1973 Doobie Brothers – Jesus Is Just Alright With Me
Art Reynolds wrote the gospel song Jesus Is Just Alright and recorded it with The Art Reynolds Singers in 1966.
Gram Parsons was in the studio when the group recorded the song and became the drummer for Byrds in 1968. He introduced the band to the song, and they began playing it in concerts. They recorded the song and released it as a single that made it to #97 on the Hot 100 in 1970 and then promptly fell off the chart.
Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, Dave Shogren, and John Hartman formed the Doobie Brothers in 1970. The band used the name Pud at first but began looking for a different name. Their neighbor, Keith “Dyno” Rosen, had a suggestion: “Why don’t you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you’re always smoking pot?” Nobody liked the name, but they decided to use it until a better name came along.
They never picked a new name.
The Doobie Brothers heard the Byrds’ version of Jesus Is Just Alright and came up with a very similar arrangement to play at their own shows (although they did add a bridge to the song). A version that ran about four and a half minutes appeared on the band’s second album in 1972.
They edited the song down to less than four minutes and released it as a single that reached #35 on the Hot 100 in early 1973.
The band finally cracked the top ten later that year with Long Train Running and topped the chart the next year with Black Water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers_discography#Singles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Is_Just_Alright
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