http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-dobie-gray-20111208,0,302422.story?track=rssDobie Gray, a smooth balladeer and soul singer who scored his biggest hit in the early 1970s with "Drift Away," has died. He was 71.
Gray, who had cancer, died Tuesday at his Nashville home, said Charlie Andrews, his attorney.
Before he adopted the name of Dobie Gray — a nod to sitcom character Dobie Gillis — the singer recorded under other names before breaking through with 1965's "The 'In' Crowd," which became a top 20 hit. He also had success that year with "See You at the Go-Go."
The silky-voiced tenor was best known for his progressive rock and soul version of "Drift Away," a 1973 top 5 hit penned by Mentor Williams that includes the lyric, "I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away." It remains a staple of oldies radio.
A subsequent recording by Gray, "Loving Arms," was frequently covered by singers from rock, country and R&B.
I guess what you call my 'signature songs' will never die, thank God," Dobie Gray told the Tennessean newspaper in 1988. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)
