“The ‘In’ Crowd” (23) is a 1964 song written by Billy Page and arranged by his brother Gene that was originally performed by Dobie Gray on his album Dobie Gray Sings for “In” Crowders That Go “Go-Go”. It appeared on an episode of Dick Clark’s Rock, Roll and Remember featuring the last week of November 1964, the month that Gray’s rendition was released. In the US, Gray’s powerful Motown-like version, complete with brass section, reached number 11 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart and number 13 on the Billboard on 20 February 1965. Outside the US, “The ‘In’ Crowd” went to number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. Gray’s Shindig! performance of the song aired in March 1965.
The Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded an instrumental version of the tune later in 1965. Their jazzy take, recorded live at Bohemian Caverns, a Washington, D.C., night club, reached number 5 on the Hot 100 on 9 October 1965, as well as peaking at number 2 for three weeks on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. In Canada, the record reached number 6 in the RPM charts. An album of the live recording used the song’s name.
Bryan Ferry on his 1974 album Another Time, Another Place; also released it as a single, reaching number 13 on the Uk Singles Chart. Always the master of the intro, the song is announced by an ominous-sounding three-note riff played by session guitar-star Chris Spedding before the song unfolds into an electric vamp-up, transformed from a smooth soul dance-floor filler to something a lot more sinister – you really wouldn’t want to mess with this gang, as that electric guitar maelstrom at the end makes clear.
Gregory Porter released a version on his 2013 album Liquid Spirit. Of the album he said “I’m fully aware that everything I do doesn’t adequately please jazz traditionalists,” he has said. “I laugh at the mix of people who show up at shows. I realise I have to give them all something – and something for all of them exists in me. There are songs that a 68-year-old grandma likes. And there are hard-hitting, more bass- and funk-infused things. That’s part of my vocabulary as well. And I don’t do them as a separate part of the show – they co-mingle and co-exist. Which is something I’ve done with everything – racially, politically. I’m trying to find that happy medium.”
