And when it's cuttin' time, Cray delivers. That urgent guitar solo is a sublime mashup of two of his biggest influences: Albert Collins and Hubert Sumlin. It's a stew of styles that you won't hear from any other guitarist and what makes Cray not just a good imitator of some other well-known guitarist; he is reverent to the old masters but he's wholly his own man.
Right before the song fades out, Cray can be heard cooing "I've got the top down/I've got Howlin' Wolf on the radio." For a bluesman, that means life is good. Where Robert Cray is concerned, it's all good.
Listen: Robert Cray "Midnight Stroll"
"One Track Mind" is a more-or-less weekly drool over a single song selected on a whim and a short thesis on why you should be drooling over it, too.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
i was there for the radio phenomenon of Strong Persuader. he did sort of disappear though.
i have to say, i lost interest myself after seeing Cray headline a blues festival up my way. the problem wasn't so much him as his bad luck of having to follow a crazy-great lineup: Ronnie Ear & Sugar Ray acoustic, Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, Koko Taylor, Danny Gatton, Los Lobos.
Cray came on after all of that and seemed kind of bland.
still, i should check out this record because i always did like his guitar tone.