #4) *''

'' (1975) (US #4) *'' Takin' It to the Streets'' (1976) (US #8) *'' Livin' on the Fault Line'' (1977) (US #10) *'' Minute by Minute'' (1978) (US #1) *'' One Step Closer'' (1980) (US #3) *''

'' (2000)

With Southern Pacific

*''Southern Pacific'' (1985) *''Killbilly Hill'' (1986) *''Zuma'' (1988) *''County Line'' (1989)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, Keith 1948 births 2005 deaths American rock drummers Songwriters from Iowa The Doobie Brothers members People from Le Mars, Iowa Southern Pacific (band) members American people of Norwegian descent Deaths from pneumonia in California 20th-century American singers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Singers from Iowa 20th-century American male singers Drummers from Iowa