Digitally remastered two CD set containing a trio of albums from the Soul vocalist: Drift Away, Loving Arms and hey Dixie. `Drift Away' was a U.S. Top 5 hit in 1973 showing a complete change of style for the hit recorder of Northern Soul favorites `Out On The Floor' and `The In Crowd'. In the UK, `Drift Away' was a turntable hit but didn't trouble the charts. All three of these albums are from the mid-70s, originally on MCA Records. These recordings show a more soulful side of Gray with a country tinge. BGO.
Gray soaked up the sounds of R&B, gospel and country as a young man in Texas. We hear all that on these LPs, both of which charted in '73. Both title tracks gave him pop hits, with the instant classic Drift Away reaching #5 and spawning covers by everyone from Roy Orbison to Tina Turner. Along with those hits plus We Had It All; L.A. Lady; Rose; You and Me , and the rest of the original LPs, you get three bonus songs from Hey Dixie ('74)!
Soulful Sound of Music Artist : Dobie Gray Music Label : Half Moon UK Release Date : 1997-10-31 Artistopia's Price :$10.98
Read User Reviews
"Gimme the beat, boys, and free my soul / I wanna get lost in your rock and roll / And drift away..."
Immediately recognizable. What a voice: velvet over sandpaper, 100% barrel-aged. In a recording career that spans more than four decades, Dobie Gray's body of music embraces and crosses stylistic boundaries with organic ease.
Not only is Dobie one of the few artists to have scored hits on the Pop, R&B, and Country charts, but also one of the tiny handful of African-Americans to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. As a songwriter, Gray has seen his compositions cut by such wide-ranging admirers as Ray Charles, John Denver, Etta James, Julio Iglesias, and George Jones.
What do they know that you don't? We've captured the essence of that answer here, on four dobies that encompass the seven albums Dobie Gray released between 1973 and 1979. Also included are a smattering of late-'60s tracks that prefigure his evolution from straight R&B to the more personal direction he'd pursue in the '70s. In addition to demonstrating that his eclectic, rootsy musical vision was considerably ahead of its time, the collection shows that, regardless of genre, Gray routinely invests his performances with emotional commitment and down-home eloquence. If, of course, anything that superb could be referred to as "routine."
