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.”
– Max at PowerPop
I was reunited with this song at Max’s blog above. It had ‘Drift Away‘ but now it’s back. I never misheard the lyrics like Gray stated, but I sure did ‘dig’ this song in my youth. So put this addition to the project mostly down to ‘nostalgia’. It’s the title track on Dobie Gray’s 1973 record which peaked at No 5 on the Billboard chart and became his Gray’s biggest hit. ‘Drift Away‘ is a song by Mentor Williams, written in 1970 and originally recorded by British singer Mike Berry on his 1972 album Drift Away.
[Verse 1]
Day after day I’m more confused
Yet I look for the light through the pouring rain
You know that’s a game that I hate to lose
And I’m feelin’ the strain
Ain’t it a shame
[Chorus]
Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
[Verse 2]
Beginning to think that I’m wastin’ time
I don’t understand the things I do
The world outside looks so unkind
So I’m countin’ on you
To carry me through (read the remainder here)
Drift Away has been covered by a plethora of artists, too many to mention here, but I’ll mention a few: The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton & Anne Murray (duet), Ringo Starr & Tom Petty (duet) Roy Orbison, Alanis Morisette & yours truly (in the shower).
Hey, just listen to the short opening guitar here and compare it to the opening of Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours. ‘Love and theft’ my friends.
“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.”
– Mentor Williams (at Songfacts)
References:
1. Drift Away – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Dobie Gray!
Thanks for reminding me how great this song is.
You are very much welcome Nancy.
Thanks Matt! I always loved this song…it has been with me since I can remember.
Yes, it’s one of those songs that stick although lamentably I had somehow let it fall through the cracks until reading your post.
All I have to do is hear the intro…and I’m happy.
I can see why Mraz copied the short guitar intro.
Classic….
“Drift Away” is pure ear candy, IMHO. I must have heard Dobie Gray’s rendition first in the ’70s on the radio back in Germany. The next time I recall hearing the song is in 2003 when Uncle Kracker covered it. I know nothing about this uncle but thought he did a nice job. I imagine it also helped Gray’s version regain new popularity.
I never heard of Uncle Cracker. To me it sounds like Uncle Cracker’s version is a straight up retake – imitation of Gray’s version. I was expecting a rebooted remix thingy. Anyhows. I’ll stick to Gray’s for now and probably forever.