Dobie Gray

Singer, songwriter and Nashvillian, Dobie Gray, famous for his 1973 hit song "Drift Away" passed away Tuesday, December 6. Gray's website confirmed his death late Tuesday evening.

Gray was born near Houston, Texas, by his own account in Simonton although some sources suggest the nearby town of Brookshire. His birth name was probably Lawrence Darrow Brown, who is listed in the Fort Bend County Birth Records as being born in 1940 to Jane P. Spencel and Jethro Clifton Brown. Other sources suggest he may have been born Leonard Victor Ainsworth, a name he used on some early recordings.

His family were sharecroppers, and he discovered gospel music through his grandfather, a Baptist minister. In the early 1960s he moved to Los Angeles, intending to pursue an acting career but also singing to make money. He recorded for several local labels under the names Leonard Ainsworth, Larry Curtis, and Larry Dennis, before Sonny Bono directed him towards the small independent Stripe Records. They suggested that he record under the name "Dobie Gray", an allusion to the then-popular sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. His first taste of success came in 1963, when his seventh single "Look At Me", on the Cor-Dak label, recorded with bassist Carol Kaye, reached # 91 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, Gray's first album, Look!, failed to sell. Greater success came in early 1965 when his original recording of "The 'In' Crowd" (later recorded by Ramsey Lewis) reached # 13 on the chart. Written by Billy Page, arranged by his brother Gene,[8] and produced by Fred Darian, Gray's record reached # 11 on the US R&B chart, and # 25 in the UK. The follow-up, "See You at the Go-Go", recorded with such top session musicians as Kaye, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel, also reached the Hot 100, and he issued an album, Dobie Gray Sings For 'In' Crowders That Go Go Go, which featured some self-penned songs.

“Drift Away” was written by Mentor Williams, the brother of legendary Carpenters hitmaker, Paul Williams.  Gray owned a studio in Nashville, Quadrafonic Studios, on 18th Avenue. It was here that he recorded three albums for MCA Records. In 2003 Gray partnered with artist, Uncle Kracker, to sing an updated version of Gray's hit "Drift Away". The song stayed in the charts at # 1 for twenty-eight weeks.

Dobie Gray was 71 years old.