When Robert Cray first arrived on the scene in the early ’80s, he was thought of, rightfully, as a blues wunderkind, but by the time he unleashed Strong Persuader in 1986, critics and bar-crawlers alike noticed the strong streaks of R&B and soul running & through his work. It may not have been an honor he was looking for, but Cray was thereupon considered a savior of two or three genres at once.
Now Cray’s unleashed his most unabashedly soulful set yer, Take Your Shoes Off. And while it contains several nods to the blues tradition, most notably a gothically heartbroken version of Willie Dixon’s ”Tollin’ Bells,” the overall sound is Memphis soul—clean like Al Green, punchy, and sweet in the Willie Mitchell tradition. But the tales of betrayal that the sound rides on are pure Cray, even when he’s essaying someone else’s work.
Cray rolls into Tipitina’s June 15th with the Robert Cray Band and the Memphis Horns to showcase this new sound, although there’s gonna be plenty of favorites of all styles culled from Cray’s unique 18-year career.
“We’re gonna go all the way back to Bad Influence,” he says of the set. And it’s not as if Robert was actually looking to make a soul album in the first place. “You know what, we’ve been doing R&B songs for a long time,” he says, “and so we didn’t try to make a full R&B record. We went into the studio with the songs we’d written, and when we came out we had a soul record,” he says, laughing. “It just came out that way.”
Of course, recording in Nashville with a soul-savvy producer like Steve Jordan doesn’t hurt. “Steve had some songs lying around the house,” said Cray. “I picked out a Solomon Burke song, “Won’t You Give Him (One More Chance),” and he also had the Willie Mitchell song (“Love Gone To Waste”). Jordan also brought a fresh approach to Cray’s sound.
“He shaped the sound. He added new elements to the songs the way he heard them,” said Cray. One of those elements, surprisingly, was Louisiana-born Jo-El Sonnier. “It was on ‘Won’t You Give Him (One More Chance)’,” remembers Cray with an easy chuckle.
“The way Steve heard the song, it would be great to have an accordion on it. I said, ‘Man, I don’t want to put an accordion on this!’ Steve said, ‘Look. He lives in Nashville, we’ll try it out. If you don’t like it, you can take it off!’ So he comes in, and he’s a sweet guy, and he laid down a great track. So I kept it.”
Cray’s been doing quite a bit of journeying, both musical and the more pedestrian kind. The band was slated to perform at the Heineken Beat Festival in Beijing from May 14–16. It was to be the first open-air festival in Beijing, and the bill also featured local legends the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade forced its cancellation. “Plus, the square we were gonna have it in way too close to the American Embassy,” Cray says. “I had my little Chinese phrase book ready to go and everything.”
So now Cray and Co. tool through Europe for a few dates, before returning to his native soil. The four-time Grammy winner is very much looking forward to the Tip’s gig in particular: “I do enjoy coming to New Orleans, because I don’t come down as often as I’d like to. It’s a music city. I kind of liken it to playing in Brazil. When you play there, they know the songs; and they sing along. And there’s the food, as well,” he laughs. “The food and music, they go together here. I like what I do: I like to play music and eat food and travel to nice places. Cities like this are very warm. And as far as New Orleans, I don’t think you can find any warmer people in America.”
One of the warmest sounds in the world is the Hammond B-3 Organ, and regular readers of this column will know the respect I reserve for Joe Krown, one of its finest local wranglers. He’s played with a gaggle of greats, including Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and he’s also known for his membership in local band Amy and the Hank Sinatras.
He’s just released the Joe Krown Organ Combo’s debut CD Down And Dirty. which will no doubt do for the B-3 what last year’s solo Just The Piano, Just The B!ues did for the 88’s. He’s been traveling in Europe, as well, but will return this month to promote the CD locally. Catch him in one of his many incarnations and be astounded, especially if you check the Combo’s only appearance this month, scheduled on the 23rd at the Maple Leaf.
Also returning is the 1968 “comeback” album Fats Is Back, just re-released on CD by Bullseye Blues & Jazz. Originally released on Reprise Records, this album was Fats’ first full-length wax recorded as such, previous albums having been sewn together from singles and oddities. A collaboration with producer Richard Perry and arranger Randy Newman, it features the late great pianist James Booker, drummer Earl Palmer, bassist Chuck Rainey and saxophonist King Curtis.
It also features a few near-embarrassing hard-sell attempts at introducing Fats to the love children, including covers of “Lady Madonna” (which works, sort of) and “Lovely Rira” (which doesn’t). Still a useful document, and essential for collectors.
Finally, although Jazz Fest has come and gone, taking many of the nation’s musical offerings with ir, there are still a few acts worth checking out on the city’s stages this month. Houston gives us two reasons to rejoice: Mark May and the Agitators, and Brad McCool and the Big City Blues Band.
One is an Albert Collins-ish guitar slinger personally endorsed by the Allmans’ own Dickey Betts; the other is a Texas-sized band of jump and swing blues. They roll into Vic’s Kangaroo Cafe on the 18th and 19th. Bonnie Raitt graces us with her hip-shaking presence at the House of Blues on the 15th and 16th, with local piano wiz (and Raitt sideman) Jon Cleary opening up with his funk band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
Two unarguable legends round out the month: Soul’s own heartbreak king, Percy Sledge, is at the Double Deuces in Hammond, LA on the 18th, while Bo Diddley arrives at the House Of Blues on the 19th. To find out more about the man many call the Originator, check out the OffBeat interview with him in this issue.
