How Michael McDonald and Paul Reiser Teamed Up to Co-Write the Doobie Brother’s New Memoir (Exclusive)

One would think that Michael McDonald, five-time Grammy winner and member of bands such as the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, and Emmy-nominated Paul Reiser crazy about you actor, would make an amazing writing duo. The two, however, recently teamed up for a particularly special project: a McDonald’s memoir. “Mike did the hard part,” Reiser, 67, tells PEOPLE. “He had to live the first 60, 70 years and then remember it. It was a challenge.” “It was a challenge,” agrees McDonald, 71.What a fool believes, whose cover we’re revealing exclusively to PEOPLE, is out next spring from Dey Street Books. The memoir details McDonald’s life and career, from his upbringing in Missouri to his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers. The book, named after the single no. The Doobie Brothers’ Grammy-winning 1979 single will also talk about McDonald’s past with drug and alcohol addiction, his insecurities and his eventual journey to becoming a musical mainstay, both as a member of iconic bands and into his successful solo career.

‘What a Fool Believes’ by Michael McDonald with Paul Reiser.

Day Street Books

“There are so many musical foundations that he draws on, and not many people have that breadth of a career,” says Reiser. “Along the way, Mike’s personal story comes to the fore. So much of it is uniquely his, but even the parts that are uniquely his, I think, resonate with people.” Reiser, known for his roles in sitcoms such as crazy about you and My two dads, says he initially started out as a fan of McDonald’s. When the two finally met, their friendship involved music (they played together, since Reiser is also a pianist) and conversations with each other. “I made a little joke,” says Reiser. “Because I would occasionally ask Mike questions that I didn’t understand about the Doobies, about him, and I’d say, jokingly, ‘You should write a book so I don’t have to bother you all the time.’ And he jokingly said: ‘I’ve been thinking about it, but I don’t know how to start it’. Given that we both had [an] a huge amount of time on our hands with nowhere to be [during the pandemic]we said, ‘Let’s see how this goes.'”

Paul Reiser.

Dmitry Bocharov

McDonald and Reiser began working on the memoir in the spring of 2020. What made the writing process so seamless, Reiser says, was that they went into it with no expectations and didn’t talk about the events in chronological order during their Zoom interviews. McDonald, who began writing from the transcripts, had some initial misgivings about the project. “The scariest part was wondering if there was even a story,” says McDonald. “Because my story really, I always felt, existed more in the people I worked with. That was actually my story. It wasn’t really so much about me as it was about my happiness to work with a lot of different people.” The musicians he writes about in his memoirs are James Taylor, Ray Charles and Carly Simon.

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“But as we kind of progressed, the story came to me, and I think for the first time I understood my own story a little better on a more personal level,” adds McDonald.

Michael McDonald.

Erika Goldring/FilmMagic

The writing process allowed McDonald to reflect on many aspects of his life, such as his relationships with other people.

“When it comes down to it, if that person hadn’t been in my life and given me the opportunities they gave me, whether they had their hand in my pocket or not, I wouldn’t be here writing this story today,” he says. He also reflected on many moments from his career while writing, such as his first audition and tour with Steely Dan. “Typically in the music business, you can almost bet that once you get a gig you never dreamed you’d get, it’s not long before the band breaks up,” he says. “No matter what performance you get, no matter how good it is, something is going to blow it up. You will always realize that over a period of time you just have to be ready to look for the next door to open and hopefully pay attention.”

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Michael McDonald.

Timothy White

Reiser, who is the best-selling author of his books, including Couple and family, he says that being McDonald’s co-writer is also a learning experience for him. “This is the first thing I’ve done that I wasn’t the end user for,” he says. “It was a great process for me to realize, ‘Yeah, I could write this differently, but I’m not writing it. That’s Mike’s story.’ And I say, ‘Well, what if we put it this way?’ I say, ‘No, Mike wouldn’t say that.'”

However, their partnership is built on mutual respect. “My favorite Doobie Brother songs have always been Michael songs,” says Reiser. “‘I can let go now’ [one of McDonald’s solo songs, from his 1982 album If That’s What It Takes] my knees just ache. It’s just a beautiful song and a beautiful vocal performance.”

The Doobie Brothers.

Michael Ochs/Getty Archive

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Reiser also realized during the writing process that his appreciation for McDonald’s music was far greater than he thought. “During the process of writing this book, [my family] moved,” he says. “We moved, and I was digging through boxes of stuff, and I found in my music room, with all my classical piano music, I found the one and only sheet music I ever bought, and that was ‘What a Fool Believes.’ I play by ear pretty well, and I could never figure out that song.’”

While McDonald says his favorite Reiser projects are “basically all of them,” working on the memoir allowed him to see his friend’s work in a new way.

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Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser in ‘Mad About You’.

Alice S. Hall/NBCU Photo Bank

“What I’ve really learned, I think, on this project is the discipline it takes to be the writer, producer and person that Paul is professionally,” he says. “This is probably his most difficult project. I just was [dragged] with. He was walking backwards trying to coax me down the road. So I was in awe of the diligence and the amount of work it really takes to do what he does.” As for the future of McDonald and Reiser’s partnership, the two have a few ideas in mind. A Broadway musical is one possibility. “We’re writing a song together,” Reiser says. “We have a lot of overlap in the music we both love. So we’ve been throwing around stupid, half-baked ideas about working together, so we’ll see. It will probably be much easier and faster than writing a book. Well, actually, Mike has stories about songs that would take years to start.” McDonald adds, “Songs that take years to write are not typical experiences of a songwriter. They are quite unique to me. I’m the only person I know who takes years to write a song.”What a fool believes will be published on May 21, 2024.

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Source: HIS Education