Singer-Songwriter Dobie Gray dies at 71

[UrbScotty]

Source: dobiegray.com

(No article found - but website says he died today.)

Read more: http://www.dobiegray.com/

[msongs]

1. drift away nt

[madrchsod]

2. youtube for the kids

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

[EC]

3. This is the one I thought of

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upwrq1QZKV8

[Kingofalldems]

5. That came out when I was in high school

RIP Dobie Gray

[EC]

6. Me too.

The song is so ironic on so many levels.

[musette_sf]

4. I was just listening today to "Dobie Gray Sings For The 'In' Crowd"

A personal favorite album. Not just for the obvious hit, but many of the cuts are also winners, particularly "Out On The Floor"and "See You At The Go-Go".

Dobie was a huge star in the Northern Soul scene in UK.

See You At The Go-Go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyrQg-VwwF4

Out On The Floor:
http://youtu.be/-EA7A3Lq6xQ

Look At Me:
http://youtu.be/0YuFaRT_B0s
(very NOLA influenced)



RIP Dobie and thanks for the grooves.

[Duer 157099]

7. Was he the guy who sang that song

"...give me the beat boys and free my soul I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift awaaaay...."

Gosh I remember that song from waaaay back...! RIP man.

[warrior1]

8. Rest in Peace

[shanti]

9. oops

i mixed him up with dobie gillis!

[bemildred]

10. RIP. nt

[roody]

11. I'm in with the in crowd!!!

[Historic NY]

12. Beautiful voice....RIP.

[nolabear]

13. Wow. I hadn't thought of him for years but what a great song Drift Away was.

Rest in Peace, man. And thank you.

[stockholmer]

14. RIP, here is a classic 1971 Pollution cut, with Gray on lead vocals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M922y7_--po

"Do You Really Have A Heart" - Pollution (1971)

[NBachers]

15. Wow- Meandering around Dobie Gray tunes- "Roll On Sweet Mississippi"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP8DBOAL6gM&feature=related

Now you've got me listening to "Soul Days" on DobieGray.com

Wow- new facets of Dobie Gray I never explored before.

[Ken Burch]

16. Damn. "Drift Away" was one of the most transcendent moments

in whatever genre of pop or soul you place it in.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

17. Dobie Gray, 'Drift Away' Singer, Dies at 71

http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dobie-gray-drift-away-death-270338

The singer's country-soul hit was a radio staple for decades, even as recently as 2003 when Uncle Kracker covered the song and reached no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. On Dec. 6, the Detroit rapper tweeted, "Thank you for the music."

Singer and songwriter Dobie Gray, who had a top 5 hit in 1973 with the song “Drift Away,” has died. The news came on Dec. 6 via his official website, although no cause of death was listed.

Born near Houston in 1940 to a family of sharecroppers, Gray, whose real name has been listed as Leonard Victor Ainsworth and Laurence Darrow Brown, discovered gospel music through his grandfather, a Baptist minister. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s where he met Sonny Bono, who dubbed him Dobie Gray after the then popular sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Gray saw his first music industry success in 1965 with the single “The 'In' Crowd,” which reached No. 13 on the chart, but it was 1973’s country-soul “Drift Away,” whose chorus pined, “I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away,” that would make him a radio staple for decades to come.

The song was covered by scores of musicians including Roy Orbison, Rod Stewart, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles and Michael Bolton, but perhaps the most famous version was Detroit rapper Uncle Kracker’s in 2003. A collaboration with Gray, it reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart for a record-setting 28 weeks (watch videos of both versions below).

Asked about the song’s inclusion on his album, No Stranger to Shame, Kracker said in 2003, “This is a song that’s almost impossible to do better than the original, so I just grabbed the guy that did it originally and had him co-sing it. I learned that you can be an older musician and not be bitter. I meet a lot of older musicians that are bitter about everything. He’s definitely a nice gentleman and he’s very down to earth."

Soon after news broke of his death, Kracker tweeted, “My heart goes out to Dobie's family this evening. RIP Dobie Gray. Thank you for the music. You will not be forgotten.”

Gray’s last website update appears to have been around March 2010. In the post, Gray wishes “farewell and blessings” to some 20 deceased stars including Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Heath Ledger, Ted Kennedy, Patrick Swayze, Walter Cronkite and Marlon Brando.

[PDittie]

18. Love that song.

Loved his voice. RIP.

[Le Taz Hot]

19. Everytime "Drift Away" ever came on the radio

I STILL sing my heart to that song. There was just something so soulful about it. Some new "artist" recently tried a mix of that song. The first time I heard it my radio came close to dying. :wtf: Don't fuck with the classics.

[loyalsister]

20. It's one of the first songs I remember liking

I remember hearing it often when I was a kid in the 70s. RIP

[rtassi]

21. I had the privilege of working with him a few times in Nashville

when I was a young recording engineer ... A true and soulful talent and a very fine man ... a Lot of info on facebook ...