Robert Cray was born to a father who was in the US Army, stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia. After moving around the country, the family settled in Tacoma, Washington. Young Robert began to get interested in music while in high school.
By the time Cray was 20, he’d seen his blues heroes, Albert Collins, Freddie King and Muddy Waters in concert. That inspired him to form his own band and play gigs in college towns on the West Coast.
Early in the 1980’s, Cray issued a string of albums, “Bad Influence,” “False Accusations” and “Strong Persuader,” his fifth studio effort recorded at the Los Angeles facility of Sage & Sound. Persuader’s big single “Smoking Gun,” established Cray’s place in the music scene. His immensely popular records helped immeasurably in jump-starting the contemporary blues boom that still holds sway to this day.
He joined the ranks of the top bluesmen and played with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, performing “Sweet Home Chicago.” This was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s final performance before he died in a helicopter accident later that night.
In 2011, Cray was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame and received the Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance in 2017.
Robert Cray joined the Hi-Rhythm section in 2017 for Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm, the house band for many hit albums by artists such as Al Green and Ann Peebles. These players have roots in Stax Records history which includes use of the Memphis Horns.
“That Man” is from his 2020 release, That’s What I Heard, released in time for the November election.
Discography
Who’s Been Talkin’? (1980)
Bad Influence (1983)
False Accusations (1985)
Showdown! (1985)(with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland)
Strong Persuader (1986)
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1988)
Midnight Stroll (1990)
I Was Warned (1992)
Shame + A Sin (1993)
Some Rainy Morning (1995)
Sweet Potato Pie (1997)
Take Your Shoes Off (1999)
Shoulda Been Home (2001)
Time Will Tell (2003)
Twenty (2005)
Live from Across the Pond (2007)
Live at the BBC (2008)
This Time (2009)
Cookin’ in Mobile (2010)
Nothin But Love (2012)
In My Soul (2014)
4 Nights of 40 Years Live (2015)
Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm (2017)
That’s What I Heard(2020)
Sacramento’s K-ZAP 93.3 FM plays Robert Cray. All part of 50 years of Rock, Blues and More, 24-7 on our station’s stream at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN/
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