Heavy Picks: The Robert Cray Band Collection

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Robert Cray

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I have been a Robert Cray fan since 1986 when the amazing happened: MTV actually played a blues video in heavy rotation (SMOKING GUN). Cray, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan, opened my young ears to blues. From those guys I was able to spring back to the masters like Howlin' Wolf and Lightnin' Hopkins. Anyway, about this collection. It is an excellent sampler of Cray's material thus far. It is heavy on the material from -Strong Persuader- and -Midnight Stroll- (and rightly so, his two best albums), but it also gives a taste from all phases of his career up to 1997. As a fan, I definitely feel that important tunes were left off (BOUNCIN' BACK, THE ROAD DOWN), but everything on this disc is excellent. Highlights here include: the down and dirty FORECAST (CALLS FOR PAIN), the hit SMOKING GUN, the crisp guitar work on PHONE BOOTH, and my favorite Cray song: RIGHT NEXT DOOR (which has a great story to it as well as a catchy chorus, bluesy yet also some great pop elements). Also, I think Cray's finest guitar work is represented here at the very end, the extended solo at the end of the last song I WAS WARNED is Cray's finest moment on the axe. Cray is awesome because he is both a great bluesman and a great soul singer. Also, his sound is modern. I am a blues fan, but even I get tired of the generic sounds that sometimes prevail, but Cray doesn't do that. He doesn't just rehash what has already been done. His sound reflects the greatness of the past, but is also firmly modern and reflects his own visions. I prefer his work when he was working with producer Dennis Walker over his more recent stuff. But, this CD captures the Cray / Walker collaboration beautifully. Highly reccommended. I don't give it five stars only because they could have fit about 3 or 4 more great tracks on here.