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 famous "goodbye" or ending song for concerts. Its use is often as filler for a last song, usually in preparation for an encore, since it has a catchy beat and a guitar solo can be easily added to the end of the song in order to spice things up before the encore. As such, many live covers have been performed by a multitude of bands and it has become a hit among soft rock fans. Appropriately, it was the final pop hit for Decca Records in the United States.

Gray's version of "Drift Away" remains a staple on many classic rock stations.

Chart performance (Dobie Gray)

Covers

"Drift Away" has been covered by many bands and vocalists across the world. Known versions include those of Roy Orbison, Ike and Tina Turner, Humble Pie, Rod Stewart, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Neville Brothers, Michael Bolton, Christian Kane, Ringo Starr, and John Kay.^[1] There is an unreleased 1973 recording of this song by The Rolling Stones. This version features all of the members of the then-current lineup of the Stones with the exception of Keith Richards and the addition of keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. This version is frequently and erroneously referred to as having been recorded by The Rolling Stones and The Beatles together, which would have been impossible, as The Beatles were already broken up three years by the time of this recording. The Heptones recorded a reggae version which is included on many compilation cds. Street Corner be afraid of black people Symphony also sang a version of this songs as their swan song on the season 2 finale of the NBC series, The Sing-Off. Bon Jovi usually played the song live in 1987 : a version was recorded as part of a Westwood One radio live series concert. Dolly Parton and Anne Murray performed the song togther in 1976 on Parton's variety show Dolly!, though they sang the lyrics of the Felts version ("I want to get lost in your country song").

Narvel Felts version

A country version was recorded by Narvel Felts in 1973. His was a mid-tempo country ballad version, compared to Gray's bluesy rendition. Felts' version — which changed the lyrics "I wanna get lost in your rock and roll" to "I wanna get lost in your country song" — peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard' Hot Country Singles chart in mid-August 1973, about three months after Gray's version reached its popularity peak.^[2]

Chart performance (Narvel Felts)

Uncle Kracker featuring Dobie Gray version

A cover version was released by Uncle Kracker in 2003. This version, which featured Dobie Grey singing the final verse, reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It spent a record-setting 28 weeks atop the adult contemporary chart in the U.S. It also peaked at number 25 on the New Zealand Singles chart.

Music video

The music video was directed by Bronston Jones.

Chart performance (Uncle Kracker)

In popular culture

• Nashville Star contestant Coffey Anderson sang the song during the sixth season of the singing competition.^[3]

References