Cray, Robert

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Robert Cray

Singer, guitarist

In the 1960s a young Robert Cray, snooping through his parents’ record collection, discovered the music of Chicago bluesmen Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, and Otis Rush. Cray was immediately captivated by the sound, and his music bears the distinct mark of the blues of that era. After graduating from high school, he formed the Robert Cray Band and began playing the blues in clubs and at festivals all over the Pacific Northwest. Taking the early blues music that originated in the impoverished Mississippi Delta region of the southern United States, and blending it with soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues, Cray has developed a style that appeals to a wide range of listeners—to which the popularity of his albums can attest.

Cray’s comfortable, middle-class upbringing stands in sharp contrast to the lifestyle of the original blues singers, many of whom eked out a living working by day on farms and plantations in the South during the Great Depression. Cray was born to a relatively well off family in Columbus, Georgia, but being an Army “brat” he moved frequently as a youth before the family settled in the Pacific Northwest. Earlier, during a stay in Germany, Cray studied classical piano. Unable to understand German television, he entertained himself by exploring his parents’ varied record collection, which included a wide range of black artists from Sam Cooke to Ray Charles.

Cray soon persuaded his mother to buy him a guitar, which he practiced faithfully. To the shy, often uprooted teen, music offered one of the few constants in his life. In high school, Cray joined his first band. They performed an eclectic mix of rock and roll and rhythm and blues. The Cray family then moved to Tacoma, Washington, where Cray joined another band.

Became a Blues “Fanatic”

Around the same time, Cray went rummaging through his father’s record collection looking for some new influences. He discovered the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. “Then and there is when I became a fanatic,” Cray revealed to J. O. Considine in Musician. “Nobody could tell me that anything was better than blues.” The young musician even convinced his high school classmates to invite blues musician Albert Collins to play at their graduation party.

In 1969, Cray met Richard Cousins, another local musician. Over the years a musical relationship developed, and they started playing in local bars while studying the blues. “We became re-educated,” Cray told Mikal Gilmore in Rolling Stone. “We began figuring out who people like Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Johnson and

For the Record…

Born August 1, 1953, in Columbus, GA; son of a U.S. Army quartermaster; Education: Graduated from high school in Tacoma, Washington.

Studied classical piano as a child; began playing guitar at the age of twelve; played in bands during high school; moved to Eugene, Oregon, and, with Richard Cousins, formed the Robert Cray Band, 1974; backed guitarist Albert Collins during a West Coast tour, 1976; recording artist with Tomato, HighTone, and PolyGram records, 1978—.

Awards: Grammy awards for best traditional blues recording, 1987, for Showdown, and for best contemporary blues recording, 1988, for Strong Persuader; five W. C. Handy National Blues awards; Strong Persuader went platinum; Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark went gold.

Addresses: Agent —The Rosebud Agency, P.O. Box 210103, San Francisco, CA 94121.

Tampa Red were. I mean, it’s embarrassing to admit, but at one time we’d thought these songs were written by the Allman Brothers. It was kind of funny to be learning this stuff in reverse.” In 1974, they went to Eugene, Oregon, hoping to get more gigs in the progressive college town.

The Robert Cray Band featured Cousins on bass and Tom Murphy on drums. The shy Cray was on guitars and vocals. “When I realized I had to be the frontman, I was scared to death. I couldn’t look at anybody, and my teeth would chatter so bad, Richard had to do all the announcing of songs,” Cray admitted in Rolling Stone. The band got their big break when Albert Collins asked them to open for him on his Pacific Northwest tour. Collins “showed us the ropes—how to collect money, and how to deal with the bar owners. He’s like our father,” Cray told Considine. Cray was also noticed by John Belushi, who happened to be in the area during the filming of the 1978 frat-house spoof Animal House. Belushi gave him a small part in the movie and shortly after formed the Blues Brothers act on Saturday Night Live.

Landed First Recording Contract

The year 1978 turned out to be a pivotal one for the fledgling band. Playing at the San Francisco Blues Festival, they caught the eye of Bruce Bromberg, a promoter for Tomato Records. Bromberg wanted to produce the band on his own label, but mounting financial problems led to the completion of their recording project on the Tomato label. The resulting album, Who’s Been Talkin’, was finished in 1978 but not released until 1980. Shortly afterward, Tomato Records folded and the recording vanished.

The Robert Cray Band went back to playing blues festivals and clubs for a while until they ran into Bromberg again and agreed to have him produce their next album. Bad Influence was finished in 1983 and released on Bromberg’s HighTone label. The recording won the band some notoriety, as well as tours in England and Japan and a few dates with Eric Clapton. Gilmore praised the work in Rolling Stone, indicating that “with its emphasis on evocative melodies and well-drawn characterizations, the album came across as the first major effort at revitalizing and advancing the blues song form in many, many years.” The album won four W.C. Handy awards and became a hit in England.

In 1985, Cray released False Accusations with a lineup of Cray, Cousins, Peter Boe on keyboards, and David Olson on drums. Cray broke ground by including only original material on this album instead of covers of blues classics. The album was quite popular, ending up in the top 200 for the year.

Success continued to follow the band. Their 1986 album, Strong Persuader, went platinum, won a Grammy, and was in the top 20. Cray continued to stray from blues tradition by adding other influences to the music. “Our music is a combination of blues, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. I think it’s kind of hard to put a label, an exact tag on it. I think that’s made it a lot more accessible to a lot of people,” Cray commented in EM. Dan Forte of Guitar Player praised the album’s deviation from standard blues form, saying, “On the one hand, Strong Persuader doesn’t contain a single stock blues tune, but on the other, it’s all blues—the blues of the ’80s. The singer/guitarist is true to the genre’s spirit without resorting to its standard form.”

Acclaim for New Sound

Cray scored again with Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark in 1988. In spite of the band’s success, though, they failed to reach a large black audience. “We’re not getting that much air play on urban radio stations,” he commented in EM. “I can understand why, it’s not too modern of a sound. But still I’m a little disappointed.” In 1990, Cray decided to shake things up within his band by recruiting the Memphis Horns to join the group and adding keyboardist Jimmy Pugh, drummer Kevin Hayes, and guitarist Tim Kaihatsu to the lineup. Cray debuted the new group on Midnight Stroll, a recording he described in the Detroit Free Press as “extremely funky.”

Bill Milkowski in Down Beat was thrilled with the new sound, commenting that “Robert Cray is capable of rising above polite radioplay fare and delivering an honest-to-goodness soul-stirring performance. … [He] digs deep on Midnight Stroll and comes up with the genuine goods.” With a string of successful albums, Cray no longer has to worry about getting money from bar owners. Being in a classic genre like the blues has helped him allay fears about the fickleness of fame. “I don’t have to worry about trying to slip into Spandex,” he commented to Steve Hochman in the Los Angeles Times. “You know what I look at? I look at my friend John Lee Hooker and the success he’s having now. He’s 73. He doesn’t have to act like he’s in his 20s.”