Robert Cray - Selected Rarities

This is a compilation of mine...following on from KC's Robert Cray retrospective...

Robert Cray - Selected Rarities

Tracks 1 to 7 have been dubbed by me fom 12" singles RC released in the UK, direct to Yamaha Digital Recorder. They do not appear in this form on any of his albums. (1985-88)

Tracks 8 to 11 are from an FM broadcast of Eric Clapton's Blues Night at the Royal Albert Hall on 03 Feb 1990 - From my tapes.

Tracks 12 to 19 are from an FM broadcast recorded in London on 20 May 1992 - From my tapes

It's a great listen from a master !

Robert Cray - 34 years of Young Bob

Just one track each from 19 albums...I've always said this would result in a strong comp and it has. The fun thing is that Gus could do the same thing tomorrow and come up with a different, but equally good volume 2. It is an interesting way to listen to his body of work.

One thing that is clear to me is that he shares much more with the Southern Soul of ZZ Hill, OV Wright, and Little Johnny Taylor, than with the Blues of the Kings or even the Texas guys. 

...pssst,   gus has added a volume 2, so now there are 40 tracks!

Albert Collins, Robert Cray & Johnny Copeland - Showdown!

AllMusic Review by Bill Dahl

Cray found himself in some pretty intimidating company for this Grammy-winning blues guitar summit meeting, but he wasn't deterred, holding his own alongside his idol Albert Collins and Texas great Johnny Copeland. Cray's delivery of Muddy Waters' rhumba-rocking "She's into Something" was one of the set's many highlights.

Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm

OH YES YES YES!!!! The Robert Cray who blew my mind some 20 years ago is BACK!!!. After those first 3 classic albums, it has been spotty at best....until now!!!  Bad Bob has finally seen his calling as the ZZ Hill of his generation! Can't recall being more thrilled by something NEW in this genre for a loooooong time!

Start to finish you gonna be MOVIN', I promise! Vocals better than ever, guitar work brings back the smoke....Damn this is good!!

Katie Webster - The Swamp Boogie Queen

Katie Webster (January 11, 1936 – September 5, 1999), born Kathryn Jewel Thorne, was an American boogie-woogie pianist. Webster was initially best known as a session musician behind Louisiana musicians on the Excello and Goldband record labels, such as Lightnin' Slim and Lonesome Sundown.  She also played piano with Otis Redding in the 1960s, but after his death went into semi-retirement.

In the 1980s she was repeatedly booked for European tours and recorded albums for the German record label, Ornament Records. She cut You Know That's Right with the band Hot Links, and the album that established her in the United States; The Swamp Boogie Queen with guest spots by Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray.  She performed at both the San Francisco Blues Festival and Long Beach Blues Festival.  Webster suffered a stroke in 1993 while touring Greece and returned to performing the following year.  She died from heart failure in League City, Texas, in September 1999. - Wikipedia

______________________________________________

Lovable Katie Webster had some high-profile help for this impressive comeback album -- Bonnie Raitt shares the vocal on "Somebody's on Your Case" and plays guitar on "On the Run"; Kim Wilson duets with Webster for a cover of Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love" (a track that Robert Cray contributes crisp guitar to). Throughout, Webster's vocals are throatier than they used to be (she soulfully covers one-time mentor Otis Redding's "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa [Sad Song]" and "Try a Little Tenderness"), while her driving left hand still lays down some powerhouse boogie rhythms. - 4.0 / 5.0 ~ Bill Dahl / AMG

This was ripped from minty vinyl at 24/44.1 wav, and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC...  enjoy!!!

Robert Cray Band - Who's Been Talkin'

This is Guitar Gus' first post here as an author -- SHOW SOME LOVE.

Robert Cray (born August 1 1953 Columbus, Georgia,  USA) is an American blues guitarist and singer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has led his own band, as well as an acclaimed solo career.

Cray started playing guitar in his early teens. He attended Denbigh High School in Newport News, Viginia and wanted to become an architect, but around the same time that he began to study architectural design he formed the band Steakface, which played covers by Jimi Hendrix, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Fleetwood Mac, and others.
By the age of twenty, Cray had seen his heroes Albert Collins, Freddie King and Muddy Waters in concert and decided to form his own band; they began playing college towns on the West Coast. In the late 1970s he lived in Eugene, Oregon, where he formed the Robert Cray Band and collaborated with Curtis Salgado in the Cray-Hawks. In the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House, Cray was the uncredited bassist in the house party band Otis Day and the Knights.
After several years of regional success, Cray was signed to Mercury Records in 1982. Two albums on HighTone Records in the mid-80's, Bad Influence and False Accusations, were moderately successful in the United States and in Europe, where he was building a reputation as a live artist. His fourth album release, Strong Persuader, produced by Dennis Walker, received a Grammy Award, while the crossover single 'Smokin' Gun' gave him wider appeal and name recognition. (Wikipedia)

I first heard Robert Cray back in 1986 with the release of his 'Bad Influence' album. It was playing in my local record shop (long extinct) and I immediately liked his distinctive voice/guitar mix along with some strong songwriting. Later that year I got to see him (and chat) on his UK mini-tour - And yes I bought the T-shirt too !
It turned out that 'Bad Influence' was not his first recording. He had cut the album, Who's Been Talkin', back in 1979 for the Tomato Records label. Unfortunately after its initial release in 1980, Tomato went out of business and the record got lost in obscurity.
Fortunately Charly Records in the UK managed to get to the masters and released a digital remaster in 1986. It contains more straight-ahead blues material than his later albums.
So here is my CD copy of his first released album (tracks 1 to 10). I have supplemented this with an extra 7 cuts (tracks 11 to 17) that I dubbed from rare 12" vinyl singles and are unavailable anywhere else - 4 live performances and 3 studio recordings - making this unique - Enjoy