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lssue# 2O9
Robert
Cray
StiC
llookin'...
u/
...14
rvrdrNLoilrorr66
Fornearly
25yearsRobert
Crayhasbeena bonafidebluessuper
star.
On the nightbefore
he recorded
hislatestrelease,
Cooftin'In Mobile,
we satdownwith theguitarist
fora long-overdue
intervrew.
DaddyMackOrr
A T i m e F o r E v e r y t h i.n.g
. . . . . . 26
B y M e l a n i eY o u n g
Coodthingscometo thosethat wait-at leastsometimes.
Memphis
bluesman
DaddyMackOrr didn'tpickup the guitaruntil he was45
yearsold, but he took to it fast.Now with his fourthrelease,
he is
poisedto breakonto the nationalscene.
Hosea
Hargrove
SingThoseLowBlues
32
By RogerCatchet
Austinbluesman
Hosea
Hargrove
chronicles
his8l years
of lifeand
p l a y i ntgh eb l u e s .
Reverend
KMWilliams
Honest&Funky
..35
By RogerCatchet
Mixingrawbluesandgospel,
KMWilliams
is satisfying
a calling
from
Codto playmusic.
Theordained
minjster
andprolific
recording
artist
hasdeveloped
a soundthattrulyis honest
andfunky.
In Search
Of Charley
Patton. . .72
ByTerryBarkley
CharleyPatton's
lifeand deathhavebeenresearched
for decades,
but
the storyof one of the truepioneers
of Deltabluesremains
a mystery.
RecordReviews
....42
New releases:
CharlieMusselwhite,
KennyNeal,and MavisStaples. .38
Reissues
from:JimmyDawkins,Lightnin'Hopkins,and Document
Records
. .69
Editorial
....2
Letters
.....3
BluesNews
......5
Breakin
Ogu t .Ms.N i ckki
. . . . . . .9
LostBlues
Files:
Charlie
Whitehead
. . . . 12
InTheCroove
....54
Obituaries.
.. ...76
R a dC
i oh a r t. s. .
.... ..80
by MarkCamarigg
ffi
t l
lrs
Iti
tsfr
* a-*.
f
L
T#
4
ff fir
rhln
ffi&
$[l
,
fl'ilf,.i'J;:iilT:::.
of his
aftertherelease
#23justmonths
whichestablished
albumStrongPersuader,
Along
asa bonafidesuperstar.
theguitarist
thefive-timeRayVaughan,
with Stevie
responsible
Crayis largely
Crammy-winning
'80s eady
and
forthebluesboomof thelate
'90s.
fromMagic
influences
lncorporating
Samto O.V Wright,hismusicmightbestbe
notassoulblues
described
but
blue
soul.Often
1
qr
than
moreHi Records
with
his
soul
Stax
,
I
sounos,
Lrayancnors
t
t
n r sm u s rIcn t n eo r u e s
\
|'
#
wffi
,"d
I
*
ff
#
ls
w l t n D l t l n g .v l 0 r a l o / , r a n e h e do rr i t : r l i r k <
C r a y ' se x t e n s i v ea n d v a r i e d
spiritthathas
an independent
reveals
catalog
andhisproductivhisartandcareer,
shaped
afterhis
two decades
unabated
ity continues
blues
scene.
the
international
onto
exolosion
stylehas
eclectic
musical
Cray's
Of course,
Indeed,
LB
notalways
beenwellreceived.
Cray's1992
described
criticJimDeKoster
I rVasrMarnedas"theblues
recording
'chamber
jazz'of
of theso-called
equivalent
'50s,"
"would
fit nicelyin
thatit
adding
the
NevertheHill'snewagecatalog."
Windham
an artistwitha
musicreflects
less,Cray's
forthe
visionanda disregard
determined
of others.
expectations
by someforhispopular
Undulychided
Crayremains
audience,
andgentrified
success
oneof fewbluesartistsof thelasttwo deof thegenre.
theboundaries
cades
expanding
Cray(bornAugustl,
the57-year-old
Today,
to followa musethathas
1953)
continues
Earlier
this
hisartforover40 vears.
driven
Crossyearheperformed
at EricClapton's
andeven
in Chicago
roads
CuitarFestival
to a newCDbyjazzguitarist
lenthistalents
he recently
Moresignificantly,
LeeRitenour.
CrayBandwith original
the Robert
reformed
(a friendsince
Cousins
bassist
Richard
Pugh,
anddrummer
1969),
keyboardistJim
andstartedhisown record
TonyBraunagel
justreleasing
thelivecd/dvdpackage
label,
Cookin'in Mobile.
RobertCray'sfatherwas a U.S.army
quartermaster,
and the familylivedall overthe
countryand abroad.Recordalbumsprovided
familiarity
and had a lastinginfluehce
on the
"Nobodyplayedany
youngster.
well-traveled
in our family,"notes
musicalrnstruments
Cray,"but my dad had a prettywide variety
of musicthatwe listened
to at the house.He
was a big RayCharles
fan andwe listened
to
peoplelikeSarahVaughanand a lot of gospel
musicon Sundays.
My mom was reallyinto
the malesingerslikeBobbyGlenn,SamCooke
andJackieWilson.SisterRosetta
Tharpewas
broughtup at somepointsayingthat she
was maybea distantrelative
or something
like
that.which I neverreallychecked
up on.
"l knowthat I paidcloseattentionto
musicwhen we livedin Cermanyfor the
two and a halfyearswe werethere,"Cray
c o n t i n u e s" l. w a se i g h t n
. i n e .t e n b y t h et i m e
We boughtone of thosebig
I left,I believe.
Crundigstereos
with the shortwave
radioand
the spindlethat droppedthe 45s.When it
was time for us to go to bedjust likeall other
kids,you knowthe parentsput on the music
and hadtheirfriendsoverandyou weresupposedto be in bedsleeping
but you heardthe
m u s i cs, o i t k i n do f l i k ed r i l l e di n y o u rh e a d .
It was all that goodmusicthat was being
played.IDixie]Hummingbirds,
Swan5ilvertoneson Sundays,
and thenduringthe week
it was everything
else.My dadwas hugely
into RayCharles
and at that time in Germany
I startedtakingpianolessons."
WashingEventually
settlingin Tacoma.
ton, by his mid-teens,
Craywas honinghis
guitarskillsin bandswith friendand fellow
armybratRichard
and the two beCousins,
gana lifelongmusicalrelationship.
J
-ffiCfayBa*d'
.&*-**e!s{erist:1*ry
. October
I 6 . LIVING
BLUES
20lO
HandyAwards,Memphis,late 1980s.
!
ilrunn
firnlnnfir[
ilfifi
[nnnis
llfnlhfir
by LeeHildebrand
t
t{a
I
tt:
"Steakface
was a highschoolbandand the only thingthat we reallydid
that was associated
with blues,we mighthavecovered
someFleetwood
Macsongsor something
likethat.That bandonly playeda few gigs.
We stillhavea lot of fansfrom backin thosedaysand that'swhy you
who
hearaboutit. Steakface
includedmy goodfriendBobbyMurray,
playsguitarwith EttaJames.
We went to highschooltogether.
as well
so we all kneweachother."
as Richard
Cousins.
Crayand Cousinssoonhookedup with some
Justteenagers,
and developed
a passionfor blues."Our [next]group,
oldermusicians
playedrock,but we alsoplayedOtis Redding
FoghornLeghorn,
songs
Cray."l don't knowthat we playedany
and thingslikethat,"recalls
blues,but it was betweenthosetwo bandswherewe werelisteningto
MagicSamand B.B.and all that,so I fell in with thoseguys.We just
separated
ourselves
fromeverything
elsethat we werelistening
to for a
whileandjust jumpedinto the bluesbandand startedlistening
to all
We alsoput togethera bandthat includedBobbyIMurray]
the players.
and Richard's
brother,Butch,playingdrums.We modeledourselves
we hadseenhim play.We did the thing
afterAlbertCollinsbecause
whereI wouldput the guitaroverthe amp-theguitarstrap,likeAIbert
did-and comeout afterplayingHip-Hugger
by the MCs.We playedlike
maybeone beerpartyor something
likethat,but that setthe stagefor
what we wantedto do."
todayas a powerfulfrontmanwith pipesto match,
Recognized
Crayovercame
shyness
beforetakingthe reinsas leadsinger."l wasn't
alwaysthe leadsingerin anyof the bandsuntilwe startedthe Cray
woulddo the
Bandand then I startedsinging,"recalls
Cray."Richard
introduction
to all the songsin the earlydaysof the CrayBand,which
'74.
we startedin
ijust-that wasn'tpartof me."[laughs]The Robert
c
D
#
f
{
"Driftin'
Producing
asElmon
Slim"
bluesrecords
bysuchartists
Mickle,
Lightnin'
Hopkins,
andPhillip
Walker
forVault,Fantasy,
in
Testament,
Playboy,
andhisowntinyJolietlabelhadresulted
in
littlefinancial
reward
for BruceBromberg
duringhisfirstdecade
representative
thebusiness.
Then,in 1978,
whileworking
asa sales
Bromberg
sawthe Robert
CrayBandforthe
forTomatoRecoids,
clubcalled
thePalms
duringa
firsttime.lt wasat a SanFrancisco
(NAIRD)
Record
Distributors
National
Association
of Independent
wereBrucelglauer
of
convention.
Alsopresent
at theperformance
andindependent
Alligator
Records,
ScottBillington
of Rounder,
producer
BobPorter.
to record
Bromberg
signedthebandandtookit to LosAngeles
Walker,
his
halfan album's
worthof coversongs.
WhenDennis
producing
partner,
returned
froma tourwithPhillip
andsongwriting
California
musiWalker,
thetwo cutCraywitha bandof Southern
included
four
including
Dennis
on bass.
Thesecond
session
cians,
(credited
as"D.Amy"),
compositions
by Cray,
oneby Bromberg
recorded
in 1978,
the
anda Cray-Bromberg
collaboration.
Although
finished
titledWhot
album,
BeenTalkin',wasn'tissued
until1980.
lt wasreleased
which
byTomatoRecords,
foldedsixmonthslater.
A second
Crayalbum,
Bad Influenee,cameout in
1983on HighTone
Records,
a newcompany
launched
by
Bromberg
andbusinessman
LanySloven.
lt contained
with the
onlytwo covers,
remaining
eightsongshaving
beenwrittenby Bromberg,
Walker,
Cray,andband
members
Richard
Cousins
and MikeVannice.This patternof mixingmaterial
by the musicians
would continueoverthe next threeCrayalbums,
and the producers
including1986'sthree-million-selling
StrongPersuader.
"Theywereon the roadall the time," Walkersaysof the Cray
band."When they cameto town, they might haveone or two tunes
and Bruceand I might havefour or five. We'd go into the studio
'That's
all we got.' Then we'd go home
and recordthem and say,
afterthe sessionand stayup all night and write anothersongor
we
two. LikeI wrote PhoneBoothin the middleof the night because
didn'thavenothin'elseto recordthe nextday."
"Robertwas extremely
"He'dsingit
quick,"recallsBromberg.
in the stuonceor twice,and he'd haveit. Sometimes
we rehearsed
'em
'cause
the way
dio
they werealwayson the road.He would get
he wanted,and off we went."
"He just had it," addsBromberg,
with Cray
whoserelationship
andWalkerendedin 1988."He didn'tmakemistakes.
He was an
awesomeguitarplayer,and, of course,he had the pipes."
Walkerproducedtwo morealbumsfor Cray
Without Bromberg,
With Shcme+i Sin in 1993,Craybecamehis own producer.
. IZ
20lO . LIVING
BLUES
October
!
I
CrayBandworked
thePacific
Northwest
scene
inside
andout,playing
barsandclubs
fromEugene,
Oregon,
to Seattle,
including
places
likeLastHurrahs
in
andKeyLargo
"Murphy
Portland.
andMe'swasa barthat
we played
a lot in Eugene,"
remembers
Cray.
"Weplayed
theWild Hog,theWoodmen
of
t h eW o r l d[ H a l l ] . "
Making
a nameforthemselves
on the
burgeoning
Northwest
bluesscene,
which
alsoincluded
theNighthawks
fronted
by Curtis Salgado,
theRobert
CrayBanddeveloped
a fortuitous
association
withAlbertCollins.
"Wehadbeenplaying
thisclubin Eugene,
andtheclubownerasked
if wewouldmind
backing
himup,andwewerealready
doing
someof hissongs
anyway,
so it wasgreat."
"Albert
recalls
Cray.
camein-realniceguy,
youknow.Wejustkindof fellin linewith
h i m .T h et h i n ga b o uAt l b e rwt a sw ed i d n ' t
really
talkaboutmusic.
Hedidmention
people
likeT-Bone
andCatemouth
Brownand
ell iha
nannla thrf
hp
ATBERtr
@@rtilNQ
r'mg ,Rg'E
$ffitr'
THE
. October
I B . LIVING
BLUES
20]0
enjoyed,
andhetalked
aboutO.V Wrightand
stufflikethata littlebit lateron. Hewould
do hisO.V Wright[imitation]
andit would
justgetmeallfluttered
because
I washugely
anO.V fan.HewouldsaythatO.V,Wright
'Howyou
really
melodically.
Hesays,
talked
doin'Albert?lt'sniceto talkto you,'you
knowandallthatstufflikethatandyougo.
'Wowl
That'sso cool!"'
Collins
relied
on theyoungupstarts
"Because
whentouring
theWestCoast.
we
wereyounger
hewasmoreaboutjustkind
of likea dad,father
figure
to us in thesense
askus if we hadspoken
thathewouldalways
latelyandto letthemknow
to ourparents
"Wejustteamed
howwewere,"
states
Cray.
with him
up withAlbertandweworked
whenever
hewason theWestCoastover
a period
of abouta yearanda half,which
I
n
3
gaveus somegreatopportunities
to playin Seattle,
Vancouver,
British
C o l u m b i aa,n da l s ot h e S a nF r a n c i s cBol u e sF e s t i v ianl ' T T .A g u y n a m e d
who was a guitarplayerin CurtisSalgado's
Jim Cochran,
band,named
'Master
him the
of the Telecaster."'
The PacificNorthwestprovided
a steady,if small,scenefor the
RobertCrayBand,but a moveto SanFrancisco
provedprectpitous.
"We camedown in '76,"statesCray."Bobby
Murraywas playingwith
L i t t l eF r a n k iLee e a, n dw e w e r es t i l ll i v i n gi n O r e g o nB. o b b ys a i d , ' M a n ,
you'vegot to comedown and we'll put you up and we'll rehearse
and
we'regoingto getthesegigs,'whichturnedout to be a bunchof jive
in the longrun. Butwe camedown in 1976andFrankie
put the band
together.
Bobbywas kindof teaching
us Frankre's
music,We did a few
gigsat the My Club in Oaklandon Eastt4,h.lt was calledFrankie
Lee's
Bicentennial
BluesRevtew
featuring
BobbyMurray."
Soonafter,Crayadoptedthe Fender
Stratocaster
as hrssisnature
Albert Collins,RobertCray,and
fohnnyCopeland,t985.
I
,
3
c
F
5
I
ilinh
$hurmiltt
otltnoorditt0
thft$houdoutt!
fll[um
2010marks
the25sanniversary
of theAlligator
recording
Showdoum!
gultarists
featuring
Robert
Cray,AlbertCollins,
andJohnny
Copeland.
Thealbumremains
oneof thelabel's
all-time
best-selling
albums
and
immediately
seta newstandard
forbluescollaborations.
[B recentlv
spoke
withoneof theproducers
on theproject,
DickShurman,
to get
hisimpressions
on thislandmark
recording.
"l think[Johnny]
Copeland's
management
teamcameup with
theoriginal
concept
of a Texas
bluesguitarshowdown
andpresented
it to lAlligator
Records
owner]Brucelglauer.lt wasgoingto beAlbert,Johnny,
andCatemouth
Brown,threegreatHouston
guitarists.
Theydida headline
settogether
at thefirstmodern
Chicago
Blues
'84,
Festival
in
butCatehadtoo manyrequirements
andconditions
related
project,
to therecording
so Robert
Craywasanointed
instead
sincehewasa majordisciple
of Albert's
andshowed
thecontemporarysideof thetradition.
"lt wasanything
buta showdown.
I never
sawanysignsof
justfriendship,
rivalry,
respect,
admiration
andcollaboration.
Johnny
coaxed
somedeepTexas
bluesoutof Albert,including
hisharpplaying
on BringYourftneSelfHome,
andcontributed
someexcellent
songsas
usual.Robert
wasdeferential
andquietasusual,butgreat,
totallywith
theprogram
andalsobrought
nicematerial.
PlusbothBruce
lglauer
andI enjoyed
thechance
to workwithouroldfriendandprooucingmentorBruceBromberg,
whocamein with Robert.Albertand
bothinteracted
aspeers
andoldfriends
andwe hadsomenice
Johnny
chatsaboutsomeof theobscure
Houston
catsfrombackin theday,
including
LittleJoeWashington.
Theydida coupledaysof recordingwithoutRobert.ThenJohnny
brokehisgoodluckfastwithsome
cooked
cabbage,
torehisstomach
up andmissed
thenextdaywhen
we workedwith RobertandAlbert.
"Albert,Robert
andI allhadPacific
Northwest
backgrounds
in common,
soat onepointwewentto a
corner
of thestudioandhada commemorative
toast.I
knewRobert's
showandrepertoire
well,so it waspretty
easyto gethim into hisgroove.I suggested
She'slnto
(a MuddysongRobertusedto do live)and
Something
usinghisarrangement
of T-Bone
(whichhegot
Shu/fle
fromtheBuddyCuyandJr.WellsAtcoalbum),
and
BruceBromberg
brought
TheDream.On thelastdaywe
worked
withthewholetriumvirate,
butJohnny
wasstill
undertheweather
so hewouldliterally
liedownin the
studiountilit washisturnto singor solo,thenhe'dsit
up andexecute.
Because
of hiswooziness,
and
Johnny
Robert
didn'tinteract
asmuchoneon oneastheothers,
butwasallveryharmonious
andI thinkeveryone
knew
something
special
wasgoingon.
"lt remains
oneof thepeakandmostenjoyable
fewdaysof mylife,a totalexemplification
of teamwork,
andoneof theprojects
of whichI'm mostproud.It was
anunbelievable
thrill,andit'sextragreat
thatit'ssoldso
wellandbeenso highlyregarded
overtime.I'mpartial
of
course,
but I'veneverencountered
anyof themanysubsequent
attempts
to recreate
thesamespiritthatI feltsucceeded
to quitethesamedegree.Robert
andI werealreadl
friends,
butI thinkwehavea lifetime
bondbecause
of it. I
justwishAlbertandJohnny
werestillhereto share
it, but
recordings
liveforever
andsodoesthatgreatalliance."
-MarkCamarigg
. l9
October
2010 r LIVING
BLUES
ffilmflnr$
ffinllalrl$
by LeeHildebrand
Cousins
Robert
CrayandRichard
werearmybratswho grewup
aroundthecornerfromeacf
nearFortLewis,
otherin Tacoma,
theydidn't
Although
Washington.
friends
untilhighschool,
become
afterbothhadbeenbittenby the
bugandboughta guitarand
Beatles
theywereraised
bass,respectively,
whereRayCharles
in households
spunon the
records
frequently
phonograph.
Crayand Cousins(who is a yearyoungerthanCray)
playedtogetherin rockbandsbeforebluestook hold of theirminds.
"He was into it way morethan me whenwe were 18and 19,"
now 56. "By the timewe startedthe
bassist,
saysthe Oakland-born
'blue-natics.'
We
callit now
as we affectionately
band,we became,
werereallydeep.We didn'thardlylistento soulmusic.We listened
only to Wolf and Watersand LittleWalterand RobertNighthawk
and RobertJohnsonand Elmore
James.
"Our tasteshad beenvery eclectic,and then we had sort of a
puristperiod.Robertwas a straightpurist,and I followedsuit shortly
Thenwe bothwent backto beingeciectic."
thereafter.
Oregon,
The RobertCrayBandwas formedin lr974in Eugene,
when,to everyone's
a memberuntil 1991,
and Cousinsremained
Crayfiredhim.
surprise,
"l hadquitea bad habit,"Cousinssaysof the reasonfor his
dismissal.
Cousinsthen beganplayingaroundOaklandwith his and
guitaristBobbyMurray,and soon
Cray'sold friendfromTacoma,
joinedMurrayin EttaJames'band.The bassistremained
with James
for threeyearsbeforebeingreplacedby herson Sametto."l taught
who citesDuckDunnandJerry
somestuff,"saysCousins,
Sametto
on
his
own
style.
as
influences
Jemmott
Afterleaving
James,Cousinsmovedto Zurich,Switzerland,
wherehe still lives.He hasworkedand recordedthreeCDswith
a popularSwissbluessingerand guitarplayerto
PhilippFankhauser,
whom he was introducedby formerCrayproducerDennisWalker.
with lvanNevilleand continues
hasalsotouredEurope
The bassist
bandin Switzerland.
to leadhis own oart-time
friends.
EventhoughCrayhad firedCousins,the two remained
stayat Cray'shousewhen in the United
Cousinswould sometimes
Statesand Crayand his wife at Cousins'Zurichhomewhile in Europe.
In late2008,Crayphonedhis old friendand askedhim to
hiatus.Cousinssaysthat
rejointhe band,thus endingan lS-year
a new drummerfor the band.The
Cravaskedhim to recommend
whom he'd knownthroughhis work
bassistpickedTony Braunagel,
firstplayed
with BonnieRaittandTajMahal.Cousinsand Braunagel
togetherin 2006at a Portlandbenefitfor CurtisSalgado,the Cray
band,
blower.The revamped
band'sformersingerand harmonica
Pugh,made
and longtimekeyboardistJim
with Cousins,Braunagel,
its recordingdebuton the 2009CD This Timeand appearson the
currentCooftin' ln Mobile.
o October
20.|0
20 . ttVlNGBLUES
instrument,
but only afterworkingthrough
a numberof otherguitars."l had a Cibson
Then I saw Philip
ES-345
and an SC Standard.
Cuy play.Thatwas a specialevent.lt was in
goingin andwatching
and I remember
Eugene
Philipplay.He was playinga Stratand he had
and it just hadthe
this SuperReverb
[amplifier]
rightamountof reverbon it and the soundwas
just beautiful.
lt wasjust cuttingin this room.
The roomprobablyhada Iinoleumflooror
likethat and it wasjust takingthe
something
i t a l lo v e rt h e r o o m ,a n di t
s o u n da n dp u s h i n g
was a Strat.I had beenpartialto Cibsonsfor
'That's
it!' I went
the longesttime and I said,
I ran into a guy
in searchof a Strat.Fortunately,
'64
Stratalongwith a little
who was sellinghis
for a sum that was beyond
Pignose
amplifier
my meansat the time,$700and somebucks,
to scrapeup the moneyand I
but I managed
got it. [laughs]
lt was a gooddeal!"
hd
i s b a n df i r m l yo n t h e
Having
establishe
West Coastbluescircuit,anotherearlyhighlightwasopeningfor MuddyWaters."We did likesix showsand on
roomdoorbecause
on his dressing
the firstof them I went and knocked
I h a dn e v e m
r e t h i m b e f o r ea,n dh e s a y s , ' C o moen i n , " ' r e c a l lCsr a y .
back
I openedthe doorand thereis Muddy.It's likein thosepictures
in thosedays.He hadthe wine redshirton andthe whiteslacksand
P i p e r - H e i d s iC
e ch ka m p a g naen dh e h a d
t h e s u s p e n d e rHse. ' sd r i n k i n g
in it to keepthe fizz goingand it was a certainage.you
a strawberry
role.
know.So I hada littledrinkwith him and I playedthe interviewer
I just didn'tknowwhat to say.I just startedtalkingto him abouthow
it was with [Otis]Spannand LittleWalterand stufflikethat.Then he
Mgu d d yW a t e r s
s t a r t e tda l k i n ga b o u th i m s e lifn t h e t h i r dp e r s o n , ' Y o u n
c o u l dh a v eg i r l so n b o t hs i d e sr i d i n ga r o u n da n da l l . ' W e j u s t g o t a l o n g
g r e a tW e d i d o u r s e ta n dt h e nc a m eb a c ka n d l c h a t t e dw i t h h i m s o m e
moreand then he invitedme on to sing MannishBoyfor the encore
everynight,so that was fantasttc.
"Theguywasjust an openbook,"continues
Cray."No airsabout
him,just open,and he was kindof likemy friend.When we playedour
we playedat this oneclubandtherewasa knock
showup in Vancouver,
knock,knock.'I
on the door.l'm backtheretalkingand I hear'knock,
C
h
a
r
l ePy r i d eC. h a r l e y
u
p
a
n
d
i
t
'
s
d
o
o
r
o
p
e
n
s
i
n
.
'
a
n
d
t
h
e
said,'Come
'You
knowI heard
the alleyand he says,
Pridewasworkinga gigacross
this musicplayingand it soundedlikeMuddyWaters.l-sir, can I come
in?''Comeon in!' He camein andtheystartedtalkingabouthow they
RobertCray and
RichardCousins
performing
at the 2010
Crossroads
Guitar testival
in Chicago.
G
rg
wereboth raiseddown herein
Mississippi
and how theyboth
went backand they boughttne
property.
l'm watchingallthis
go down.Anotherknockat the
doorandanotherguy pokedhis
'That's
headin andChadeysays,
my guitarplayer.
Canhe come
in and meetyou, Mr. Waters?'
laughslIt was reallybeautiful andjust reallyniceto be
aroundMuddyand havethose
opportunities.
On the lastof the
showsoneof hisguitarplayers
hadto go to Chicago.
Muddy
'Robert
said,
do you thinkyou
canplaysomeof that Muddy
Waters-style
blues,you know?'
So I got to playa completeset
with his band,whichwasa gas."
The RobertCrayBand's
firstopportunity
to recordcame
in 1978aftermeetingproducers
BruceBromberg
and DennisWalkerwho hadworkedwith PhillipWalker
Theirmusicalrelationship
wouldlastthroughthe nextdecadeand beara
stringof Cray'sbiggesthits."lt was new" remembers
Cray."Bruceand
Dennishadseenus the daybeforeat the SanFrancisco
BluesFestival
and
then cameto seeus at the club.Brucewasa westernregional
representa'78
tivefor TomatoRecords
at that time.We went into the studioin
to record for Tomatoand did the recordinglrMho's BeenTa|Irringlin a weekat
max.I camein with a coupleof songsandthenwe did somecoversandall
that stuff.Thatwasa goodway to buildthe friendship.
The recorddidn't
comeout until 1980,
andthensix monthslaterTomatohadgoneunder.
We keptin contactandrecorded
againfor HighTone
in'82 or'83. Because
the bandwasalwayson the road,Bruceand Dennis-Dennrs
mainly-wrote
a lot of the songs. I helpedon a lot of the musicandsometimes
on certain
lyrics.Bromberg
mostlycamein with lyricsandthenthe bandor myself
wouldput the musicto it. Sowe hadthat kindof relationship.
"Bromberg
especially
was big into countryand Walker,too, but
Walkerhadalready
beenproducing
otherpeople,"notesCray."They're
big bluesfans,but in the contextof rootsmusic,bluesandcountryare
likethis [holdsfingerscloselytogether].
Theycouldgo eitherway as far
as who theywantedto presenttheirmusicto or who theyweregoing
to writefor.So the songsthat Denniswrote,maybe,Don'tBeAfraid
Of TheDark,I think PhilipWalkerrecorded
it beforeus.We got into
the studioand therewerethesesongsthat they hadon tapeor sheets
a n dw e ' dj u s t t a k ea l o o ka t t h e ma n dg o ' y a y ' o r ' n a y . ' S o m e t i im
f es
we didn'thavethe powerto say'nay'anddidn'thavethe time,we did
them |aughslbecause
we weremakinga record.Onceagain,it was like
you comein fromthe road,got a weekor two, you go in the studio,
and we'rebackon the roadagain."
And the roadis wherethe RobertCrayBandstakedtheirclaim.
Bad lnfluence,recordedfor $7,000as the first release
on Bromberg's
fledglingHightonelabelin I983,proveda majorturningpoint.The
bandweavedhintsof southernsoul,R6B,and evenpop upona blues
guitarwork.They
foundation
solidified
by Cray'splucky,vibrato-laden
playedtnglandthreetimesand garnered
four HandyAwardsin 1984.
FalseAeeusationsfollowedand reflecteda rapidlymaturing,hardworkingbandon the cuspof international
acclaim.
With the breakthough
albumStrongPersuader,
the band'ssound
grewincreasingly
moresoulful,aidedby the addrtionof the famedMemphis
Horns."The ideaof workingwith the MemphisHorns,you go backto the
HighTonerecordsand we recordedStrongPersuaderas a HighTonerecord
I
Robert Cray and keyboardistJim
Pugh,2008.
Iirnftl$lt
by LeeHildebrand
LanyBlake's,
a restaurant
andclub
in Berkeley,
on Telegraph
Avenue
a
blockanda halffromtheUniversity
of California
campus.
wasSan
Francisco
BayAreaheadquarters
forthethen-little-known
Robert
CrayBandduringtheearly1980s.
Whentheyweren't
working
in
Blake's
basement
bar,knownat
the Rathskeller,
Crayandcompany
oftenwoulddropin on Thursdays
to hearandon Mondays
to jamwiththeRatBand.
An ultra-tight
guitarist
RGBunitledby onetime
Musselwhite
TimKaihatsu,
Charlie
thegroupserved
astheclub'shousebandandbacked
suchvisiting
vocalists
asJohnnyAdams,LeeDorsey,
TracyNelson,
andespecially
EttaJames.
"Wejust lovedthatscene
andwhattheywereplaying,"
RichardCousins
saysof theRatBand.Thebassist
alsonotesthatBlake's
wasa goodplace
to "pickup chicks."
Overthe nextfewyears,
Craywouldpickup a number
of
musicians
fromthe RatBandfor hisown band.Kaihatsu
worked
ashisrhythmguitarist
from1986to 1992.
KevinHayes
wasCray's
drummer
from1988to 2008.KarlSevareid
wasthe band'sbassist
froml99l to 2008.KeyboardistJim
Pughjoinedin 1989
andis today
theonlyRatBandalumnus
stillplaying
withCray.
Pughwasborn56yearsagoin upstate
NewYorkandraised
in Chicago,
whereheeventually
fellunderthespellof pianist
Otis
Spann.
Aftermoving
to SanFrancisco
in theearly1970s,
hebegan
hanging
outat theStardust
Lounge,
a Fillmore
District
barrunby
vocalist
Dottielvoryandfeaturing
LouisMadison,
formedy
organist
of James
Brown's
Famous
Flames.
Madison's
influence
on Pughcan
be detected
on theonlyCDto appear
underPugh's
name,Pastel
Motif, self-released
in 2008.Priorto joiningCray,Pughworked
with
Rubicon,
EIvinBishop,
theRatBand,
andEttaJames.
Hiscompositionshavebeenrecorded
by Cray,GuitarShorty,
andTowerof Power
andhisextensive
studiocredits
includerecordings
withJames,
Tommy
Castro,
theCospel
Hummingbirds,
Mark
JohnLeeHooker,
Hummel.
Frankie
Lee.andOtisRush.
Duringhis2l yearc
with theCrayband,Pughhasdeveloped
almost
telepathic
onstage
communication
withtheothermusicians
thathelpsmakearrangements
created
on thespotsoundalmosttoo
tightto havebeenimprovised.
"lt'scertainly
nola jazzquartet,
butthere's
an aesthetic
that
is similar,
especially
with Robert
andto a lesser
extentwith myself
andeverybody
else,"explains
thetall,lankykeyboardist,
who now
livesin SantaYnez,California,
abouttwo milesfromCray."He's
reallymakingit up on thefly.We don'tdo setlists.A lot of what
youhear,whenit'ssoft,whenit's loud,is alla matterof listening
people.
to eachother.lt is a dialogue
lt's not a show.Some
between
nightsit'soverwhelming,
andI thinkthat'swhatpeoplepayto see."
. 2l
Oclober2010 o LIVING
BLUES
'l:::'..
:'
I
.
i,lr:1:,ji!:.:tr:.
.,t,,:f,i.:,.
-\
a
$i
?
u,buis
-:-
m
\
initially,"
states
Cray."We camein off the road,
hada coupleweeks,
andwentin andrecorded
somesongs,
split. Whenwe split.al' thenegotiationsthroughMercuryandstuffweregoing
Mercurywantedto boost
on with HighTone.
Sothen Bruceand
the profileof the recording.
'Well
let'sgetthe Memphis
Horns
Dennis
said,
intotown,'andwe calledthemup andthey
broughtthe Hornsin andwe wereout on the
we ran
road.Sotheywereaddedon, Eventually
'Hey
intoWayneandAndrewandwe decided,
guys,wellwe'vegot thesesongs. . .' flaughsl
andtheyjoinedthe band.flaughslEvenwith
the Bad Influencealbumwe'dhad horns.We
so
hadMikeVannice
andWarrenRandplaying,
wherewe hadthe sax
therehad beensituations
on Bad.
andwe did ClotTo MakeA Comeback
lnfluence.Sowe werein tunewith that kindof
music.lt wasa goldenopportunity
to workwith
WayneandAndrew"
With success
building.
Craysnatched
opportunity,
teamingwith AlbertColanother
linsandJohnnyCopelandon Sftoudorln! for
2 2 . t t V t N GB L U EoSO c t o b e2r0 l O
with
AlligatorRecords.
Thealbumcontrasted
HrghTone
eflo'tsand proved
Crays polisheo
'Durir-g
that
h e c o r l dt r a d el , c k sw t h a r y o n e
recoroing
sessiorwhen | firstgorto Ch,cago
andA be't and I werestandng outsrde
the
w a i t i n gf o r J o h n ntyo s h o wu p , I k n e w
studro
t a dg o n eb a c ki r F o u s t h a t J o h n nayn dA l b e r h
t o n b a c ki n t h e ' 5 0 sa n da l lt h a t ,b u t I h a d
nevermerJohnnybefore.recals Cray.Johnny
o : l l su o a ' d s e t so u t o r t h ec a -a n dh es a l l
weakandhe'shangingoverandall thatand
'Hey,
Albertwith hisquickwit says,
what'sthe
marteriAndJohnnysays.I ve beer fasting.
t g h e w a sa l lw e a k
J o h r n ys a y sh e s b e e nf a s n
rnd Alherr-l
q rcqqfrnm hpino snnd fr,pnds
w a sl i ( eo a t r i n h
g m o n t h eb a c ka r d d o i " t g
a I thrs.ilaJshslSo we rookall rhatinto the
studiobecause
Albertstayedon him andwas
p i c k i n ag t h i m a l lt h et i m ea n dt r y i n gt o c h e e r
l - i n u o a . r dc e rh i ss or i t su o .A n d l m l k e l h e
just kindof watchingthis kind
Lrttle
schoolboy
between
thesetwo gJysgo on.
of re'atonst^ip
We tookaLlof that intothe studioandwe
just hadfun. I knowthe producers
werehappy
with that kindof spirit.lt wasgood."
L ttle couldhaveprepared
Crayfor the
few
overthe subsequent
success
he achieved
years.Released
in Novemberl986,Strong
peaked
Persuader
at #13on the Billboard
c h a - r sb e h i n dt h e s i n g l eS m o k i n Q
g u na n d
n o t a b l ya,l o n g s i dneo o t h e rb l a c kb l u e sa r t i s t s .
n u s r cs c e n ec o i n C r a ys r i s eo n t h e A m e r i c am
cidedwith the dawnof rapand the pervasive
ei s
i n f l u e n coef M T V a n dV H - 1 .b u t d e s p i t h
p o p u l a r i tbyl,a c kr a d i od i d n o t e m b r a chei s
on his success
afterStrong
music.Refiecting
disappointPersuader,
Crayacknowledged
m e n tt h a th i s m u s i cw a sn o t h e a r do n u r b a n
r a d i o". M y t h i n gw i t h i t i s t h a tw i t h m e b e i n g
, hy isit that
s o m u c ho f a f a no f a l l m u s i cw
parents
aren'tplayingthe musicfor the kids
and how comeit's sucha foreignmusicto all
the youngkids?When I firststartedlistening
was on the radio.Then
to musiceverything
'60s,
F M r a d i oc a m e
a l l o f a s u d d e ni ,n t h e
startedto buildon all theseaddout. Formats
flnbnn$rau
Ul$$outanltu
1980 \lho's BeenTakin? (Laterreleased
asToo ManyCoofts)- Tomato
1983 Bad Influmce- HighTone
- HighTone
1985 FabeAeausations
1985 Showdotttn!(with AlbertCollins
andJohnnyCopeland)Alligator
1986 StrongPusuader Mercury/
Universal
1988 Don'tBe Afrafulof the DorlkMercury/Universal
1990 Midn@ StrcU-Mercury/Universal
1992 I \las tlfarned- Mercury/Universal
1993 Srrame+tr Sin- Mercury/Universal
1995 Sonc Rahy Mornhg - Mercury/
Universal
1997 SweetPotatoPie - Mercury/
Universal
1999 TakeYour SlwesOll - Rykodisc
1999 In Coneert(with AlbertCollins)
- Indigo
- Rykodisc
2001 ShouldaBeenHome
2003 Time \fill Tetl Sanctuary
2005 Tumty _ Sanctuary
2007 Live FronAcross The PondNozzleAy'anguard
2008 Hve AtTlv BBe - Mercuryi
Universal
2009 Thb Timc - NozzleAy'anguard
2010 Authorked,Bootleg:Attstin, Texas
5l25lE7-Mercury
2010 Cookin'In Mobile- Nozzle/
Vanguard
edstations.
You'dgo intothe record
shops
andtherewerebinsandall theseformats
werestarting
to build.People
listened
to one
radiostationandtheyonlyplayed
onecertain
kindof music,
sothatwasn'thelping
the
situation
either.
We hadbeengoingto Europe
'80s
in theearly andwe'dlistento the BBC
andtheBBCwouldplayJohnLeeHooker
and
thenthey'dplayMadonna.
| thought
[laughs]
thatwasgreat.
That'showI grewup listening
to music.Youdon'tknowthere's
no baniers
aboutmusic.lf it'sgood,it'sgood.When
I listened
to the radioCharley
Pridewason
andthere'd
becountryandthere'dbe blues,
'n'
rock roll,everything.
WhenI firststarted
playing
musicI wantedto playeverything.
lf a songwasgood,I wantedto playit. You
learnto dealwith it thesedaysbutyeah,it's
disheartening
wheneverything
is so formattedandeverybandgetspigeonholed
intoa
certainkindof category,
evencategories
at
whichtheydon'tfit, theydon'tbelong.
When
yougo to record
binsthesedaysyou'llsee
popular
RGBsingers
in thebluescategory
andtheydon'treallybelongthere.Soit'sall
messed
up."fiaughs]
With the platinum
success
of Strong
Perstmder,
Craybecame
a hot commodity
guesting
beyond
thebluesgenre,
on rockand
popalbumsby the likesof EricClapton
and
TinaTurner.
Morenotably,
Crayappeared
on JohnLeeHookeisThe Healerin 1989,
offering
a punchysoloon thetrackBabyLee.
Thecollaboration
sparked
a friendship
that
lasteduntilHooker's
deathin 2001.Cray
"Wejust lookedup to JohnLeelikehe
recalls,
wasoneof us,although
hewasyearsolder.
That'stheonethingI likeaboutmeeting
all
thesemusicians.
Theynevergrowup,you
know?Theynevergrowup. Ageis whatsets
youapartbutthat'stheamountof timethat
you'vebeenon earth.Butdeepdowninside
everybody
isjusttheseyoungsoulsyou
pullingyouback.John
know?Ageis always
wasa kid-helovedlife.
"lt wasjust amazing
to meto seehow
manyfanshe hadandallthesehangers-on
around
womenaround
John-always
John
allthetimeandlikea youngmanhealways
talkedabouthisexploits
or whathewishedhe
coulddo afterhegotoldet"Crayexpounds.
"That's
whatJohn
wasalways
about.Hewas
funny.Hewasalways
talkingaboutit andhe'd
always
havehishandandtryingto whisper
in
yourearandtellingyousomekindof anecdote
or somekindof jokeor something
likethat.
Hewasjustfunto bearound.
WhatI loved
aboutJohn
working
in thestudiois hedidn't
liketo do too manytakes.
You'dhearit on
'Thank
you,fellows,'you
therecords.
Hewas,
know.lt's likejust oneor two takesandthat
wasit eventhoughpeoplewantedhimto do
more.I lovedthat-straight
to thebusiness.
I
waseventalkingwith theotherguystheother
day,thewaywe metJohnandsomeof the
with Althingswe learned,
because
we played
bert[Collins],
we hadthechance
to playwith
Muddy,
butJohnLee's
bluesarecompletely
different-14-bar
blues-that
kindof thing.The
. 23
October
20,|Oo LlVlNcBLUES
firsttimewe playedwithJohn,me and Richard
werestanding
on stageand he didn'ttell us
what keyhe was in, whichisn'tso bad.but
when you don't know that he'sgoingto play
l4 barsthat'sa wholeotherstoryl
" l ' l l t e l ly o u a n o t h etrh r n g . a' d d sC r a y .
"[Hooker's]
Coastto CoastBIuesBand-tightest bandin the worldbecause
theycould
playthosebarswithoutdroppinga beatat a
tempounknownto man.Butthe thingwas
Johnwas playingthis l4-barbluesand then
doing somethinglikeI CouerThe Waterfront.
'Robert,
Johnwouldcomeup to me and go,
you know I knowwhat I m doing. So he did
his bluesthe way he wantedto. but he could
do bluesin the regular
format.He knows
exactlywhat he'sdoingl"
'90s
The early
markedchanges
in the
RobertCrayBand.Crayfiredlongtimebassist
Richard
Cousinsin l99l andthe band'sstudio
outputincorporated
everything
from Chesserastyledbluesto samba-esque
rhythms.The
bandand Craybeganwritingmostof their
own material
and Crayhimselftook the reins
as producer
on his albums.ln 1997Sweet
Potato Pie presaged
an evendeeperforay
into Memphissouland the R&Bof Cray's
childhoodrecords.
The guitarist
established
his soulfulintentions
recording
the discat
ArdentStudiosin Memphisand,onceagain,
. October
24 . ttVtNGBLUES
20lO
incorporating
the MemphisHorns.Additionally,Cray'svocalprowessreflectedhis
oft-citedvocalinspiration,
O.V Wright.Cray
once listedWright'sNucteusO/Soul as one
of his desertislanddiscs."l just lovedthose
ballads-the
way he approached
the ballad,"
statesCray."What got to me was the way
that he approached
the songsespecially
in
a balladwherehe was strictlyfromchurch,
the way he grewup and all.The way he
approached
a balladwouldbe the sameway
that ArchieBrownlee
approached
a songin
FiveBlindBoys.I meanhe startedoff nice
and easyand by the trmeit crescendos
at the
end,I meanit was likethat was it and that's
the way O.V did. Yeah,hejust tookyou with
him. That'swhat I enjoyedaboutO.V.
"l guesssomething
wasbuiltinto me
listening
to all the gospelmusicthat I did
growingup." Craynotes."Thatwas my attraction to O.V Wright. lt sayson one of the back
of his recordshow he'sa masterad libberor
something
to thateffect.I just lovedhisapproachand I lovedthe way he took his time to
getyou into the storyand takeyou with him.
He was differentthan SamCooke.SamCooke
hadan amazing
voice,but he dancedmelodicallyall throughthe lyricof the songandO.V
Wright wasjust down in it." laughsl
Leaving
Mercuryand movingto Rykodisc
furtherfreedCrayto crafthis artisticvision.
ln 1999Take Your ShoesO// provedCray's
masteryof the soulsoundsalwayslurkingin
his musicand pickedup the 2000Crammy
for BestContemporary
BluesAlbum.Famed
producer
Willie Mitchellprovided
Hi Records
horn arrangements
andco-wrotethe sultry
Mitchell,
LoueCloneTo Waste.Recalling
Craystates,"Williecameout to Nashville
when we wererecordingTake Your Shoes
Olf.We alsowent to his studioin Memphis
and workedwith him up thereaswell. He
producedthe songLoueQone7o V/aste.We
h a da l lt h e h o r n sW
. e h a dJ i m H o r na n dJ i m
Spakeand a bunchof catsplayingon that
Williecame
in the hornsection.I remember
in and he hadthis goldtop and goldpants
SteveJordan
and it was just great.IProducer]
'Papa
c a l l e dh i m
W i l l i e .I' r e m e m b ehri m
sittingon the boardin the studioin Nashville
were
and listening
to how the arrangements
'Yeah,
yeahthat'sit.' You
goingand he goes,
know it was reallyexcitingto be working
with him.We alsodid this littlesceneand
this songcalledV/hatAbout Me and it has
thesebreaks
whereit's kindof a clubscene
and theseglasses
areclinkingand all that,so
on
we got Willie.Willie is in the background
that too." Iaughsl
soulsounds,Cray
Movingbeyondclassic
beganminimizing
hornsfor moreexpansive
sounds,
including
the electric
sitaron 2003's
Time tMill Tell. Morestriking,however,were
Craysovertlypolitrcal
lyricsaboutthe lraqWai.
"lt wasthe buildup,
Hestates,
to
the lead-in
the war in lraqandthosesongswerewritten
beforethe war actuallystartedor maybewhen
it just hadhappened.
wrotethesong
JimIPugh]
DistantShore.and I wrotethe songSuruiuor.
and it wasall the BSthatwas goingon about
the buildup,andyou figure,you know,it was
aboutthe oil so that'swhatwe wroteabout.I
you know
hadto makethat statement
because
therewasjustallthe bullshit
on it."
Yetthe bissestchanseof the lastdecade
was breaking
up his longtimebandin October
2008and startingover.lt startedwith a
p h o n ec a l lt o h i so l d f r i e n dC o u s i n s".R i c h a r d
is the originalfbass]playerin the bandand
we maintained
a closerelationship
overall
'
thpseve:rs Cr2vsi2tpq" Richard
would
'Man,
you
c o m ei n a n ds e et h e b a n da n dg o ,
guyssuck.'Iaughsl Richard
is fly. Richard
doesn'tholdanythingback.He tellsus when
there'sa lot of movement
and stuffgoingon
in the bandand stufflikethat.
"Overthe years,I thoughthow nice
it wouldbe to haveRichard
comebackand
"l tossedit
playin the band,"Craycontinues.
aroundin my headfor a whileand I thought
aboutit for a longperiodof time and then I
madethe decisionto do that.Then I thought
maybeI'd liketo do a wholerhythmsection
change,
whichwouldbe a majorshakeup.
with the same
We'd madea bunchof records
bandand I thoughtmaybelet'stry something
different.
So I calledRichard
andwe talked
a b o u it t a n dh e s a i d , ' Y e a" h .
The reformed
RobertCrayBand,with
keyboardist
Jim Pughand new drummer
TonyBraunagel,
immediately
clickedand got
to work on This Time, the first albumon
"We hadfun
Cray'sown NozzleRecords.
and we put togetherChickenln TheKitchen,"
enthuses
Cray."Thatto me hasa littletaste
of the old and it's kindof modernin the same
respect
with the way the lyricis."
Morethan ever,the RobertCrayBand
remains
a collaborative
effort."When we
knowthatwe'regoingto go into the studio,
everybody
startsthat process
of bringingin
t h e m a t e r i awl ,r i t i n ga, n dt h a t k i n do f t h i n g
and I encourage
it," declares
Cray."l could
writeall the songs,but we lookat makinga
recordas a bandeffortin the sensethat you
knowwe'reall goingto be playingthis stuff
andwe'llgeta goodvarietythat way.The
bandthingis importantbecause
it keepsa focus on the music.Otherwise
it wouldjust be
me and a coupleof sympathetic
kindof guys
just ploddingalong.We would liketo keep
the bandkindof thingtogether
and the /
focuson the bandand music."
lt/
,r
B L U E.S2 5
O c t o b e2r0 l 0 . L I V I N G