Robert Cray became a star with this persuasive fusion of blues with rock and soul.
He remembers: "That record hit, and 'Smoking Gun' was all over the radio — we'd never heard our stuff on the radio. Then we're making videos and all that. Here we are, this R&B and blues band, and all of a sudden we're on the national scene. It was a breakthrough, and it was incredible."
'Strong Persuader' was recorded in Los Angeles Bruce Bromberg with Dennis Walker at Sage & Sound and Haywood's. Cray didn't shy away from modern recording techniques and his unique sound helped to expand the audience of blues music.
"When that came out I had been thinking that we couldn’t work any harder than we’d been working. That came out in ’86 or ’87 and we’d been going to Europe for a couple years. When 'Persuader' came out and it hit, we were already tired. But, it was good. We were working. The 'Bad Influence' and 'False Accusations' albums took us all over Europe and that was cool. Then the 'Persuader' album came out and all of a sudden the crowds got huge! It got scary, but it was fun! We had that period when we were playing the occasional coliseum gig. That was a big rush for a bar band to go to a coliseum. It was funny!"
'Strong Persuader' went to number thirty-four in the UK and thirteen in the US. It sold double platinum and won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.
"'Smokin Gun' is so simple, such a simple song and was so spontaneous. Bruce [Bromberg, producer/songwriter] came into the studio with the words, and Richard [Cousins, bassist] and I just started playing", recalls Cray. It made it to number twenty two on the Billboard 100 and number two on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
"Right Next Door (Because Of Me)" (Walker, Cray)
"Nothin' but a Woman (featuring The Memphis Horns)" (Cousins, Cray, Boe, Bromberg, Olson)
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