The 72-year-old blues guitar legend Robert Cray and his band will play the Wheeler Opera House at 5:30 p.m. today as part of the JAS June Experience.
When Stevie Ray Vaughan’s helicopter crashed in August 1990 after a concert in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, the very first reports had Robert Cray on the helicopter with him.
Cray, who plays the Wheeler Opera House at 5:30 p.m. today as part of the JAS June Experience, remembers waking up that morning and hearing the news.
“The initial report said I was on the helicopter,” Cray said in an interview with the Aspen Daily News. “I had to call my mom to tell her that I was alive.”
Cray was devastated by the loss of his friend Stevie Ray (whose brother Jimmie is part of this year’s JAS June lineup and also was at Alpine Valley that fateful night).
In the 1980s, Cray and Stevie Ray led a mainstream revitalization of blues music as the genre achieved its greatest mainstream success since the blues heyday of the 1940s and ’50s.
Vaughan had a No. 1 hit on the rock charts with “Crossfire” and had multiple platinum albums. Meanwhile, Cray had eight singles in the Top 40 of the American Rock Singles charts between 1986 and 1992, with two of them (“Smoking Gun” and “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”) rising to No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.
Cray’s 1986 album “Strong Persuader” sold over two million copies in the U.S. and achieved double-platinum status. It was named one of the 50 Best Albums of the 1980s by Rolling Stone Magazine.
The early days
The road to the Wheeler began for Cray in Columbus, Georgia. He spent much of his childhood moving around the world as his father served in the Army. The family lived in Washington state, California and Germany, where Cray first developed a deep appreciation for music through his parents’ record collection.
When he was supposed to be asleep each evening, Cray remembers listening from his bedroom as music filled the house.
“We had Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Sam Cooke, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, a bunch of jazz and a whole lot of gospel music on Sundays,” he said.
When the family moved to Washington during the early days of Beatlemania, Cray picked up a guitar like countless other teenagers of the era. But it was the blues that ultimately captured his imagination.
Cray immersed himself in the music of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Buddy Guy. In 1971, Cray’s life changed when he met Albert “The Iceman” Collins in high school at an outdoor festival in Washington state when he was 16.
A few months later, Cray’s graduating class voted to hire Collins to play their senior party. After the show, the legendary guitarist approached Cray.
“He asked if I played guitar,” Cray recalled. “I said yes, and he said, ‘Keep it up.’”
Those words inspired Cray and in 1974, he and bassist Richard Cousins moved to Eugene, Oregon, and formed what would eventually become The Robert Cray Band. In a full circle moment in young Cray’s life, his band became Collins’ backing group whenever the guitarist toured the West Coast.
“We wound up being Albert Collins’ backup band for about a year and a half,” Cray said. “That opened the door for us.”
Cray’s band went on to play with some of the biggest names in blues history.
“We got a chance to work with Buddy Guy,” Cray said. “We opened up for Muddy Waters and I got to sit in with Muddy. We did shows with B.B. King.”
The Blues Brother
And while Cray was influenced by those legends, it was Cray himself who had a significant influence on an unlikely blues star: “Joliet” Jake Blues, otherwise known as John Belushi.
A talent scout recruited Cray and other local musicians to appear as extras in a fraternity party scene in the 1978 comedy classic “Animal House,” which was being shot in Eugene.
“We were just extras,” Cray said. “We didn’t even get credited in the movie.”
During filming, Cray and his cinematic bandmates spent time teaching Belushi about blues music. The experience helped inspire Belushi’s passion for the genre and the eventual creation of the Blues Brothers band.
The 1980 movie of the same name was one of the main drivers for the explosion of blues music that would follow in the 1980s and propel Cray’s own career to new heights.
A storied career
Cray cut his first record “Who’s Been Talkin” in 1978 and he has released over 25 records since, winning five Grammys along the way.
Cray describes his songwriting as focusing on “everyday life and what you see people going through.” In the last 25 years, he has addressed war, politics and social issues.
His song “Twenty” examined the human cost of the Iraq War through the eyes of a young soldier.
“It’s about what we were going through as a nation,” Cray said. His songs “Just How Low” and “This Man” are harsh criticisms of President Trump.
Today, at age 72, Cray shows no signs of slowing down. He recently returned from touring in Europe as part of his “All Amped Up Tour” and is preparing to release a new album in February, with a possible single arriving this fall.
“It’s been a blast,” Cray said looking back on his career. “We’re still out here doing it and people still come to see us. You couldn’t ask for a better career when you’re having fun.”
Colorado remains a regular stop. “We seem like we’re in Colorado every year,” he said. “We come every year.”
For audiences attending Saturday’s Wheeler performance, Cray promises a set that reflects the full range of his musical journey.
“It’s pretty varied, the music that we do,” he said. “It’s R&B, it’s rock, it’s soul. It’s got a little bit of this and that. There are some sad tunes and there are some rocking tunes.
“We just hope people feel good after they see our performance,” Cray added. “And I hope we put a smile on their faces.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aspendailynews.com ’
