Dobie Gray

Dobie Gray was born on July 26, 1940, to a family of sharecroppers in Simonton, Texas (some sources cite Brookshire, Texas, as Gray's place of birth, but he claimed on his official website that he hails from Simonton. Moreover, his birth name has been variously cited as either Lawrence Victor Ainsworth or Laurence Darrow Brown). Gray's Baptist minister grandfather introduced him to gospel music. Dobie also listened to country/western and rhythm-and-blues music as a kid. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s. His seventh recorded single, "Look at Me", was his first chart success. Dobie had a top-20 hit with the catchy "The 'In' Crowd" in 1965. The follow-up song, "See You at the Go-Go", was only a modest success. While in Hollywood Gray took acting classes and acted in stage productions of "A Raisin in the Sun," "The Amen Corner," "Look Homeward Angel," "Rhinoceros," and the hugely popular hippie counterculture musical "Hair" (he stayed with this play for two and a half years). He