Consumer Guide Album
Dobie Gray: Drift Away [Decca, 1973]
At times this long-lost '60s one-shot sounds like a black Joe Cocker--with the strain removed, naturally. His frank, unchurchy baritone works material from Nashville producer Mentor Williams for a universal country-rock whose racelessness is a real relief in a world of drawlers and twangers. But though the title hit sticks, I find its central conceit--rock and roll to soothe the soul--ultimately enervating. Enough to make me wish he's rejoin the in crowd, which after all is out by now.
B-
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