Gray was born near Houston, Texas, by his own account in Simonton although some sources suggest the nearby town of Brookshire. His birth name was probably Lawrence Darrow Brown, who is listed in the Fort Bend County Birth Records as being born in 1940 to Jane P. Spencel and Jethro Clifton Brown. Other sources suggest he may have been born Leonard Victor Ainsworth, a name he used on some early recordings.
His family were sharecroppers, and he discovered gospel music through his grandfather, a Baptist minister. In the early 1960s he moved to Los Angeles, intending to pursue an acting career but also singing to make money.
He recorded for several local labels under the names Leonard Ainsworth, Larry Curtis, and Larry Dennis, before Sonny Bono directed him towards the small independent Stripe Records. They suggested that he record under the name "Dobie Gray", an allusion to the then-popular sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. His first taste of success came in 1963, when his seventh single "Look At Me", on the Cor-Dak label, recorded with bassist Carol Kaye, reached # 91 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, Gray's first album, Look!, failed to sell.
Greater success came in early 1965 when his original recording of "The 'In' Crowd" (later recorded by Ramsey Lewis) reached # 13 on the chart. Written by Billy Page, arranged by his brother Gene,[8] and produced by Fred Darian. Gray's record reached # 11 on the US R&B chart, and # 25 in the UK. The follow-up, "See You at the Go-Go", recorded with such top session musicians as Kaye, Hal Blaine and Larry Knechtel, also reached the Hot 100, and he issued an album, Dobie Gray Sings For 'In' Crowders That Go Go Go, which featured some self-penned songs.
Gray continued to record, though with little success, for small labels such as Charger and White Whale, as well as contributing to movie soundtracks. He also spent several years working as an actor, including 2½ years in the Los Angeles production of Hair. In 1970, while working in Hair, he joined a band, Pollution, as singer and percussionist. They were managed by actor Max Baer Jr. (best known as "Jethro" in The Beverly Hillbillies), and released two albums of soul-inspired psychedelic rock, Pollution I and Pollution II. The band also included singer Tata Vega and guitarist/singer James Quill Smith. After that, he worked at A & M Records on demo recordings with songwriter Paul Williams.
In 1972, he won a contract with Decca Records, shortly before it became part of MCA, to make an album with producer Mentor Williams, Paul's brother, in Nashville. Among the songs that they recorded at the Quadrafonic Sound Studios, co-owned by session musicians Norbert Putnam and David Briggs, was Mentor Williams' song "Drift Away", featuring a guitar riff by Reggie Young. Released as a single, the song rose to # 5 on the US pop charts, and remains Gray's best known song today. The follow-up, a version of Tom Jans' much-covered song "Loving Arms", made # 61 in the chart. Gray also released three albums with MCA, Drift Away, Loving Arms, and Hey, Dixie, but later stated that MCA were unsure of how to market the albums - "They didn't know where to place a black guy in country music."
In the mid-1970s he moved permanently to Nashville and signed for Capricorn Records, writing songs in collaboration with Troy Seals. His biggest hit singles in the late 1970s were "If Love Must Go", # 78 in 1976, and "You Can Do It", # 37 in late 1978, his last solo chart hit to date. He increasingly concentrated on songwriting, writing songs for a variety of artists including Ray Charles, George Jones, Johnny Mathis, Charley Pride and Don Williams. Gray also toured in Europe, Australia and Africa in the 1970s. He performed in South Africa only after persuading the apartheid authorities to allow him to play to integrated audiences, becoming the first artist to do so in that country. His popularity in South Africa continued through numerous subsequent concert tours.
He re-emerged as a recording artist for Capitol Records in the mid-1980s, recording with producer Harold Shedd. Gray placed two singles in the US Billboard country chart during 1986 and 1987, including "That's One to Grow On" which peaked at #35. His country albums included From Where I Stand in 1986, and he made several appearances at Charlie Daniels' popular Volunteer Jam concerts. He also sang on a number of TV and radio jingles. In 1997, he released the album Diamond Cuts, including both new songs and re-recordings of older material.
In 2000, Wigan Casino DJ, Kev Roberts, compiled The Northern Soul Top 500, which was based on a survey of northern soul fans. Gray's "Out On The Floor", a 1966 recording which had been a British chart hit in 1975, was placed in the Top 10. "Drift Away" became a hit again in 2003, when it was covered by Uncle Kracker on his No Stranger to Shame album. The recording was a duet between Kracker and Gray, who was also featured in the video. It ended in the nineteenth place in the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2003.
You Are So Beautiful
Dobie Gray Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The love I lost
Was a sweet love
The love I lost
Was complete love
The love I lost
I will never no no never
Love again ooh
I can remember planning
Building my whole world around you
And I can remember hoping
That you and I could make it on through
But something went wrong
We loved each other
We just couldn't get along
Take a good look at me
I'm in misery, can't you see
The love I lost (the love, the love I lost)
Was a sweet love (yes it was)
The love I lost (the love, the love I lost)
Was complete love
The love I lost
I will never no no never
Love again
I can't remember nothing, no no no
But the good times we used to share (my love)
I'm so sad and lonely
Without you my life is so dead
I'm sorry to say
You go your way and I'll go my way
It hurts deep inside
The day we said goodbye, but
[Chorus]
The love I lost (the love, the love I lost)
Was a sweet love (yes it was)
The love I lost
Was complete love
The love I lost
I will never (never) no no never
(Never) love again (I'll never love again)
I will never (never) no no never
(Never) love again ooh ooh ooh ooh
I will never (never) no no never
(Never) love again
Never (never) no no never [Repeat until fade]
The song "You Are So Beautiful" by Dobie Gray is a classic ballad about the pain of lost love. The chorus repeats the phrase "The love I lost was a sweet love, the love I lost was complete love", emphasizing the depth and significance of the lost relationship. The singer remembers planning and building their world around this significant other, but something went wrong and they just couldn't get along. The pain of the breakup is evident in the singer's reflection on their current misery and loneliness.
Throughout the song, the singer's pain is palpable and relatable to anyone who has experienced a devastating breakup. The line "I can't remember nothing but the good times we used to share" demonstrates that despite the pain, the singer still has happy memories of the relationship they lost. The repetition of "I will never no no never love again" reinforces the idea that this lost love was the singer's one and only true love, and no one will ever compare.
In short, "You Are So Beautiful" is a heartbreaking ballad about the pain of losing a great love. Despite the sadness and grief expressed in the lyrics, the simple beauty of the song and its timeless message make it an enduring classic.
Line by Line Meaning
The love I lost
Referring to the sweet and complete love that he once had and now does not have anymore
Was a sweet love
The love he lost was beautiful and pleasurable
The love I lost
Once again stressing on the lost love
Was a complete love
The love he lost was fulfilling and satisfying
The love I lost
Emphasizing on the fact that it was the love he lost
I will never no no never
He will never ever have that love again in his life
Love again ooh
He will never be genuinely in love again
I can remember planning
He remembers his plans to put her above all else and make her his world
Building my whole world around you
He put her in the centre of his universe
And I can remember hoping
He had faith and a wish to make it work
That you and I could make it on through
He believed that they would overcome all obstacles together
But something went wrong
Their love for each other suffered some obstacles and setbacks
We loved each other
They had strong feelings of affection for each other
We just couldn't get along
Due to some differences, they could not maintain a harmonious relationship
Take a good look at me
He requests her to observe him
I'm in misery, can't you see
He is extremely unhappy and practically hopeless
I can't remember nothing, no no no
He cannot recall anything except the happy moments that they shared
But the good times we used to share (my love)
He still cherishes the good times that they spent together
I'm so sad and lonely
Without her presence, he is deeply upset and lonesome
Without you my life is so dead
The love they had is what gave life to his existence, without which he cannot survive
I'm sorry to say
He feels remorseful to admit
You go your way and I'll go my way
They have decided to separate since they could not figure out a way to be together
It hurts deep inside
Having to leave her hurts him very badly
The day we said goodbye, but
The day when they bid farewell
I will never (never) no no never
Once again, he firmly states that he will never ever have love in his life
(Never) love again (I'll never love again)
He will not let himself be that vulnerable to love and affection again
I will never (never) no no never
Still reiterating the fact that he has lost love permanently
(Never) love again ooh ooh ooh ooh
His mind and heart are closed indefinitely when it comes to love
Never (never) no no never [Repeat until fade]
The repetition of the word 'never' drives home the idea that he has lost the love forever
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robert Davison
on Rockin' Chair
It's not "buckets dance" it's "biscuits done" referring to a mother making biscuits (as in the Southern American food staple, not like cookies) in keeping with the song's theme of sentimental childhood memories.
Robert Davison
on Rockin' Chair
Keep rocking, rocking chair
It looks like your pals are here with you
They can't go anywhere without you
They used to write songs about you
Keep rocking, rocking chair
Mom, are the buckets dancing?
I can hear the buckets, but not the man who's just hanging there
You watch the world from the comfort of your rocking chair
I remember all the fantasies that come back to me
The daydream I had at the store about the things I'd buy
I remember all the drops of summer rain
When I relaxed, swaying in the middle of the day
So comfortable that I didn't want to get up and play
Rock me away, rocking chair
Keep rocking, rocking chair
Take me away to a dream or two
Don't ever leave me, because I'll miss you; keep rocking, rocking chair
Back on the radio
Yes, I used to play it all alone
Late at night when she would come to visit me
Too young to understand love
But we loved each other anyway
I asked her if she wanted to rock with me
Just hold my hand, close your eyes, and follow me
Let's explore the night together; rock me
Keep rocking, yeah
Rock me
Would you rock me, honey?
I'm going to see my mother
Make me
Make me feel at home
Ricky Ray
on Streets Of Fire
the song streets of fire is co written by dobie gray and ricky ray rector and the publishing for ricky ray rector is ricky ray music bmi
Mimi MamaTshimo Mufamadi
on Cupid
Straight to my loves heart.