[media=https://youtu.be/RX7iHsAIw9o] Doobie Brothers lead guitarist and vocalist Tom Johnston said he didn’t think China Grove was the name of a real place when he wrote his song about the strange inhabitants of “a sleepy little town down around San Antone”.
China Grove is, in fact, the name of a small Texas town, located on the far east side of San Antonio, but Johnston said he was only informed of the town’s existence in 1975 by a cab driver in Houston. When the driver told him, “There really is a China Grove . . . And it is right outside of San Antonio”, Johnston responded, “You gotta be kiddin' me”.
The songwriter later recalled that the Doobies drove into San Antonio while on tour in 1972. He concluded that he must have seen a road sign for China Grove and had forgotten about it.
Fun Fact: There are towns named China Grove in at least four other states in the US: Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
