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From InMusic.ca:
Soul singer Dobie Gray dead at 71
Elizabeth Bromstein
Dec 7, 2011
Sad news. Soul singer Dobie Gray has passed away at age 71.
The announcement was posted on Gray's website. No information about the cause of death was given.
Gray’s hits included 1965’s "The 'In' Crowd" and the classic "Drift Away," one of the biggest hits of 1973 and an easy listening staple to this day.
Gray was born in Texas in 1940 - there’s some question as to whether his birth name was Lawrence Darrow Brown or Leonard Victor Ainsworth. The latter is a name he used on some early recordings.
He moved to L.A. in the early 1960s and recorded for several labels as Leonard Ainsworth, Larry Curtis, and Larry Dennis. Sonny Bono eventually hooked him up with Stripe Records, where he settled on Dobie Gray.
"The 'In' Crowd" was his first Top 20 hit but his recording career didn’t immediately soar after that and he spent some time acting, including spending 2½ years in the Los Angeles production of Hair.
His next big hit was in 1973, with "Drift Away" at MCA.
But Gray apparently had trouble finding a niche, with his country music leanings. He later, in 2000, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that the label, "didn't know where to place a black guy in country music [except] Charley Pride."
Gray continued to perform and record and saw a resurgence in popularity in 2003, when Uncle Kracker covered "Drift Away" -- featuring Gray -- on his No Stranger to Shame album. The song topped the adult contemporary chart for a record 28 weeks.
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Soul singer Dobie Gray dead at 71 - Eat This! - Music Blogs & Pop News | Latest Music Gossip
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