![]() Are we talkin' blues as in the sweaty, raunchy Buddy Guy-Junior Wells variety, or the more polite kind as practiced by the likes of Eric Clapton? Clearly, Cray has more in common with the latter group. Cray? Is he a bluesman? Pop singer? R&B act? One clue might be the clever bumper sticker slapped on his guitar case: "I Brake For The Blues." So the question remains: Where does a record store retailer or critic / curmudgeon looking for a quick and easy tag place Mr. The sticker was on the first batch they released, but it's gone now." an idea of the record company so they could find a place to put the record. "We got kinda upset by that," he confesses in somber tones. That bit of record company wisdom clearly irked Robert and his comrades. His own record distribution company (Polygram) alerts retailers with a curious tag on Cray's latest, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. They've called his music watered-down, poppified, Yuppified or downright bland. Yet some critics don't buy into The Look. King and in the film Hail, Hail Rock 'N Roll alongside the likes of Keith Richards and Chuck Berry), then picture this: Z.Z. ![]() If you haven't yet seen or heard Robert Cray (which is nearly impossible, given the massive exposure he got in 1987 following his Grammy Award-winning Strong Persuader album, cover stories in dozens of music magazines worldwide, guest shots on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Late Night With David Letterman, appearances on the Grammy Award show alongside the likes of Albert and B.B. Robert loves the blues, and although he may be filtering Albert Collins licks through a pop sensibility, it's still the same ol’ feeling coming across. ![]() He's communicating, and he's doing it with loads of sincerity. And in that regard, he's an important figure, regardless of what critics and blues purists/curmudgeons might think of his licks or his tunes or his general demeanor. Whatever the attraction, one point is clear: Robert Cray is making it safe to like the blues again. Something's drawing 'em in, pulling the Yuppies away from their VCR's and Cuisinarts to actually go out and mingle with plebeian blues fanatics and guitar aficionados. Maybe it's The Look, maybe it's the conviction in his voice, maybe it's his tales of heartbreak and two-timing.
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