Dobie Gray(1940-2011)
- Actor
- Composer
- Stunts
Dobie Gray was born on July 26, 1940, to a family of sharecroppers in
Simonton, Texas (some sources cite Brookshire, Texas, as Gray's place
of birth, but he claimed on his official website that he hails from
Simonton. Moreover, his birth name has been variously cited as either
Lawrence Victor Ainsworth or Laurence Darrow Brown). Gray's Baptist
minister grandfather introduced him to gospel music. Dobie also
listened to country/western and rhythm-and-blues music as a kid.
He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s. His seventh recorded
single, "Look at Me", was his first chart success. Dobie had a top-20
hit with the catchy "The 'In' Crowd" in 1965. The follow-up song, "See
You at the Go-Go", was only a modest success. While in Hollywood Gray
took acting classes and acted in stage productions of "A Raisin in the
Sun," "The Amen Corner," "Look Homeward Angel," "Rhinoceros," and the
hugely popular hippie counterculture musical "Hair" (he stayed with
this play for two and a half years). He sang with the band Pollution in
the early 1970s. In 1973 he scored his biggest and most beloved smash
with the supremely mellow and soothing "Drift Away", which reached #5
on the pop charts, has been covered by many major artists (among them
Elvis Presley and
Ray Charles) and has since become a
staple on classic rock radio stations. Dobie played a lead role in the
blaxploitation feature
Mean Mother (1973) and appeared as
himself in the comedy
Out of Sight (1966).
Dobie's sound changed from soul to country in the mid-'70s. He
relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, and had modest country chart hits
with such songs as "That's One to Grow On" and "From Where I Stand." In
addition, Gray enjoyed a nice sideline career as a songwriter; among
the artists he penned songs for are
Charley Pride,
George Jones,
Johnny Mathis,
Conway Twitty,
John Denver,
B.J. Thomas and
Tammy Wynette. Moreover, Dobie did radio
and TV commercial work for such high-profile companies as Budweiser,
Coca-Cola, Allstate, Chevrolet, Buick, and Kraft. He toured in Europe,
Australia, and Africa (he performed for integrated audiences in South
Africa during the apartheid era). His songs are featured on the
soundtracks to such movies as
Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
(in which he sings the titular theme song),
Casey's Shadow (1978),
Casino (1995) and
Wonderland (2003). In 2003 he sang a
duet with rap artist Uncle Kracker on a
hip-hop cover of "Drift Away;" the cover peaked at #1 on the charts for
28 weeks. Gray died at age 71 from cancer on December 6, 2011 in
Nashville, Tennessee.
Simonton, Texas (some sources cite Brookshire, Texas, as Gray's place
of birth, but he claimed on his official website that he hails from
Simonton. Moreover, his birth name has been variously cited as either
Lawrence Victor Ainsworth or Laurence Darrow Brown). Gray's Baptist
minister grandfather introduced him to gospel music. Dobie also
listened to country/western and rhythm-and-blues music as a kid.
He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s. His seventh recorded
single, "Look at Me", was his first chart success. Dobie had a top-20
hit with the catchy "The 'In' Crowd" in 1965. The follow-up song, "See
You at the Go-Go", was only a modest success. While in Hollywood Gray
took acting classes and acted in stage productions of "A Raisin in the
Sun," "The Amen Corner," "Look Homeward Angel," "Rhinoceros," and the
hugely popular hippie counterculture musical "Hair" (he stayed with
this play for two and a half years). He sang with the band Pollution in
the early 1970s. In 1973 he scored his biggest and most beloved smash
with the supremely mellow and soothing "Drift Away", which reached #5
on the pop charts, has been covered by many major artists (among them
Elvis Presley and
Ray Charles) and has since become a
staple on classic rock radio stations. Dobie played a lead role in the
blaxploitation feature
Mean Mother (1973) and appeared as
himself in the comedy
Out of Sight (1966).
Dobie's sound changed from soul to country in the mid-'70s. He
relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, and had modest country chart hits
with such songs as "That's One to Grow On" and "From Where I Stand." In
addition, Gray enjoyed a nice sideline career as a songwriter; among
the artists he penned songs for are
Charley Pride,
George Jones,
Johnny Mathis,
Conway Twitty,
John Denver,
B.J. Thomas and
Tammy Wynette. Moreover, Dobie did radio
and TV commercial work for such high-profile companies as Budweiser,
Coca-Cola, Allstate, Chevrolet, Buick, and Kraft. He toured in Europe,
Australia, and Africa (he performed for integrated audiences in South
Africa during the apartheid era). His songs are featured on the
soundtracks to such movies as
Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
(in which he sings the titular theme song),
Casey's Shadow (1978),
Casino (1995) and
Wonderland (2003). In 2003 he sang a
duet with rap artist Uncle Kracker on a
hip-hop cover of "Drift Away;" the cover peaked at #1 on the charts for
28 weeks. Gray died at age 71 from cancer on December 6, 2011 in
Nashville, Tennessee.