Dobie Gray, singer of pop hit ‘Drift Away,’ dies

Dobie Gray was more than a smooth balladeer who recorded the timeless hit “Drift Away” in 1973.

He wrote songs for an array of country and pop performers, was a trailblazing entertainer in South Africa and, in death, was a philanthropist...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dobie-gray-singer-of-pop-hit-drift-away-dies/2011/12/08/gIQAntqAgO_story.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leQY6hANO_c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzG1-MdxAd0

Dobie Gray was an ace...the refrain from 'Drift Away' could stay with you pleasantly for hours...and I remember pleasantly the times that were associated...

R.I.P.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=vzG1-MdxAd0

Great stuff....just did a back-flip, and I never knew he collected stamps.

with 'Drift Away' I never did own the recording just useta sing along when it came on the car radio...now, in our digital age I can hear the subtle guitar riffs and the strings and the song is a remarkably well put together piece of popular music and the car radio never revealed nothin' like that...

I remember driving to Santa Cruz on scenic highway 17 in northern California with some pals around 1973 and the song came on the radio and we all started singing along...we were all stoned and happy and it was a good time...

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=vzG1-MdxAd0

Great stuff....just did a back-flip, and I never knew he collected stamps.

Where was back-flip country for you?

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=vzG1-MdxAd0

Great stuff....just did a back-flip, and I never knew he collected stamps.

Where was back-flip country for you?

Twisted Wheel in Stoke, or the Blackpool Mecca. Young Dobie was a favourite with the "Northern Soul" boys.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=vzG1-MdxAd0

Great stuff....just did a back-flip, and I never knew he collected stamps.

Where was back-flip country for you?

Twisted Wheel in Stoke, or the Blackpool Mecca. Young Dobie was a favourite with the "Northern Soul" boys.

True, may he RIP. The Stones covered his "Drift Away" tune, but I'm not sure if it was ever released.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=vzG1-MdxAd0

Great stuff....just did a back-flip, and I never knew he collected stamps.

Where was back-flip country for you?

Twisted Wheel in Stoke, or the Blackpool Mecca. Young Dobie was a favourite with the "Northern Soul" boys.

Dungeon and Beachcomber in Nottingham, Mojo in Sheffield and the Twisted Wheel in Manchester for me. I went to Wigan once but I was getting a bit decrepit by then.

http://home.btconnect.com/twistedwheel/index.html

They've even got a little jukebox on there. No Dobie though

I'm very tempted to turn this thread into a little celebration of Northern Soul via the wonderful Youtube. Anyone want to lend a hand?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ6LMiOsavM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnQR1DUZOlU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPwSu1ETx2A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pmsD0MaREY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWoQ_pZtXCY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAQE-tHjPAc

I'm drunk again, an' I gotta post good music and where better than an endure ccatalog of good tunes...

tutsi goin' surfin' in 1963 with his Wardy custom 9'3''...a birthday gift from his grandmother: "but tutsi? isn't surfing a bit for older boys?'...'oh please, granma...all the kids have got 'em'

later, tutsi whipped an older boy's ass at school in a surf contest with the same board and emerged a hero of the 7th grade....

Beach Boys? sheeed...'Mockingbird...' (although I do have respect for the Beach Boys post 1965...)

and here

tutsi returning to the SF bay area to successfully pursue engineering studies after bein' drunk and in jail 10 years previous...but I fooled 'em...it's so corny it makes me cry but a nice song none the less...

and here

tutsi at the end of a 12 hour day of brutally hard labor with other loggers at the end of the day with beer and snacks in the crew bus chuckling and humming along...

oh...I just wanna tell stories to the accompaniment of glorious popular music...

and here

tutsi at the end of a 12 hour day of brutally hard labor with other loggers at the end of the day with beer and snacks in the crew bus chuckling and humming along...

oh...I just wanna tell stories to the accompaniment of glorious popular music...

.

I remember that one. Horrible, but at the same time remeniscent of my first great girlfriend. Here's a better one I heard on the radio at the same time.

BTW, I've no idea how to post a YouTube video anymore with this new format. No "Insert Media" button?

edit: Oooh, it seems to have embedded itself. Cool!

At the age of 17 I got off the train at Manchester Piccadilly 10 o'clock Saturday night. All of Manchester Drug Squad (the boys in blue) were waiting for the boys with the blueys. Bwahahahaha! Too late boys!

right on, lanna...that one was one of Joanie's own compositions and was a big hit...

the loggers thought 'afternoon delight' was cute as they couldn't ever think about havin' sex other than at the appointed time at night...too busy workin', eatin' and sleepin'...a catchy tune ye gotta admit with nice harmonizing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NL1YPVnKDc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSg3pshr-9A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLkdhXIij0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQolf8GyIy0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSoXJl2ALUk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ziaIcKiOzA

oh,man...'knock on wood' I remember from my adolescent sojourn in Nashville in 1967...them white southerners may have been racist as shit but they liked good music...couldn't reconcile somehow and I remember heaving sweaty masses of white flesh on the dance floor when that tune came on...listen to it carefully and you can see where Jimi Hendrix got some of his moves...

let's see now...

we useta play this in a band I was in in 1964...my mate got his mom to buy him a brand new Fender Precision Bass but ended up as lead singer with maracas and tutsi was the bass player....

recently in VN at the site office the attractive female admins were seated in an alluring arrangement I couldn't help but burst in and shout: 'pretty maids all in a row!' and then do a James Brown turn...that got a lot of giggles....the managers were unimpressed but they were a dour stalinist lot anyway...