Give me the beat boys and free my soul I want to get lost in your rock and roll and DRIFT AWAY: Meditation on Dobie Gray
Let's thank Mentor Williams, brother of Paul 'Just an Old Fashioned Love Song' Williams, and lover of famed country singer Lynn Anderson. For Mentor wrote the song, 'Drift Away,' that Dobie Gray covered and made famous.
Mentor and Paul must be two of the most prolific songwriting brothers after the Gershwins. Who else is there?
Let me take you back. 1972. Thirteen years old and I was singing along to the radio every time it played, EVERY time, and it played ALOT! My poor parents! Even though I didn't have the album - what other songs did I know on it? - and for some reason never bought the 45 - I heard the song CONSTANTLY and still do. 'Drift Away' continues to be a staple of classic rock radio. Why? because its a classic!
At the time, back in '72, it was huge hit here for a fairly unknown vocalist, Dobie Gray. Yes it was ridiculously catchy, hooky and poppy, but there was an edge to it that somehow made it ok to like. or maybe it was guilty pleasure....I can't really remember. Alls I know is that it was THE song in 1972. Officially or not, it was my song of the year.
Look at Dobie Gray, staring out of the cover of the album of the same name, lying in a big brass bed in a rustic cabin, winter snow visible through the windows, a yellow lab puppy lying on top of him in bed. Its a picture of country authenticity, constructed to try to create a coherent image of the artist Dobie Gray.
It made my wife smile when I brought it home and cued it up on the turntable.
Did it work? Not exactly.
Gray would go on to record only two more hits, nothing up to Drift Away. And due to a series of less than great breaks, his career never really took off. But his vocal on 'Drift Away' is for the ages.
If you could record 100 good songs, or one great one, what would YOU choose?
You can find this record album pretty easily and really pretty cheap and its good, worthit, overall. Snatch it up and play it. 'Drift Away' alone is worth the price of admission. The rest is icing. Maybe its vanilla, maybe a little TOO sugary, but its really sweet and totally satisfying.
Sometimes this kind of sweet hits the spot.
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