{"id":2067,"date":"2011-12-07T22:50:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-08T03:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2012-02-21T14:50:29","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T19:50:29","slug":"dobie-gray-1940-2011-the-dance-floor-trilogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=2067","title":{"rendered":"Dobie Gray 1940 – 2011 – The Dance Floor Trilogy"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dobie Gray – at the go go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Dobie Gray – The In Crowd <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del>
\n Listen\/Download – Dobie Gray – See You At the Go Go <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del>
\n Listen\/Download – Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor <\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/del><\/p>\n

Greetings all.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was going to drop this for Friday, but the music has my mind racing and if I don’t post it now, I’m not gonna sleep.<\/p>\n

I come to you at the end of what has been an especially tough week for fans of quality sounds.<\/p>\n

Things got started with the passing of Howard Tate,<\/strong> followed with the loss of Howlin\u2019 Wolf\u2019s<\/strong> guitar man Hubert Sumlin<\/strong>, and closes now with news that the mighty Dobie Gray<\/strong> had slipped the surly bonds of earth.<\/p>\n

Though he was known to most for his huge 1973 hit \u2018Drift Away\u2019, any soul fan worth their wax will tell you that he made his first and most lasting mark with the \u2018In Crowd\u2019 in 1965.<\/p>\n

That particular record holds a very special<\/em> place in my heart and my own soul music \u2018story\u2019.<\/p>\n

Back in the garage\/mod days of the mid-80s, most of my experience with the sounds of soul was limited to the Southern sounds of Stax, Goldwax and the like.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for me (and my ears) I fell in with a pack of modernists, the scooter riding, parka wearing kind, who hepped me to the stylish sounds of the mod dance floor.<\/p>\n

A cornerstone of my introduction to that sound was \u2018The In Crowd\u2019.<\/p>\n

Though that record has its obvious sonic charms \u2013 it has a subtle, but driving power \u2013 it\u2019s the lyrics that really made a dent in my mind.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re a young cat, on the prowl with your mates, out to hear some loud music, drink some cold beer and ease your way up beside a fine young lady, you are, whether in actuality or just in your own fevered brain, in the \u2018In Crowd\u2019.<\/p>\n

If there was a song made during the classic soul era that was tailor made for such a scene and its adherents that was better than \u2018The In Crowd\u2019, I have yet to hear it.<\/p>\n

I’m in with the in crowd<\/strong><\/em>
\n I go where the in crowd goes<\/strong><\/em>
\n I’m in with the in crowd<\/strong><\/em>
\n And I know what the in crowd knows<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Anytime of the year<\/strong><\/em>
\n Don’t you hear<\/strong><\/em>
\n (Havin’ a ball)<\/strong><\/em>
\n Dressin’ fine, makin’ time<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We breeze up an down the street<\/strong><\/em>
\n We get respect<\/strong><\/em>
\n From the people we meet<\/strong><\/em>
\n They make way day or night<\/strong><\/em>
\n They know the in crowd is out of sight<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

From the opening snare roll, through the horns and the throbbing bass, the song is positively brilliant. Even yours truly, with gravity and grace my sworn enemies found myself driven out onto the floor, hand clapping, head moving, heart pounding.<\/p>\n

You ain\u2019t been nowhere til you\u2019ve been in.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hell yes, Dobie Gray.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that he wouldn\u2019t really have another chart hit until \u2018Drift Away\u2019 you cannot mention Dobie Gray and \u2018The In Crowd\u2019 without making note of the fact that that particular record is only the cornerstone in mod dance floor trilogy of sorts, running through \u2018See You At the Go Go\u2019 and \u2018Out On the Floor\u2019*.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to discuss one, you have to discuss them all because they are all very, very groovy, and because they all speak to facets of the same basic experience.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s as if your set stepped out the door with \u2018The In Crowd\u2019, made their plans with \u2018See You at the Go Go\u2019 and then put their moves to work \u2018Out On the Floor\u2019.<\/p>\n

They were released in 1965 and 1966 (all on Charger), and the sound of the three records blends together brilliantly (the first two written by Billy Page<\/strong>, the third by Fred Darian<\/strong> and Al DeLory<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

All three are well regarded, but \u2018Out On the Floor\u2019 is a big record with the Northern Soul crowd, so much so that it grazed the UK Top 40 in 1975, nearly a decade after its initial release.<\/p>\n

They are all testament to the early greatness of Dobie Gray.<\/p>\n

If you get the chance, head out on the floor this weekend in his memory.<\/p>\n

See you on Monday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Unfortunately I do not own an OG of ‘Out on the Floor’ (yet…) thus the change in sound quality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, make sure that you check out the POAC link below (click on the logo). It’s a fantastic organization that provides services to our local autism community, with education and recreational events, and any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you want one of the new Funky16Corners stickers (free, of course) click here for info.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dobie Gray – at the go go. Listen\/Download – Dobie Gray – The In Crowd Listen\/Download – Dobie Gray – See You At the Go Go Listen\/Download – Dobie Gray – Out On the Floor Greetings all. I was going to drop this for Friday, but the music has my mind racing and if I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,24,67,69,12,18],"tags":[166,169,164],"class_list":["post-2067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funky16corners","category-northern-soul","category-obituary","category-original-versions","category-soul","category-soul-45","tag-funky16corners","tag-northern-soul","tag-soul"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-xl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2067"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2204,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions\/2204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}