On this day, July 26, 1940, Dobie Gray was born.

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Dobie Gray


Gray in the Netherlands, 1974

Born: July 26, 1940; Simonton, Texas, U.S.
Died: December 6, 2011 (aged 71); Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.

Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter, whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs 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.

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Death and loss of material

Gray died on December 6, 2011, of complications from cancer surgery in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 71. His remains were buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park And Mausoleum in Nashville.

On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Dobie Gray among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

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Dobie Gray - The In Crowd (Shindig)
715,986 views Mar 19, 2010

John1948FourA
3K subscribers

Best known for his 1973 smash "Drift Away," Dobie Gray was a versatile vocalist who could handle soul, country, and pop, not to mention musical theater. Gray's origins are somewhat ill-defined; different sources alternately list his birth name as Leonard Victor Ainsworth or Laurence Darrow Brown, and his Texas birthplace as Brookshire or Simonton. His likely birth date is July 26, 1940 (though some sources list 1942 or 1943). Whatever the case, Gray grew up in a family of sharecroppers, and discovered gospel music through his grandfather, a Baptist minister. He also soaked up the R&B and country music of his surroundings, and in the early '60s he moved to Los Angeles to seek his fortune.

Before adopting the name Dobie Gray, he recorded several singles under the names Leonard Ainsworth, Larry Curtis, and Larry Dennis. His seventh single, "Look at Me," became his first chart hit in 1963, but his true breakout was a 1965 recording of "The 'In' Crowd," whose Motown-style bounce distinguished it from jazzman Ramsey Lewis' celebrated version. Gray hit the Top 20 with "The 'In' Crowd" and also had some success with the follow-up, "See You at the Go-Go"; this period -- spent mostly on the small, poorly distributed Cordak, Charger, and White Whale labels -- was the most soul-oriented of his career. It would be some time before Gray returned to the charts; in the meantime, he pursued a concurrent acting career, eventually spending two and a half years with the Los Angeles production of +Hair. During his +Hair years, Gray also sang with the band Pollution, which recorded two albums on Prophecy beginning in 1971.

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