Dobie Gray dies at 71; singer later became a songwriter ('Drift Away')

LA Times ^ | 12/8/11 | Times staff and wire reports

[NormsRevenge]

Dobie Gray, a smooth balladeer and soul singer who scored his biggest hit in the early 1970s with "Drift Away," has died. He was 71.

Gray, who had cancer, died Tuesday at his Nashville home, said Charlie Andrews, his attorney.

Before he adopted the name of Dobie Gray — a nod to sitcom character Dobie Gillis — the singer recorded under other names before breaking through with 1965's "The 'In' Crowd," which became a top 20 hit. He also had success that year with "See You at the Go-Go."

The silky-voiced tenor was best known for his progressive rock and soul version of "Drift Away," a 1973 top 5 hit penned by Mentor Williams that includes the lyric, "I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away." It remains a staple of oldies radio.

A subsequent recording by Gray, "Loving Arms," was frequently covered by singers from rock, country and R&B.

"I guess what you call my 'signature songs' will never die, thank God," Gray told the Tennessean newspaper in 1988.

[NormsRevenge]

RIP Dobie Gray

[NormsRevenge]

Dobie Gray - Drift Away (Original Official Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuyDWzctgY

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[massgopguy]

Sonny Bono dubbed him Dobie.

[Vaquero]

great voice....died too young...

Drift Away Dobie

RIP

[svcw]

Sad day.
Drift Away, one of my all time favorite songs.

[RightOnline]

“Drift Away” happens to be the primary ringtone on my girlfriend’s cell phone....I literally hear it every day. I love this song.

Rest in peace, Mr. Gray. Into God’s loving arms with you. Thanks for the joy you brought on this earth in your own small way.

[waterhill]

RIP Dobie, and thanks.

Drift Away is one of my favorite songs of all time.

[pgobrien]

“Day after day, I’m more confused”

Perhaps the DaliBama could use this as his re-election theme song. Just sayin’

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Wow, my prayers for him. 1970s were without a doubt the greatest decade for music. Turn on the radio you could hear anything. If it was good it got played. None of this anti-trust/payola crap that you got today that our lovely Congress makes pretend to do something about every few years until they are paid off. “Jennifer Lopez is #1!!” Yeah, sure she is.

Back in the 1970s you use to have songs like this as #1. Why? Because it was good. Competition was real, didn’t matter what kind of music it was as long as it was good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM

[Revolting cat!]

Misheard lyrics:

give me the Beach Boys and free my soul....
I wanna get lost in your wheelbarrow and...

[DWC]

Then why do all my kids whenthey were in college. Listen to the beatles, stones,led zephlen, jimmy hendrix,...the kinks.

[DWC]

Then why do all my kids whenthey were in college. Listen to the beatles, stones,led zephlen, jimmy hendrix,...the kinks.

[Fiji Hill]

I remember Dobie Gray for his early 1965 release The "In" Crowd, which was a big hit in Southern California, but I don't believe it scored anywhere else in the country. Shortly after it began to get airplay locally, KRLA, the 50,000-watt rock blaster out of Pasadena began playing a different version of the song--one that was essentially a hymn to KRLA. I haven't heard that version since 1965.

Incidentally, if you listened to KRLA in early 1965, the version of the Trade Winds' New York's a Lonely Town the version played over the station contained a couple of lines praising KRLA.

[SamAdams76]

I used to listen to "Drift Away" when it came on the radio. Can't believe the guy that sang it is dead and that he was 71. It sure make me feel old. Well, at least Terry Jacks, the singer of "Seasons In The Sun" is still alive.

Every hear the flip side of Bobby Helms "Jingle Bell Rock"?

Well the song is called "Captain Santa Claus and His Reindeer Space Patrol" and it is a pretty awesome song.

Bobby Helms...he died back in 1997 and I'm still bummed about that. I guess we are all going to die someday and that's even a bigger bummer. Well, let's have fun while we still can.

[Pelham]

“The ‘In’ Crowd”

The Mamas & The Papas version is the one I remember:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzjmlyafhos

“Incidentally, if you listened to KRLA in early 1965”

and that would be the real KRLA, not the current rebadged KIEV.

When I moved to SoCal in 1966 there were three big Top 40 AM stations, KRLA, KHJ and... no hints, I’ll remember... KFWB.

[Fiji Hill]

and that would be the real KRLA, not the current rebadged KIEV.

Indeed, I'm referring to the real KRLA, which blasted out rock music 50,000 watts strong at 1110 kilocycles. The transmitter was in the Whittier Narrows, about eight miles from my home.

When I moved to SoCal in 1966 there were three big Top 40 AM stations, KRLA, KHJ and... no hints, I’ll remember... KFWB.

Before 1965, KRLA and KFWB were the Southland's two main rock stations. In the spring of 1965, the country-western station KHJ abruptly switched to rock music. Promising "more music," KHJ would broadcast one song after another for as long as 20 minutes or so, while the other two stations usually featured an advertisement--or two, or three--between songs. KHJ's disc jockeys also talked less than those on the competing stations. This approach quickly won me over, and I became a fan of "Boss Radio" KHJ.

[Fiji Hill]

The Mamas and Papas' version of "The 'In' Crowd" sounds like it was influenced by the Ramsey Lewis version, which is the one most of America remembers. Dobie Gray's version was wildly popular in Southern California, but apparently it is little known east of the Cajon Pass.

Incidentally, Gray's follow-up to "In' Crowd" was See You at the Go-Go, which got a lot of airplay on Southland radio stations in the spring of 1965.

[Pelham]

You know you’re a regular Don Barrett. I always enjoy hearing LA radio trivia.

[Fiji Hill]

In the '60's, there were a number of local LA bestsellers that later became smash hits nationwide for the artists that covered them.

My Girl Sloopy by the Vibrations (1964) sounds as though it was designed for the Slauson Shuffle, the hottest dance of the day. The McCoys released the song as "Hang On, Sloopy" (1965).

Good Lovin' by the Olympics (1965), was turned into a big hit by the Young Rascals in the spring of 1966. And Wedding Bell Blues Laura Nyro's local hit from December of 1966, wwas turned into a national blockbuster by Fifth Dimension 1969. However, I much prefer Laura Nyro's original version.