Bad Influence
When the Washington-state-based bluesman cut this album, his second, for Hightone in 1983, Robert Cray was still four years away from his major-label, Top 40 hit "Smoking Gun." Nonetheless, his signature sound is intact: horn-colored Stax-style arrangements, a backbeat laced with funk, Cray's own gospelized vocals, and the stiletto-tipped notes that he rips from his Stratocaster. A few years laterEric Claptoncovered the title song; but what's most fun here is listening to Cray pay homage to his good influences. He covers numbers byJohnny "Guitar" WatsonandEddie Floyd, and charges into his guitar solos with a brittle tone and bristling attack that at times recalls the underrated Watson, Cray's mentorAlbert Collins, and Chicago legendBuddy Guy. But it's really the sound of a modern virtuoso distilling his craft from the raw material of blues history.--Ted Drozdowski