Dobie Gray

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Dobie Gray
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Drift Away
  US 64 03/10/1973 (21 weeks)
Loving Arms
  US 188 11/10/1973 (3 weeks)
Midnight Diamond
  US 174 02/17/1979 (4 weeks)
Singles
Look at me
  US 91 01/12/1963 (2 weeks)
The “In” crowd
  US 13 01/09/1965 (9 weeks)
  UK 25th 02/25/1965 (7 weeks)
See You at the "Go-Go"
  US 69 04/03/1965 (7 weeks)
Drift Away
  US 5 
gold
gold
02/24/1973 (21 weeks)
Loving Arms
  US 61 08/04/1973 (11 weeks)
Out on the floor
  UK 42 09/27/1975 (4 weeks)
If love must go
  US 78 02/14/1976 (7 weeks)
Find 'Em, Fool' Em & Forget 'Em
  US 94 10/23/1976 (2 weeks)
You Can Do It
  US 37 December 23, 1978 (11 weeks)
Drift Away (with Uncle Kracker )
  US 9 03/29/2003 (35 weeks)

Dobie Gray (born July 26, 1940 in Simonton , Texas ; † December 6, 2011 ; actually, according to different sources, Leonard Victor Ainsworth or Lawrence Darrow Brown ) was an American rhythm-'n'-blues -, soul - and Country singer . His best known hits were The 'In' Crowd (1965) and Drift Away (1973 and 2003). He was also successful as a songwriter in later years.

Life

Gray was born into a sharecropper family in Texas. Here he became familiar with gospel , country and rhythm 'n' blues in his youth . After moving to California in the early 1960s , he met Sonny Bono , who at the time was an A&R manager at Specialty Records . Here he released his first hit single Look at Me , which was listed in the charts for five weeks. He had previously released several records under the names Leonard Ainsworth , Larry Curtis and Larry Dennis . Gray made his breakthrough as an internationally known singer in 1965 with the song The 'In' Crowd . The piece, written by Billy Page and arranged by his brother Gene Page in Motown style, was first released by Gray on the long-playing record Dobie Gray Sings for 'In' Crowders That 'Go Go' . As a single release, The 'In' Crowd reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 .

At first he could not repeat the success of the single. Gray focused on a stage career that led him to cast the production of the musical Hair in Los Angeles. On the side he sang for a band called Pollution , with whom he released two albums. For three years he was employed as a songwriter at Almo / Irving Publishing, before starting in 1972 as a solo artist again. He was signed to MCA Records , where he worked with songwriter and producer mentor Williams . This led to the release of the single Drift Away , the success of which surpassed that of The 'In' Crowd . It reached number five in the American charts. Musically, he moved away from soul towards country. He moved to Nashville , where he started his own studio. He was particularly successful here as a songwriter for country stars such as John Denver , Don Williams and Charley Pride . In the UK, his 1966 recording Out on the Floor was released as a single in 1975 . It was a minor hit in the Northern Soul environment . His last entry into the regular “Top Forty” as a solo singer was in the USA in 1978 with You Can Do It, which was arranged in disco style .

His hit Drift Away made a comeback in 2003 in a version by rock musician Uncle Kracker , on which Gray also sang himself. The single spent 35 weeks in the US charts and rose to number nine.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7
  2. ↑ Hit Singles Volume 2 - Complete UK Chart Data from 1952-2010 , Virgin Books 2010, ISBN 9780753522455
  3. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US
  4. ↑ according to his own information on his website. Also Brookshire , Texas is known as the birthplace; the year of birth is given in sources other than 1942 or 1943 (according to biography at AllMusic )
  5. ^ Singer, songwriter Dobie Gray Passes Away ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , NewsChannel5 dated December 7, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.newschannel5.com
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Dobie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ainsworth, Leonard Victor; Brown, Laurence Darrow (real name, according to various sources)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Simonton or Brookshire , Texas , USA
DATE OF DEATH December 6, 2011