Dobie Gray

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Dobie Gray

Background information
Birth name	Lawrence Victor Ainsworth
Born	July 26, 1940 (1940-07-26) (age 67)
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Genre(s)	Soul music R&B Pop
Occupation(s)	singer, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)	vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active	1960-present
Associated acts	Sonny Bono
Website	Dobie Gray Official website

Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Victor Ainsworth, 26 July 1940) is an African American musician/singer best known for his cover of the song "Drift Away", which was one of the biggest hits of 1973, and still remains a staple of radio airplay.

[edit] Career

He was born in Texas although the exact place is unknown, Simonton being one of the most generally agreed on locations. There is also some argument as to his date of birth, but it is generally placed in the early 1940s. His birth name is also disputed, being listed as "Leonard Victor Ainsworth" or "Laurence Darrow Brown". However, Gray is listed in the Fort Bend County Birth Records in Texas, as being born on 26 July 1940, to Jane P. Spencel and Jethro Clifton Brown.

Gray moved from Texas to California in the 1960s, where he was mentored by Sonny Bono and later took up residence in Nashville, Tennessee. Both the original "Drift Away" single, and album of the same title, were the final records pressed on the Decca Records label. MCA absorbed the Decca label (along with its other subsidiaries) shortly thereafter. Gray had other hits though, with songs such as "The 'In' Crowd" in 1965, and "Out On The Floor" a decade later. "The 'In' Crowd" is the song which first brought international recognition to Gray. Written by Billy Page, it extolled the cool sassiness and hipness of being "In" in the mid-sixties. The record was in the charts for three months. The Ramsey Lewis Trio's hit version of it came two years later.

"Drift Away" became a hit again in 2003, when it was covered by Uncle Kracker on his No Stranger to Shame album. The recording is a duet between Kracker and Gray, who is also featured in the video.