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StonesTod

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liddas
There was a time when he was presented on every guitar mag as the new blues guitar hero. What I heard then didn't move me. Probably too "intellectual" to be my cup of blues. The first impression remained until sometime ago someone gave me a DVD of Clapton's crossroads festival, and I gotta say that Robert's performance was truly great. The kind of greatness that can come only from great musicians, not only great players. Ok, so now that I've changed my mind, what is the essential RC recording to buy?


C

his 18-cd boxset is a good place to start

Out of stock, unfortunately!

C

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liddas

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StonesTod

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liddas
There was a time when he was presented on every guitar mag as the new blues guitar hero. What I heard then didn't move me. Probably too "intellectual" to be my cup of blues. The first impression remained until sometime ago someone gave me a DVD of Clapton's crossroads festival, and I gotta say that Robert's performance was truly great. The kind of greatness that can come only from great musicians, not only great players. Ok, so now that I've changed my mind, what is the essential RC recording to buy?


C

his 18-cd boxset is a good place to start

Out of stock, unfortunately!

C

well, it was a best-seller. but, i still think I Was Warned is his best...or maybe Midnight Stroll. or...just about anything else he's done. There's really no such thing as a bad RCB album...

go on a blues forum. Here we rock

"we know it's a bit late but we hope you don't mind if we stay"

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toomuchforme
go on a blues forum. Here we rock

i guess blues is toomuchforyou

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toomuchforme
go on a blues forum. Here we rock

Not sure I put Cray in the straight blues box. That point aside--

It's much more fun to argue with Tod, but to say there's no place for blues on a Stones forum is not only wrong, it's unthinkable, so please re-think this comment

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toomuchforme
go on a blues forum. Here we rock

unless we happen to roll.

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texas fan

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toomuchforme
go on a blues forum. Here we rock

Not sure I put Cray in the straight blues box. That point aside--

It's much more fun to argue with Tod, but to say there's no place for blues on a Stones forum is not only wrong, it's unthinkable, so please re-think this comment

it's not blues, it's not rock, it's not r&b. in fact, you go to your local cd store and you'll find his discs filed in a section called "cray"

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StonesTod

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texas fan

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toomuchforme
go on a blues forum. Here we rock

Not sure I put Cray in the straight blues box. That point aside--

It's much more fun to argue with Tod, but to say there's no place for blues on a Stones forum is not only wrong, it's unthinkable, so please re-think this comment

it's not blues, it's not rock, it's not r&b. in fact, you go to your local cd store and you'll find his discs filed in a section called "cray"

I love that colourful crayola sound.

I saw him live in the 80's; great guitar player. "Strong Persuader" is a fine LP; my favorite song is "Right Next Door" - kick ass solo. Check out his LP with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland; "Showdown" - damn good playin' from all three.

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stones69
I saw him live in the 80's; great guitar player. "Strong Persuader" is a fine LP; my favorite song is "Right Next Door" - kick ass solo. Check out his LP with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland; "Showdown" - damn good playin' from all three.

yeah - that was a good one on the alligator label...sadly, we've lost those other two gunslingers...johnny's daughter has become a star in the biz, though....

I got interested in the blues in the early 80's (after being introduced to the genre by the Stones), and Robert Cray was one of those hot new, current names (the biggest being, of course, Stevie Ray Vaughan). Cray actually played with Duke Robillard in our local club Kåren in Turku in 1984 or 1985, but the bastards didn't let me in since I was too young...

Anyway, I really liked the BAD INFLUENCE album. It has a fresh but interestingly original sophisticated sound, and it clearly stood out within the genre. But I was disappointed with the next album FALSE ACCUSATIONS which I find too slick for my blues taste (I am not actually a big fan of BB King either; that kind of 'vegas' style of blues is not my cup of tea). I lost the interest to his new music ever since (I have heard some of his albums but I think all they belong to the FALSE ACCUSATIONS style).

But I finally got a chance to see his band live in 1991 when he played at Järvenpää Puistoblues happening. He was simply phenomenal! What a wonderful voice and guitar touch. And the songs actually sounded extremily strong and melody full. But still lots of blues in it. I don't think his records do him right in this sense. It's 'live' music. (It was altogher a great happening: the others on the bill were Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker - for a blues fan it was a heaven to catch these acts one by one.)

Then when I heard that he is an opening act for The Stones in Helsinki 1995 I was thrilled. But I need to say that was a disappointment. Well, of course, it is difficult for anyone to open for the Stones, and that was my first Stones concert ever! So, there were bigger kind of expectations in my mind at the time, so it was not easy to concentrate on Cray's performance. I find Cray's contribution then bit a boring and repitative, and I got the FALSE ACCUSATIONS feelings again. Not heard much about the man ever since. My false, though. But BAD INFLUENCE sounds as good now as it did in 1983.

- Doxa



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-03 00:26 by Doxa.

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Doxa
I lost the interest to his new music ever since (I have heard some of his albums but I think all they belong to the FALSE ACCUSATIONS style).

and more wrong you couldn't be....

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Doxa
Anyway, I really liked the BAD INFLUENCE album. It has a fresh but interestingly original sophisticated sound, and it clearly stood out within the genre. But I was disappointed with the next album FALSE ACCUSATIONS which I find too slick for my blues taste (I am not actually a big fan of BB King either; that kind of 'vegas' style of blues is not my cup of tea). I lost the interest to his new music ever since (I have heard some of his albums but I think all they belong to the FALSE ACCUSATIONS style).

- Doxa

My thoughts too

Cray always leaned more toward a soul artist that took brilliant guitar solos. He became more and more soul oriented as the years went on.

The blues box they stuck him in quite early on really limited his potential to be a popular artist.

B.B. King is blues, sophisticated, jazz inflected, uptown, whatever.

But Cray has always been more like..Marvin Gaye with a mean guitar.

That's not exactly fair to him as a description either but it's better than calling him a blues artist and saying you don't like his blues because they are too smooth.