Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
John Hartman, a cofounder of the Doobie Brothers and the California rock band’s authentic drummer, has died. He was 72.
On Thursday, the band introduced Hartman’s loss of life in posts on its official Instagram and Twitter accounts, the place they complimented him as “a wild spirit, great drummer, and showman” and provided condolences to his household.
“Today we are thinking of John Hartman, or Little John to us. John was a wild spirit, great drummer, and showman during his time in the Doobies,” the band wrote in its social media posts. “He was also a close friend for many years and an intricate part of the band’s personality! We send our condolences to all his loved ones at this difficult time.”
“Rest In Peace John,” the band added. The Doobie Brothers didn’t affirm when Hartman died or his reason behind loss of life.
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Hartman shaped the unique Doobie Brothers with guitarists and vocalists Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston within the early Seventies after assembly the pair whereas enjoying in Bay Area bars in Northern California, based on the band’s official web site.
“It all began in 1969, when a drummer named John Hartman arrived in Northern California. He was there to meet Skip Spence from the band Moby Grape and become part of a supposed band reunion that never quite got off the ground,” an excerpt from The band’s biography on its web site reads. “But it wasn’t all for naught. Spence (who had also played in the Jefferson Airplane) introduced Hartman to his friend Tom Johnston, a local singer/songwriter/guitarist -and they connected. Hartman and Johnston began playing local Bay Area bars “
“They soon met singer/guitarist Pat Simmons, whose finger-style playing richly complimented Johnston’s R&B strumming-style, and the foundation for The Doobie Brothers was set,” the biography provides.
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Hartman served because the Doobie Brothers’ drummer on every of the band’s first eight albums, and carried out on common tracks together with 1972’s “Listen To The Music,” 1973’s “Long Train Runnin’,” and 1978’s “What a Fool Believes.” The band additionally noticed two songs hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 throughout Hartman’s tenure.
Though he was the band’s authentic drummer, Hartman was not the Doobie Brothers’ solely, because the band operated with two males behind the package from 1971 onward, based on Stereogum.
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Hartman left the band after 1979 and returned for its 1989 reunion album Cycles, He then performed with the Doobie Brothers once more till he retired in 1992.
In 2020, Hartman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers, together with 8 different performers from the band’s decades-long profession.