"Look At Me" was Dobie Gray's seventh
single and his first recording success. Penned by
Johnny Cole, this funky little R&B-ish ditty went
as high as the mid-40s in the charts. Recorded at
Gold Star Recording Studios in Hollywood,
California, it was one of the first songs to
feature the very talented Carol Kay, the only
female studio bass player in Hollywood at the
time. She played the now rare six-string
Danelectro.
Inexplicably, the follow-up album, Look, which came
some months after the single, did not contain...
THE SINGLE!... Ahh, show biz! Subsequent
renditions were by The Righteous Brothers, The 5th
Dimension and Soul Survivors. |
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"The 'In' Crowd" (Charger Records 1965)
The "In" Crowd is the song which first brought international
recognition to Dobie Gray. Written by Billy Page,
it extolled the cool sassiness and hipness of
being "In" in the mid-sixties. The record was in
the charts amid the top 10s and 20s for three
months. The Ramsey Lewis Trio’s hit version of it
came two years later.
Gene Page, brother of Billy, was the arranger who gave "The 'In'
Crowd" its big, Motown-like sound. In fact, the
general perception at the time was that it was a
Motown record. This, in part, was due to Gene’s
highly identifiable arrangements and his choice of
instrumentation - which in those days was being
heard on a number of Motown’s hit records.
The follow-up album-- Dobie Gray Sings For ‘In’ Crowders - That 'Go
G0' (WHEW!) -- was the first of Gray’s works which
featured songs co-authored by the singer, and
fellow Texan, Jimmy Georgantones.
Gray’s updated version of "The 'In' Crowd" is
contained on his 1997 Diamond Cuts CD, available
from Dobie Gray Productions through this website.
"See You At The Go Go" (Charger-Crusader
Records /1965)
This song, the follow-up single to "The 'In' Crowd", is also
a Billy Page composition and, like "In Crowd",
features a Gene Page arrangement. Although See You
A The Go Go never reached the prominence of it's
predecessor, it did make a praiseworthy showing in
the charts. And, owing to a phenomenon then
sweeping the country known as Go Go clubs, it also
gained considerable popularity in that genre.
"See You At The Go Go" was produced by Fred Darian and Joe
Van Winkle and is a particularly worthwhile study
in great musicianship. It features Hal Blaine on
drums and timpani; Al Delory on keyboards; Larry
Knechtel on guitars; and Carol Kay on bass.
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Pollution (Prophesy Records /1971)
This is Gray’s only musical endeavor as a member of a group.
Pollution’s first album, also entitled
"Pollution", was recorded during and after Gray’s
two-and-a -half-year stint in the Los Angeles
company of the musical Hair. On the album, Gray
sings two songs: "This Feeling Won’t Last Long"
and a Paul Williams composition, "Do You Really
Have a Heart." The album’s cover won a Grammy for
its creator, Gene Brownell. The second album for
the label, Heir Pollution, received considerably
less distinction.
Seven members made up the group: Tata Vega (whom Gray brought
into the ensemble after having worked with her in
Hair); guitarist/composer/singer, James Quill
Smith (Smitty); drummer, Dennis Kenmore; bassist,
John Lambert; saxophonist/pianist, Christaan
Mostert; pianist/trumpeter, Richard Lewis; and
Gray.
Pollution’s mentor/manager was Max Baer Jr., son of the great
prizefighter and better known as Jethro of "The
Beverly Hillbillies." In an earlier biographical
account, Gray characterizes his experience with
Baer: "When it was over, I felt like I’d survived
the holocaust." |
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