Dobie Gray
Encyclopedia
Dobie Gray is an African American
singer and songwriter
, whose musical career has spanned soul
, country
, pop
and musical theater
. His hit records included "The 'In' Crowd
" in 1965, and "Drift Away
", which was one of the biggest hits
of 1973, sold over one million copies, and remains a staple of radio
airplay
.
, 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 sharecropper
s, 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
, 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.
Gray continued to record, though with little success, for small labels such as Charger and White Whale
, as well as contributing to movie soundtracks. He also spent several years working as an actor, including 2½ years in the Los Angeles production of Hair
. In 1970, while working in Hair, he joined a band, Pollution, as singer and percussionist. They were managed by actor Max Baer Jr. (best known as "Jethro" in The Beverly Hillbillies
), and released two albums of soul-inspired psychedelic rock, Pollution I and Pollution II. The band also included singer Tata Vega
and guitarist/singer James Quill Smith. After that, he worked at A & M Records on demo
recordings with songwriter Paul Williams
.
In 1972, he won a contract with Decca Records
, shortly before it became part of MCA
, to make an album with producer Mentor Williams
, Paul's brother, in Nashville
. Among the songs that they recorded at the Quadrafonic Sound Studios, co-owned by session musicians Norbert Putnam
and David Briggs
, was Mentor Williams' song "Drift Away
", featuring a guitar riff by Reggie Young
. Released as a single, the song rose to # 5 on the US pop charts, and remains Gray's best known song today. The follow-up, a version of Tom Jans
' much-covered song "Loving Arms", made # 61 in the chart. Gray also released three albums with MCA, Drift Away, Loving Arms, and Hey, Dixie, but later stated that MCA were unsure of how to market the albums - "They didn't know where to place a black guy in country music."
In the mid-1970s he moved permanently to Nashville and signed for Capricorn Records
, writing songs in collaboration with Troy Seals
. His biggest hit singles in the late 1970s were "If Love Must Go", # 78 in 1976, and "You Can Do It", # 37 in late 1978, his last solo chart hit to date. He increasingly concentrated on songwriting, writing songs for a variety of artists including Ray Charles
, George Jones
, Johnny Mathis
, Charley Pride
and Don Williams
. Gray also toured in Europe
, Australia
and Africa
in the 1970s. He performed in South Africa
only after persuading the apartheid authorities to allow him to play to integrated audiences, becoming the first artist to do so in that country. His popularity in South Africa has continued through numerous subsequent concert tours.
He re-emerged as a recording artist for Capitol Records
in the mid-1980s, recording with producer Harold Shedd
. Gray placed two singles in the US Billboard
country chart
during 1986 and 1987, including "That's One to Grow On" which peaked at #35. His country albums included From Where I Stand in 1986, and he made several appearances at Charlie Daniels
' popular Volunteer Jam
concert
s. He also sang on a number of TV and radio jingles. In 1997, he released the album Diamond Cuts, including both new songs and re-recordings of older material.
In 2000, Wigan Casino
DJ
, Kev Roberts, compiled The Northern Soul Top 500, which was based on a survey of northern soul
fans
. Gray's "Out On The Floor", a 1966 recording which had been a British chart hit in 1975, was placed in the Top 10. "Drift Away" became a hit again in 2003, when it was covered by Uncle Kracker
on his No Stranger to Shame
album. The recording was a duet
between Kracker and Gray, who was also featured in the video
. It ended in the nineteenth place in the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2003.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, whose musical career has spanned soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and musical theater
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. His hit records included "The 'In' Crowd
The 'In' Crowd (song)
"The ‘In’ Crowd" is a 1965 song, written by Billy Page, arranged by his brother Gene. It was originally performed by Dobie Gray on his album Dobie Gray Sings for 'In' Crowders That 'Go Go. His Motown-like version reached #13 in the US Billboard charts...
" in 1965, and "Drift Away
Drift Away
"Drift Away" is a song written by Mentor Williams and originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion. In 1973 the song became Dobie Gray's biggest hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, though it did not enter the charts in the United Kingdom.This song is also a...
", which was one of the biggest hits
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
of 1973, sold over one million copies, and remains a staple of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
.
Life and career
Gray was born near HoustonHouston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, by his own account in Simonton
Simonton, Texas
Simonton is a city in Fort Bend County, Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 718.-Geography:Simonton is located at ....
although some sources suggest the nearby town of Brookshire
Brookshire, Texas
Brookshire is a city 34 miles west of downtown Houston along Interstate 10, 7 miles west of Katy, the fastest growing residential region in the U.S.. Brookshire is part of the Interstate 10 Energy Corridor, part of the west Houston and Katy Market, and a member of West I-10 Chamber of Commerce. ...
. 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 sharecropper
Sharecropping
Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land . This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of...
s, and he discovered gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
through his grandfather, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister. In the early 1960s he moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, 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
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...
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
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The series and some episode scripts were adapted from a 1951 collection of short stories of the same name, written by Max Shulman, that also inspired the 1953 film The Affairs of Dobie Gillis with Debbie...
. His first taste of success came in 1963, when his seventh single "Look At Me", on the Cor-Dak label, recorded with bassist
Electric Bass
Electric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye
Carol Kaye is an American musician, best known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists in history, playing on an estimated 10,000 recording sessions in a 55 year career....
, reached # 91 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. 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
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
) reached # 13 on the chart. Written by Billy Page, arranged by his brother Gene
Gene Page
Eugene Edgar "Gene" Page, Jr. was an influential conductor, composer, arranger and record producer most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s....
, and produced by Fred Darian, Gray's record reached # 11 on the US R&B chart, and # 25 in the UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The follow-up, "See You at the Go-Go", recorded with such top session musicians as Kaye, Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine
Hal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
and Larry Knechtel
Larry Knechtel
Lawrence William "Larry" Knechtel was an American keyboard player and bassist, best known for his work as a session musician with such artists as Simon & Garfunkel, Duane Eddy, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Partridge Family, The Doors, and Elvis Presley, and as a member of the 1970s...
, 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.
Gray continued to record, though with little success, for small labels such as Charger and White Whale
White Whale Records
White Whale Records was an American record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lassiff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of The Turtles....
, as well as contributing to movie soundtracks. He also spent several years working as an actor, including 2½ years in the Los Angeles production of Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. In 1970, while working in Hair, he joined a band, Pollution, as singer and percussionist. They were managed by actor Max Baer Jr. (best known as "Jethro" in The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
), and released two albums of soul-inspired psychedelic rock, Pollution I and Pollution II. The band also included singer Tata Vega
Tata Vega
Táta Vega is an American vocalist whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.-Early life:...
and guitarist/singer James Quill Smith. After that, he worked at A & M Records on demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
recordings with songwriter Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
.
In 1972, he won a contract with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, shortly before it became part of MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, to make an album with producer Mentor Williams
Mentor Williams
Mentor Williams is an American songwriter and producer. He is best known for writing "Drift Away", a middle-of-the-road playlist classic performed by Dobie Gray in 1973. He is the brother of famed songwriter Paul Williams.-Background:...
, Paul's brother, in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Among the songs that they recorded at the Quadrafonic Sound Studios, co-owned by session musicians Norbert Putnam
Norbert Putnam
Norbert Putnam is an American record producer and musician. He grew up near Florence, Alabama and was part of the Muscle Shoals musicians brought to Nashville to play for Elvis Presley in 1965. Putnam worked there as a bassist on recording sessions with Presley, Roy Orbison, Al Hirt, Henry...
and David Briggs
David Briggs (American musician)
David Briggs is an American keyboardist, record producer, arranger, composer and studio owner....
, was Mentor Williams' song "Drift Away
Drift Away
"Drift Away" is a song written by Mentor Williams and originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion. In 1973 the song became Dobie Gray's biggest hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, though it did not enter the charts in the United Kingdom.This song is also a...
", featuring a guitar riff by Reggie Young
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
. Released as a single, the song rose to # 5 on the US pop charts, and remains Gray's best known song today. The follow-up, a version of Tom Jans
Tom Jans
Tom Jans was a folk musician from San Jose, California. He is perhaps best known for his song "Lovin' Arms" , which has been performed and recorded by dozens of artists and bands, including Elvis Presley, Dixie Chicks, Natalie Cole, Kris Kristofferson, Olivia Newton-John, Rita Coolidge, Livingston...
' much-covered song "Loving Arms", made # 61 in the chart. Gray also released three albums with MCA, Drift Away, Loving Arms, and Hey, Dixie, but later stated that MCA were unsure of how to market the albums - "They didn't know where to place a black guy in country music."
In the mid-1970s he moved permanently to Nashville and signed for Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
, writing songs in collaboration with Troy Seals
Troy Seals
Troy Seals is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.He is a member of the prominent Seals family of musicians that includes, Jim Seals and Dan Seals and Brady Seals...
. His biggest hit singles in the late 1970s were "If Love Must Go", # 78 in 1976, and "You Can Do It", # 37 in late 1978, his last solo chart hit to date. He increasingly concentrated on songwriting, writing songs for a variety of artists including Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
and Don Williams
Don Williams
Don Williams , is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971,...
. Gray also toured in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
in the 1970s. He performed in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
only after persuading the apartheid authorities to allow him to play to integrated audiences, becoming the first artist to do so in that country. His popularity in South Africa has continued through numerous subsequent concert tours.
He re-emerged as a recording artist for Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in the mid-1980s, recording with producer Harold Shedd
Harold Shedd
Harold Shedd is a music industry executive and producer, best known for his role as producer of the country group Alabama as well as Reba McEntire, Shania Twain and Toby Keith...
. Gray placed two singles in the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
country chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
during 1986 and 1987, including "That's One to Grow On" which peaked at #35. His country albums included From Where I Stand in 1986, and he made several appearances at Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
' popular Volunteer Jam
Volunteer Jam
The Volunteer Jam was the annual Charlie Daniels Band concert first held on October 4, 1974 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee This was the beginning of a tradition....
concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s. He also sang on a number of TV and radio jingles. In 1997, he released the album Diamond Cuts, including both new songs and re-recordings of older material.
In 2000, Wigan Casino
Wigan Casino
The Wigan Casino was a nightclub in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Operating between 1973 and 1981, it was known as a primary venue for northern soul music. It carried forward the legacy created by clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester and the Golden Torch in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent...
DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, Kev Roberts, compiled The Northern Soul Top 500, which was based on a survey of northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
fans
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
. Gray's "Out On The Floor", a 1966 recording which had been a British chart hit in 1975, was placed in the Top 10. "Drift Away" became a hit again in 2003, when it was covered by Uncle Kracker
Uncle Kracker
Matthew Shafer is an American rock musician known as Uncle Kracker. His singles include "Follow Me", "Smile", and "Drift Away". His music was more rap rock-based at the start of his career before turning in a more rock and Top 40 style music direction on later releases.-Biography:Shafer was born...
on his No Stranger to Shame
No Stranger to Shame
No Stranger to Shame is the follow-up album to Uncle Kracker's double-platinum Double Wide. It is currently the only Uncle Kracker album to have two charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 .-Track listing:...
album. The recording was a duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
between Kracker and Gray, who was also featured in the video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. It ended in the nineteenth place in the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2003.
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
US AC | US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
CAN AC | CAN Country | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||||||
| 1963 | "Look at Me" | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1965 | "The 'In' Crowd The 'In' Crowd (song) "The ‘In’ Crowd" is a 1965 song, written by Billy Page, arranged by his brother Gene. It was originally performed by Dobie Gray on his album Dobie Gray Sings for 'In' Crowders That 'Go Go. His Motown-like version reached #13 in the US Billboard charts... " |
13 | 11 | — | — | 8 | — | — | 25 | |||||
| "See You at the Go-Go" | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1973 | "Drift Away Drift Away "Drift Away" is a song written by Mentor Williams and originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion. In 1973 the song became Dobie Gray's biggest hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, though it did not enter the charts in the United Kingdom.This song is also a... " |
5 | 42 | — | — | 7 | — | — | — |
|
||||
| "Loving Arms" | 61 | 81 | 7 | — | 70 | 2 | — | — | ||||||
| 1975 | "Out on the Floor" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 42 | |||||
| 1976 | "If Love Must Go" | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Find 'Em, Fool 'Em & Forget 'Em" | 94 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1979 | "You Can Do It" | 37 | 32 | — | — | 58 | — | — | — | |||||
| "In Crowd" | — | — | — | — | — | 47 | — | — | ||||||
| 1986 | "That's One to Grow On" | — | — | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "The Dark Side of Town" | — | — | — | 42 | — | — | 48 | — | ||||||
| "From Where I Stand" | — | — | — | 67 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1987 | "Take It Real Easy" | — | — | — | 82 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that country | ||||||||||||||
Featured singles
| Year | Single | Artist | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Adult Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
US AC | US Pop Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
NZ | ||||
| 2003 | "Drift Away Drift Away "Drift Away" is a song written by Mentor Williams and originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion. In 1973 the song became Dobie Gray's biggest hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, though it did not enter the charts in the United Kingdom.This song is also a... " |
Uncle Kracker Uncle Kracker Matthew Shafer is an American rock musician known as Uncle Kracker. His singles include "Follow Me", "Smile", and "Drift Away". His music was more rap rock-based at the start of his career before turning in a more rock and Top 40 style music direction on later releases.-Biography:Shafer was born... |
9 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 25 | No Stranger to Shame No Stranger to Shame No Stranger to Shame is the follow-up album to Uncle Kracker's double-platinum Double Wide. It is currently the only Uncle Kracker album to have two charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 .-Track listing:... |
See also
- List of best-charting U.S. music artists
- List of soul musicians
- List of disco artists
- List of Decca Records artists