Friday, Sept. 19, 2003 | 3:31 a.m.
Few modern bluesmen boast a resume as steeped in history as Robert Cray.
During a career spanning nearly 25 years, the Georgia native has shared a stage with Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughan, recorded with John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins and written songs for Albert King and B.B. King.
Now, as the nation celebrates "The Year of the Blues" -- as 2003 has been dubbed by Congress -- the 50-year-old Cray finds himself one of the genre's few remaining household names.
Cray and his Robert Cray Band perform at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel at 8 p.m. Saturday. Sharing the bill will be roots rockers John Hiatt & the Goners.
In July Cray released his 14th studio album, "Time Will Tell," his first on Sanctuary Records. The disc has been hailed as a departure of sorts for the soulful vocalist and guitarist.
On Monday Cray took time for a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home.
Sun: Did you have more freedom to experiment on your new album because you were between labels?
RC: No, we made the record with the intention of signing with somebody; we just didn't know who we were going to sign with.
In most cases when we're doing a record I just come in with some songs. This time I asked (keyboardist) Jim Pugh to be co-producer on this record, and he brought in some of his own ideas.
(Drummer) Kevin Hayes and his sister, Bonnie, also brought in a couple of songs this time. So with all that, along with my songwriting, it was a much different style.
Sun: You also played electric sitar on "Up in the Sky." Was that the first time you've used that instrument on a recording?
Cray: Yeah, it's the first time I've ever done that. It's basically just a modified guitar. Jim asked me if I'd play it, because a lot of times I'd toy around with it on some soul songs from the '70s. And we actually take the sitar out on the road with us.
Sun: Two of the new songs -- "Survivor" and "Distant Shore" have decidedly anti-war lyrics. What made you decide to get political on this album?
RC: I wrote "Survivor" and Jim wrote "Distant Shore," and we didn't know that one another were writing these songs. So (the war in Iraq) obviously not only affected me but him as well, and it was great that both of us took a stand and wanted to be heard.
Sun: Was backlash a concern, a la what happened with the Dixie Chicks?
RC: Not at all. I felt bad for them. That backlash was happening while we were recording, before the troops had actually gone into Iraq, and when we heard about the Dixie Chicks, that even made us more anxious to put the songs on the record.
Sun: How do you feel about 2003 being tabbed "The Year of the Blues"?
RC: I think what's meant to be accomplished by this whole thing is just to let people know the importance of the blues, to have the world know its greatness.
It's a long time coming. There's a lot of people who've gone on recently, and it would have been nice if they could have been a part of it, like John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins.
Sun: PBS is set to begin airing its Martin Scorsese-produced series, "The Blues," on Sept. 28. Do you know if you'll be included in that?
RC: The only thing I did (for that) was perform at the Radio City Music Hall concert. It was like a five-hour concert. So we'll see. If some of that's in there, it's cool. If not, that's cool too.
Sun: Does it surprise you how much more airplay blues music gets in Europe compared to the United States, which is, after all, its birthplace?
RC: It doesn't surprise me. Here it's about big crossover hits and the radio stations playing all the same songs. But in Europe or Brazil or someplace like that, you might hear John Lee Hooker and then Madonna on the same station.
Sun: Did you happen to see Rolling Stone magazine's recent list of the "Top 100 Guitarists?"
RC: Yeah, I peeked through it in the airport.
Sun: Were you surprised you weren't included?
RC: No, not at all. I mean, it's the Rolling Stone (laughs). When I looked through it, there are so many people missing. I mean, where are the jazz guitar players? Come on. So knowing that, no, I'm, not going to be in there. Lists like that just sell magazines.
Sun: Who are some of your personal guitar heroes?
RC: Well, Jimi Hendrix is No. 1. And obviously B.B. King and people like Magic Sam, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. That's who I like listening to for the blues kind of thing, but I like other people, too. There's a great Brazilian guitar player who just passed away named Baden Powell. And I like listening to people like Pat Martino or country stuff, different genres.
Sun: Early in your career, you were criticized by so-called jazz purists -- whom you began referring to as "bluenatics" -- for being too modern or too smooth. Did that sort of thing bother you?
RC: Some days it did. It's just like, what do you expect from me? To play "Sweet Home Chicago" like every other band does? I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I have to be myself.
Sun: You jammed with Stevie Ray Vaughan the night that he died in a helicopter crash. Do you have any personal memories of that show?
RC: Yeah, we actually did two shows over that weekend, and it was great because Eric (Clapton) presented us with an opportunity to be together, people like Stevie and Bonnie Raitt and Jeff Healy and Jimmie Vaughan and Buddy Guy.
The first day we were all sitting around a table and chatting, and it was great because we don't all get to be in one place very often, even though we're all friends. And jamming was fun too, at the very end, just having fun.
I have a lot of great memories of Stevie. We played a few dates with them in the Santa Cruz (Calif.) area, so we made friends and hung out and had barbecues and stuff.
And at one of those barbecues we picked Stevie up in the morning at the motel and he had this Japanese kimono on and he was wearing an afro wig -- he was Jimi Hendrix. And that picture is on our website (www.robertcray.com), in the "history" section. He was just a funny guy.
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