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Robert Cray
Along with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Cray was blues' brightest new hope in the 1980s. After a series of highly touted records (plus a guest appearance as Otis Day's bassist in "Animal House"), Cray won his first Grammy in 1985 -- sharing it with his former boss, Albert Collins, and Johnny Copeland for the smoking trio effort Showdown! Cray’s own breakthrough album, Strong Persuader, captured a Grammy and convinced some that this soft-spoken guitarist from the Pacific Northwest would reestablish blues in the pop marketplace.
It hasn't worked out quite that way, but Cray has still become the preeminent bluesman of his generation. And while he's made some straight-up blues discs (like 1993's Shame + A Sin), he's also continued to explore his roots in R&B and soul on albums from 1990's Midnight Stroll to his latest, the masterful Southern soulfest Take Your Shoes Off -- his 1999 debut on Rykodisc after a long run on Mercury.
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