Keith Knudsen
Encyclopedia
Keith Knudsen was an American
rock
drummer
, vocalist and songwriter
.
, Iowa
. He began drumming while attending Princeton High School in Princeton, Illinois, where he graduated from in 1966. After short stints playing in a club
band
and the Blind Joe Mendlebaum Blues Band, he became the drummer for the organist
/vocalist Lee Michaels
. He played in The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils from late 1972 through mid 1973. He never did 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 The Doobie Brothers
, replacing the departing Michael Hossack
. Knudsen, who 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 What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
in 1974, performing backing vocals over instrumental
tracks that included Hossack.
He did not get behind the drum
stool in the recording studio
until Stampede 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
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 this time, co-wrote the song Time Is Here And Gone with Doobies' percussionist Bobby LaKind
which 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 replaced all those years ago. Of the multiple pairings of Doobie Brothers drummers over the decades, Knudsen's time-keeping partnership with Hossack lasted the longest.
He featured prominently as a songwriter on the album Sibling Rivalry (2000), which was, at the time, only the band's third studio album since reuniting. The album features two lead vocals by Knudsen. Much earlier, and sounding very different, Knudsen lead vocals can also be heard on the Farewell Tour
album and video. 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
Shores Of White Sand off the All I Intend To Be record. Knudsen died from pneumonia
in 2005. Keith Knudsen was living in Northern California
with his wife, Kate, and his daughter Dayna, at the time of his death. Surviving wife Kate Knudsen is a fashion designer and daughter Dayna Keyes Knudsen is a radio personality; both still reside in Northern California. His father, Charles Knudsen, now lives in Kingsley, Iowa
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, vocalist and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
Career
Knudsen was born in Le MarsLe Mars, Iowa
Le Mars is a city in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,237 at the 2000 census. Le Mars is the home of Wells' Dairy, the world's largest producer of ice cream novelties in one location and is the self-proclaimed "Ice Cream Capital of the World". Wells...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. He began drumming while attending Princeton High School in Princeton, Illinois, where he graduated from in 1966. After short stints playing in a club
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
and the Blind Joe Mendlebaum Blues Band, he became the drummer for the organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
/vocalist Lee Michaels
Lee Michaels
Lee Michaels plays the Hammond organ, piano, and guitar , and is best known for his 1971 Top 10 pop hit single, "Do You Know What I Mean."-Career:...
. He played in The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils from late 1972 through mid 1973. He never did 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 The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
, replacing the departing Michael Hossack
Michael Hossack
Michael Hossack is the drummer in the band The Doobie Brothers.Hossack, known as "Big Mike," learned his craft drumming in the Boy Scouts and later served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. His musical career began in a short-lived band called Mourning Reign, but upon their break-up...
. Knudsen, who joined the band during the recording of the 1974 Top 10 platinum album, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits. He made his recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
debut with the Doobies on What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1974.-Recording and content:...
in 1974, performing backing vocals over instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
tracks that included Hossack.
He did not get behind the drum
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
stool in the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
until Stampede in 1975. Knudsen was co-drummer with John Hartman
John Hartman
John Hartman is a U.S. drummer who was a co-founder and original drummer of the Doobie Brothers. At the band's inception, Hartman was the sole drummer. However, in late 1971, the group added second drummer Michael Hossack, and the dual-drummers formation has persisted ever since...
and later Chet McCracken until the Doobies disbanded in 1982. His contribution to the group's vocal harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
in the studio and in concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
was as crucial as his drumming.
After the Doobies disbanded in 1982, Knudsen and fellow Doobie John McFee
John McFee
John McFee is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist, and long time member of the Doobie Brothers.-Biography:...
formed the country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
band Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific (band)
Southern Pacific was an American country rock band that ran from 1983 to 1991. They are best known for hits such as "Any Way the Wind Blows" , which was used in the soundtrack for the film Pink Cadillac starring Clint Eastwood and Bernadette Peters, and "New Shade of Blue"...
. 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 this time, co-wrote the song Time Is Here And Gone with Doobies' percussionist Bobby LaKind
Bobby LaKind
Bobby LaKind was a conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional live backup drummer with The Doobie Brothers. He was originally a lighting roadie for the band...
which 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 replaced all those years ago. Of the multiple pairings of Doobie Brothers drummers over the decades, Knudsen's time-keeping partnership with Hossack lasted the longest.
He featured prominently as a songwriter on the album Sibling Rivalry (2000), which was, at the time, only the band's third studio album since reuniting. The album features two lead vocals by Knudsen. Much earlier, and sounding very different, Knudsen lead vocals can also be heard on the Farewell Tour
Farewell Tour
Farewell Tour is the first live album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1983. . It documents what they thought would be their final concert. The front cover shows Keith Knudsen cutting the strings on John McFee's guitar as a symbolic gesture. Original lead vocalist and...
album and video. He also featured on the albums Rockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert
Rockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert
Rockin’ Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert is the second live album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1996. .-Track listing:Disc 1#"Dangerous" – 5:58#"Jesus Is Just Alright" Rockin’ Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert is the second live album by American rock band The...
(1996), and Live at Wolf Trap
Live at Wolf Trap
Live at Wolf Trap is the third live album by US rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 2004.Wolf Trap is a National Park in Virginia, where the band performed live on July 25....
(2004).
In 2005 he played drums on Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
Shores Of White Sand off the All I Intend To Be record. Knudsen died from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 2005. Keith Knudsen was living in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
with his wife, Kate, and his daughter Dayna, at the time of his death. Surviving wife Kate Knudsen is a fashion designer and daughter Dayna Keyes Knudsen is a radio personality; both still reside in Northern California. His father, Charles Knudsen, now lives in Kingsley, Iowa
Kingsley, Iowa
Kingsley is a city in Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,245 at the 2000 census. In the 1880s Herbert Hoover lived in the Kingsley community for a short time, following the deaths of his parents.-Geography:...
.
with the Doobie Brothers
- What Were Once Vices Are Now HabitsWhat Were Once Vices Are Now HabitsWhat Were Once Vices Are Now Habits is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1974.-Recording and content:...
(1974) (US #4) - Stampede (1975) (US #4)
- Takin' It to the Streets (1976) (US #8)
- Livin' on the Fault LineLivin' on the Fault LineLivin' on the Fault Line is the seventh studio album by the American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1977. It is one of the few Doobie Brothers albums which did not produce a hit . Still, the album received modest critical acclaim...
(1977) (US #10) - Minute by MinuteMinute by MinuteMinute by Minute is the eighth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1978. The album contains their biggest hit, the Grammy-winning "What a Fool Believes". "Depending on You" and the title track were also released as singles...
(1978) (US #1) - One Step Closer (1980) (US #3)
- Farewell TourFarewell TourFarewell Tour is the first live album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1983. . It documents what they thought would be their final concert. The front cover shows Keith Knudsen cutting the strings on John McFee's guitar as a symbolic gesture. Original lead vocalist and...
[Live] (1983) (US #79) - Rockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife ConcertRockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife ConcertRockin’ Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert is the second live album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 1996. .-Track listing:Disc 1#"Dangerous" – 5:58#"Jesus Is Just Alright" Rockin’ Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert is the second live album by American rock band The...
[Live] (1996) - Best of the Doobie Brothers LiveBest of the Doobie Brothers LiveBest of The Doobie Brothers Live is a live album released by The Doobie Brothers. It was the companion album to Rockin' down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert, only as a limited set...
[Live] (1999) (single CD of Wildlife Concert tunes) - Sibling Rivalry (2000)
- Divided HighwayDivided HighwayDivided Highway is a compilation album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 2003. . All tracks are taken from the albums Cycles and Brotherhood .-Track listing:...
(2003) (consisting of tunes from Cycles and Brotherhood) - Live at Wolf TrapLive at Wolf TrapLive at Wolf Trap is the third live album by US rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 2004.Wolf Trap is a National Park in Virginia, where the band performed live on July 25....
[Live] (2004)
with Southern Pacific
- Southern Pacific (1985)
- Killbilly Hill (1986)
- Zuma (1988)
- County Line (1989)
Other sources
- Goldsmith, Thomas. "Southern Pacific" (The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 497–498, 1998)