Venue:
The Beacon
Date: 15/06/2025
I haven’t heard anything of Robert Cray for at least 30 years. He still has the same band and, remarkably, looks exactly the same.
I’m not a guitar player so I don’t feel qualified to comment on his playing in any meaningful way. Someone else can do that! Suffice to say I thought it was very good and I enjoyed it!
What really impressed was his voice. Definite echoes of Sam Cooke and I’m told he’s a big admirer of O. V. Wright.
Small band – drums, bass and keys – and all first class. Particularly enjoyed the Hammond solos to break up the guitar breaks.
They were clearly enjoying themselves (most noticeably the very laid back Richard Cousins on bass) and that’s always good to see.
All in all a really enjoyable night.
The audience:
More mixed than I expected but a preponderance of men talking about guitars
It made me think..
Is it blues or is it soul – or is it rhythm and blues? Whatever it is – it’s good!
It’s good he is still going. Saw him live a couple of times, probably 20 years ago, on the back of a run of very good records I had invested in. I like his smooth blues. Rather than going off him, I just sort of stopped following his career. Might be due a reappraisal.
He used to have a very smooth guitar sound – he now has, to my ears, a very ‘wiry’, harsh guitar sound. Like everyone else, I’ve hardly noticed him since the ‘Phone Booth’ era. I wonder did this change in sound happen all at once? Like, night and day from one record to the next…
I used to love Robert Cray, both as a singer and a guitar player. The first four albums up to ‘Strong Persuader’ were a great run but unfortunately ‘Strong Persuader’ was massive and every album after that seemed to be worked to the same template. ‘Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark’, ‘Too Many Cooks’ and ‘Midnight Stroll’ were virtually interchangeable and I gradually lost interest. As an aside, I was surprised to see him pop up in the ‘Perfect Day’ video, I didn’t realise he was big enough to warrant rubbing shoulders with Lou and the Dame etc.
Pretty much my trajectory, too.
Bought a more recent album of his a couple
of years back. Rarely gets played
Yep, me too. A one CD artist (though I have 3). I found his tone a bit thin and pingy. I ought to reinvestigate.
Like many, I was a big fan of his early albums but lost track recently – I have a number of his later albums, but by all means not complete (is he still putting out albums or just playing live ?)
I remember seeing him on a double bill with BB King back in the early 90s at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Was rather good as I recall.
He’s gone more into the soul side of things, and improved his singing and playing in my opinion. It’s mostly about his voice. I recommend the ‘Robert Cray with Hi Rhythm’ album. I like his stuff. Also ‘In My Soul’. Any of the recent ones.