Robert Cray

小簡(jiǎn)介
Robert Cray是八十年代最成功的布魯斯歌手，他能夠?qū)銓?shí)而簡(jiǎn)潔的吉他演奏與富有激情的演唱相結(jié)合，演繹傳統(tǒng)的布魯斯音樂。同時(shí)，他又突破形式上的束縛，以現(xiàn)代的方式來表演傳統(tǒng)的主題，并在兩者之間找到了一個(gè)平衡點(diǎn)。Cray的歌迷們也由此規(guī)整的劃分為兩個(gè)陣營(yíng)：一些人希望他不斷開拓新的領(lǐng)域，而另一些人則仍是等待著欣賞Cray的經(jīng)典節(jié)奏與布魯斯作品。
1985年，Cray與Johnny Copeland和Albert Collins合作推出專輯《False Accusations》和《Showdown》，后者獲得了格萊美“最佳傳統(tǒng)布魯斯唱片獎(jiǎng)”。1986年的專輯《Strong Persuader》銷量很快突破百萬(wàn)，成為三十年來第一張進(jìn)入排行榜前20名的布魯斯唱片，專輯贏得格萊美大獎(jiǎng)。進(jìn)入九十年代，Cray不斷嘗試以各種新的方式來演繹傳統(tǒng)布魯斯音樂，并且大獲成功，每張專輯都獲得了好評(píng)。
by Bill Dahl
Tin-eared critics have frequently damned him as a yuppie blues wanna-be whose slickly soulful offerings bear scant resemblance to the real down-home item. In reality, Robert Cray is one of a precious few active blues artists with the talent and vision to successfully usher the idiom into the future without resorting either to slavish imitation or simply playing rock while passing it off as blues. Just as importantly, his immensely popular records helped immeasurably to jump-start the contemporary blues boom that still holds sway to this day. Blessed with a soulful voice that sometimes recalls 60s great O.V. Wright and a concise lead guitar approach that never wastes notes, Crays ascendancy was amazingly swift — in 1986 his breakthrough album, Strong Persuader, for Mercury (containing Smoking Gun) won him a Grammy and shot his asking price for a nights work skyward. Unlike too many of his peers, Cray continues to experiment within his two presiding genres, blues and soul. Sets such as Midnight Stroll, I Was Warned, and Shame + a Sin for Mercury show that the bluenatics (as he amusedly labels his purist detractors) have nothing to fear and plenty to anticipate from this innovative, laudably accessible guitarist. Sweet Potato Pie concluded Crays stint at Mercury, and he moved to Rykodisc for two albums, Take Your Shoes Off and Shoulda Been Home, both of which more fully embraced his soul leanings. Sanctuary Records was his next stop, where he further broadened his sound by including a couple antiwar protest songs and playing electric sitar on Time Will Tell (2003). Twenty, titled after another antiwar song, followed in 2005. Live from Across the Pond, which features material culled from seven nights at Londons Royal Albert Hall, arrived in 2006.