One of the younger generation of Blues players – it could be argued that Cray more than any other individual was responsible for the revival of guitar based blues that began in the 1980s. Another of the artists that the Primer admires who deviates from the pure Blues form – in his case by incorporating soul and rock influences – his vocals in particular are smoother than many of his contemporaries. He hit big in 1983 with the album “Bad Influence“, although he had recorded an earlier debut record (“Who’s Been Talking“) which was reissued on the back of the success of the Bad Influence set.
“Strong Persuader“, which followed “False Accusations“, was the strongest selling Blues record for years, and Cray soon received admiring noises from other experienced players such as Albert Collins and Eric Clapton, who both recorded some of his material. Phillip Walker first recorded the title track of Cray’s album “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark” (they shared the same producer) but it didn’t prevent Cray’s album selling over a million and Cray himself going from strength to strength.
Cray hasn’t been afraid to diversify and develop as he continues to release material such as “Midnight Stroll“, which highlights the soul and R&B in his playing, and “Some Rainy Morning“, which showcased Cray’s vocal ability and therefore emphasised his soul singing credentials. Both demonstrate his desire to diversify from the mainstream.
Having said all that, there is still a danger that his music is beginning to get a little comfortable. Recent releases have shown signs of a fine talent treading water, although perhaps the primary complaint is that the songs on the recent albums simply aren’t up to the quality of those on the earlier releases. Maybe he needs to start throwing in a few more interpretations of material from other writers again.
One of his more recent releases (it’s all relative), the 1999 “Take Your Shoes Off” gives us Cray’s take on the Hi label sound – it even has Willie Mitchell around for the odd track. It’s all very polished but I’m still not convinced that the songs are strong enough – it’s interesting that the non-Cray cuts (Solomon Burke, Willie Dixon, Mack Rice etc.) are by far the stronger tracks on the CD. Having said that, cutting a blues-soul album with an authentic feel is harder than it sounds and Cray does it well. It’s certainly more interesting than ploughing the more obvious blues furrow would have been. And anyone who labels his blues purist detractors the “bluenatics’ is OK with us.
Update:- 24/11/25……..Robert Cray was hailed as the man who saved the blues from commercial extinction when his album Strong Persuader became a breakout hit in 1986, and blues fans are still the bedrock of his following. But anyone who has been paying attention can tell you that vintage soul and R&B have always had more to do with his best music than standard-issue 12-bar blues. “That’s What I Heard” (2020) is the latest (to date) that ably showcases Cray as an effective cheerleader for both blues and southern soul, and this release shows that after 40 years of record-making, he’s in no way tired or short on ideas and inspiration. I wouldn’t vehemently disagree but nonetheless I would still argue the following…..
IMHO, the “Heavy Picks” compilation is a good (and cheap) single CD retrospective of his earlier work prior to him leaving the Mercury label. Despite the continued production of never less than fair releases it still presents for me the body of work that best represents the finest recorded output of a great guitarist and vocalist