Robert Cray Band Performs at WHBPAC

When you first saw Robert Cray I guarantee you didn't notice him. Why? Because you were busy dancing, or drinking, or merely hypnotized by John Belushi chugging Jack Daniels while Otis Day & the Knights raged "Shout" and "Shama Lama Ding Dong" in the dump of a house known as Delta Tau Chi. In the classic frat party scene from Animal House, Robert Cray is standing in the shadows, playing bass in the fictional Knights, who after the success of Animal House decided it would be a good idea to become an actual band. Regardless of the success Otis Day has had playing bungalow beach parties, weddings and frat parties galore over the past 30 years, their accomplishments pale in comparison to Cray's, the soulful bluesman from Newport News, Virginia.

However, since Animal House a lot has changed. Belushi's dead, Kevin Bacon has been in 7 million films, and Cray has become a blues superstar who toured the world countless times. While crossed-armed critics might deem his work a bit too forward for the blues, there is no arguing that Cray has helped the blues move into the 21st century. In fact, many blues purists dismiss Cray's work as "pop," or "rock," or "soul," anything but the blues. Regardless, Cray's spirit is finely in tune with blues, the idiom on which pop, soul, rock and jazz were all founded.

For Cray, like most musicians, it began when he was a high school student in Newport News, Virginia where he started playing music in a band called Steakface. Like most teenagers, Cray's band played a variety of hits of the day, covering blues and soul songs, as well as rock tunes by Quicksilver Messenger Service and Fleetwood Mac (pre- Buckingham/Nicks, both of whom were also influenced by the blues).

In 1974, Robert moved to Eugene, Oregon, a college town with a hippie vibe, and started the Robert Cray Band. It was during this time that Cray met a production assistant who asked if he wanted to be in a movie (Animal House), but more importantly this was when he met Belushi and schooled the future Blues Brother on the heart of the blues. In fact, Cray's influence on Belushi was so monumental that it wouldn't be outlandish to say that without Cray there would be no Blues Brothers.

In 1983, Cray signed with High Tone Records, a startup label that was to release his second album Bad Influence. While not a commercial success, Bad Influence impressed critics and earned Cray a reputation as a blues innovator unafraid of challenging the genre with modern compositions and a sound as reliant on the southern fried soul of the Stax label as the Chicago blues sound of Chess Records legends like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

While Cray has come a long way in the last 20 odd years, his roots as a blues innovator have solidified and paved the way for modern blues musicians turning more to experimentation than merely rehashing standard 12-bar riffs. While pushing the sound of the blues forward, Cray has managed to develop a devoted fan base that includes a certain Slowhand, yes, Mr. Eric Clapton. Cray and Clapton have been good friends for a long time and have periodically toured the world together.

Unfortunately, for a bluesman to be a bluesman you need some blues. A truly tragic story, Cray was playing the Blues Summit in Alpine, Wisconsin in 1990 with legends Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Clapton. After performing a blazing set with this band, Cray joined the others for an encore jam of Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago." The jam, which lasted nearly 20 minutes, proved to be Stevie Ray Vaughan's last performance. He died later that night when his helicopter went down in a haze of fog.

Recently, while on tour with Clapton, Cray debuted "Twenty," one of the most poignant songs of his career. The song is about a young man who signs up for military service after the 9/11 attacks, is eventually sent to Iraq and doesn't come home. The song is a humanistic portrayal of what it's like to be young, confused and at war. While right wing politicos might brand Cray another bleeding heart pinko artist, they couldn't be further from the truth. Raised on an Air Force base, Cray is all too familiar with the atrocities of war, and "Twenty" sums up his position in a thoughtful, realistic manner.

Like most bluesmen, Cray never stops rambling and his nomadic nature will make a stop at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on March 2. The 8 p.m. show is sure to be a barn burner - the type of show only a true bluesmen can bring to the East End.

Tickets cost $85/$70/$55. WHBPAC is located at 76 Main Street, Westhampton Beach. Call (631) 288-1500 or visit www.whbpac.org.

Back to Contents