"The 'In' Crowd" is a 1964

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

written by

Billy Page William E. Page II, better known as Billy Page, was an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing " The 'In' Crowd", which was a 1965 hit for both Dobie Gray and the Ramsey Lewis Trio. The song was also a 1974 hit f ...

and arranged by his brother

Gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

and originally performed by

Dobie Gray Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included " The 'In' Crowd" in 1965 and "Dr ...

on his album ''Dobie Gray Sings for "In" Crowders That Go "Go-Go"''. It appeared on an episode of ''

Dick Clark's Rock, Roll & Remember Dick Clark's Rock, Roll and Remember (sometimes shortened to ''Rock, Roll and Remember'') was a weekly American rock and roll radio documentary show hosted by Dick Clark featuring oldies music. It was broadcast on United Stations Radio Networks ...

'', featuring in the last week of November 1964, the month Gray's rendition was released.

Chart performance

In the US, Gray's powerful

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

-like version, complete with brass section, reached number 11 on the

Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart and number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 20 February 1965. Outside the US, "The 'In' Crowd" went to number 25 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 8 in Canada. Gray's

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Ramsey Lewis Trio Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The ...

recorded an instrumental cover of the tune in May 1965. Performed live at Bohemian Caverns nightclub in Washington, D.C., their jazzy take was released in June and reached number 5 on the Hot 100 on 9 October 1965, as well as peaking at number 2 for three weeks on the

chart. In Canada, the record reached number 6 in the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' charts. A longer edit of the song provides the title track for the Trio's successful live album. Writing in 2015, jazz critic

Kevin Whitehead Kevin Francis Whitehead (born April 27, 1952 in New York City) is an American jazz critic and author. Biography Whitehead studied at Oswego State University in New York, then earned a Masters in American Literature and Culture at Syracuse Univers ...

said: "As Lewis has told a couple of interviewers, the trio met at a nearby eatery to discuss repertoire. Their kibitzing waitress Nettie Gray suggested a current pop hit, "The 'In' Crowd" by Dobie Gray. Ramsey Lewis didn't know that tongue-in-cheek ode to hipster self-congratulation, so they dropped a coin in the jukebox. ... I hope they left Nettie Gray a very good tip. Ramsey Lewis liked "The 'In' Crowd" enough to work up an arrangement in the unjazzy key of

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

so bassist

Eldee Young Eldee Young (January 7, 1936 – February 12, 2007) was a jazz double-bass and cello player who performed in the cool jazz, post bop and rhythm and blues mediums. Born in 1936 in Chicago, Illinois, Young started playing upright bass at the age of ...

could work his open strings. And the trio really amped up the groove. Opening night, the audience instantly locked in with drummer

Redd Holt Isaac "Redd" Holt (born May 16, 1932) is an American jazz and soul music drummer. Early life and education Holt was born in Rosedale, Mississippi, and raised in Chicago. He first began playing drums as a student at Crane High School, where he ...

." The Lewis Trio

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

single was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2009.

Other versions

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...

on his 1974 album '' Another Time, Another Place''; also released as a single, reaching number 13 on the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:In Crowd, The 1965 singles Ramsey Lewis songs Dobie Gray songs Bryan Ferry songs 1964 songs 1974 singles Argo Records singles Articles with quotation marks in the title