Robert Cray

Robert Cray in Texas (2007)

Robert Cray (* 1. August 1953 in Columbus , Georgia ) is an American Blues - guitarist and - singer . Together with other blues musicians and songwriters such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Thorogood , he became known to a larger audience in the 1980s.

biography

Cray started playing the guitar at a young age. In high school he discovered his love for the blues. At the age of twenty he had seen concerts by his idols Albert Collins , Freddie King and Muddy Waters and decided to form his own band. With this he played concerts on the west coast of the USA. In 1978, Cray released his first recording. Four of his albums, including Strong Persuader , received a Grammy Award. The single Smokin 'Gun hit the radio and his song I Was Warned won the Living Blues Award in 1993. In 2006 he played in support of Eric Clapton's Back Home Tour . In 2011 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame of the Blues Foundation . In the course of his career there have been various guest appearances on publications by other musicians, including such well-known stars as John Lee Hooker , BB King , Eric Clapton and Keb 'Mo' .

Robert Cray Band

Current occupation:

• Terence F. Clark: drums
• Dover Weinberg: Keyboards
• Richard Cousins: Bass

Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1980	Who's Been Talkin '? Tomato	-	-	-	-	-	First published: March 1980 as The Robert Cray Band
1983	Bad Influence Hightone	-	-	-	-	US143 (11 weeks) US	First published: 1983 Sales: + 13,000
1985	False Accusations Hightone	-	-	-	UK68 silver (1 week)UK	US141 (11 weeks) US	First published: October 1985 Sales: + 417,500
1986	Strong Persuader Mercury	-	-	-	UK34 silver (28 weeks)UK	US13 × 2 Double platinum (49 weeks)US	First published: November 17, 1986 Sales: + 2,340,000
1988	Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Mercury	DE28 (15 weeks) DE	-	CH7 (10 weeks) CH	UK13 gold (12 weeks)UK	US32 gold (32 weeks)US	First published: August 8, 1988 Sales: + 765,000
1989	Too Many Cooks Tomato	-	-	-	-	-	First published: March 1989 as The Robert Cray Band
1990	Midnight Stroll Mercury	-	-	CH32 (3 weeks) CH	UK19th silver (7 weeks)UK	US51 gold (32 weeks)US	First published: September 18, 1990 Sales: + 602,500
1992	I Was Warned Mercury	-	-	CH27 (1 week) CH	UK29 (3 weeks) UK	US103 (7 weeks) US	First published: August 31, 1992
1993	Shame + A Sin Mercury	-	-	-	UK48 (1 week) UK	US143 (3 weeks) US	First published: October 5, 1993
1995	Some Rainy Morning Mercury	-	-	-	UK63 (1 week) UK	US127 (6 weeks) US	First published: May 9, 1995
1997	Sweet Potato Pie Mercury	-	-	-	-	US184 (3 weeks) US	First published: May 5, 1997
1999	Take Your Shoes Off Rykodisc	-	-	-	UK99 (1 week) UK	US181 (2 weeks) US	First published: April 27, 1999
2001	Shoulda Been Home Rykodisc	-	-	-	-	-	First published: May 15, 2001
2003	Time Will Tell Sanctuary	-	-	-	-	-	First published: July 1, 2003
2005	Twenty Sanctuary	-	-	-	-	-	First published: May 24, 2005
2009	Time Will Tell Vanguard	-	-	-	-	-	First published: August 11, 2009
2012	Notin But Love Provogue	DE36 (3 weeks) DE	AT50 (1 week) AT	CH44 (1 week) CH	UK62 (1 week) UK	US187 (1 week) US	First published: August 24, 2012
2014	In My Soul Provogue	DE69 (1 week) DE	-	CH46 (1 week) CH	UK43 (2 weeks) UK	US128 (1 week) US	First published: March 28, 2014
2017	Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm Jay-Vee	-	-	CH71 (1 week) CH	UK76 (1 week) UK	-	First published: April 28, 2017
2020	That's What I Heard Nozzle Records	DE75 (1 week) DE	-	CH47 (... weeks) CH	-	-	First published: February 28, 2020

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

EPs

year	Title music label	Remarks
1990	The Midnight Stroll Polygram	First published: June 1, 1990

Collaboration albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1985	Showdown! alligator	-	-	-	-	US124 (18 weeks) US	First publication: 1985; as Cray, Collins , Copeland Sales: 175,000

More collaboration albums

year	Title music label	Remarks
1988	3 × gold gold	First published: June 5th, 1988 with INXS & Wet Wet Wet
1999	In Concert Indigo	First published: 1999 with Albert Collins

Live albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2015	4 Nights of 40 Years Live Mascot	DE60 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First released: August 28, 2015 as The Robert Cray Band

More live albums

year	Title music label	Remarks
2006	Live from Across the Pond Vanguard	First published: September 12, 2006
2008	Live at the BBC Vanguard	First published: May 13, 2008
2010	Authorized Bootleg: Austin, Texas Mercury	First published: May 4, 2010
	Cookin 'in Mobile Vanguard	First published: July 27, 2010

Compilations

year	Title music label	Remarks
1999	Heavy picks Mercury	First published: November 2, 1999
2002	The Best Of Island	First published: October 15, 2002

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1986	Smoking Gun Strong Persuader	-	-	-	-	US22 (14 weeks) US	First published: October 1986
1987	Right Next Door (Because of Me) Strong Persuader	-	-	-	UK50 (5 weeks) UK	US80 (6 weeks) US	First published: April 1987
1988	Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Don't Be Afraid of the Dark	DE62 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US74 (6 weeks) US	First published: September 1988
1996	Baby Lee The Healer	-	-	-	UK65 (1 week) UK	-	First published: April 1996 with John Lee Hooker

more publishments

• 1986: Nothin 'but a Woman
• 1989: 634-5789 (Live) (with Tina Turner )
• 1990: Consequences
• 1990: The Forecast (Calls for Pain)
• 1991: Mr. Lucky (John Lee Hooker with Robert Cray)
• 1992: Just a Loser
• 1992: I Was Warned
• 1992: The Price I Pay
• 1993: I Hate Taxes
• 1993: Playin 'with My Friends ( BB King with Robert Cray)
• 1995: Moan
• 1999: 24-7 Man

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Australia 1989: for the album Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 1989: for the album Midnight Stroll  Canada 1986: for the album Strong Persuader 1989: for the album Don't Be Afraid of the Dark  New Zealand 1986: for the album False Accusations 1990: for the album Midnight Stroll  Netherlands 1988: for the album Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Platinum record  Australia 1987: for the album Strong Persuader  Netherlands 1987: for the album Strong Persuader 2 × platinum record  New Zealand 1989: for the album Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 4 × platinum record  New Zealand 2008: for the album Strong Persuader

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	2 × gold2	platinum1	140,000	Individual evidence
Canada (MC)	-	2 × gold2	-	100,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	2 × gold2	6 × platinum6th	105,000	nztop40.co.nz radioscope.net.nz ( Memento from May 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	gold1	platinum1	150,000	nvpi.nl
United States (RIAA)	-	2 × gold2	2 × platinum2	3,438,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × silver3	gold1	-	280,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	3 × silver3	10 × gold10	10 × platinum10

Web links

• Robert Cray Official Website (accessed June 6, 2010)
• Robert Cray at Allmusic (English)
• Robert Cray at Discogs (English)

swell

1. ↑ Awards at Allmusic (English)
2. ↑ Collaborations at Allmusic (English)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
4. ↑ Sales for Bad Influence in the United States
5. ↑ Sales for False Accusations in the United States
6. ↑ Sales for Showdown! in the United States
7. ↑ ^{a b} Gavin Ryan: Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010 . Moonlight Publishing, Mount Martha, Melbourne, Victoria 2011 (English).
8. ^ ^{A b c} Dean Scapolo: The Complete New Zealand Music Charts: 1966-2006 . Ed .: Maurienne House. 2007, ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8 (English).
9. ^ Platinum for Strong Persuader in Australia