I had some time today so I thought I would publish a couple of posts. It will be nice to post today until I come back in a couple of weeks.
Drift Away is one of the most perfect singles I remember. Much like Baker Street…a single where everything is right. This is one of the first songs I remember hearing and liking. That guitar intro and tone hooked me into this song. Gray said in an interview that the song’s hook of “Gimme the beat boys and free my soul” has been misheard and incorrectly sung as “Gimme the Beach Boys,” “Gimme the wheat boys” (proposed for a cereal commercial), “Gimme the peat moss,” and “Gimme the meatballs.”
The song was recorded at Quad Studio in Nashville. Drift Away was written by producer/songwriter Mentor Williams. Mentor is the brother of Paul Williams. Mentor initially intended the song for John Henry Kurtz, an actor and country artist who recorded the song in 1972. However, Dobie Gray’s version, recorded the following year, became the definitive rendition.
Drift Away has been covered by various artists over the years, including a version by Uncle Kracker in 2003, which featured Dobie Gray himself. That version was also a hit, peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and introducing the song to a new generation.
The Rolling Stones recorded a version of Drift Away for their “It’s Only Rock and Roll” album in November of 1973 but it didn’t make the album and has never been released except on bootlegs. It is a great version…made for Jagger’s voice but nothing tops the original.
Drift Away peaked at #5 on the Billboard 100 and #7 in Canada in 1973. You would think this would have been the start of something huge but it was his only top 10 hit on Billboard. He did have a hit in 1965 with The In Crowd which peaked at #8 in Canada and #13 on the Billboard 100.
Reggie Young, a session guitar player, played the famous intro to this song. His song Reggie Young Jr. said: “Dobie Gray asked my father to join him in playing ‘Drift Away’ live. This was the first time since 1973 that they had played the song together. In the ’80s my father was showing another guitar player how to play the intro to ‘Drift Away,’ but the other guy said he thought that my father was playing it wrong. In fact he was playing in the wrong key. Also, when this was re-recorded in 1997 for Gray’s CD Diamond Cuts, he declined, as he didn’t think he could do it any better than he did on the original.”
Mentor Williams: “I think one of the hardest things for me to learn about songwriting was to really expose my feelings and weaknesses and to write personal, emotional things. As soon as I started doing that, I realized other people were relating to my songs. You can study how to write and spend a lot of time writing, but without this emotional content in a song, it’s just not there. ‘Drift Away’ was a big breakthrough for me. It was a song where it suddenly was okay for me to write about being hurt and let people know that I had been hurt and I wasn’t afraid to expose my feelings.”
Drift Away
Day after day I’m more confused
So I look for the light in the pouring rain
You know that’s a game that I hate to lose
I’m feelin’ the strain, ain’t it a shame
Oh, give me the beat boys, and free my soul
I want to get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Beginning to think that I’m wastin’ time
I don’t understand the things I do
The world outside looks so unkind
I’m countin’ on you to carry me through
And when my mind is free
You know a melody can move me
And when I’m feelin’ blue
The guitar’s comin’ through to soothe me
Thanks for the joy that you’ve given me
I want you to know I believe in your song
Rhythm and rhyme and harmony
You help me along makin’ me stro
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