Strong Persuader

Strong Persuader
Studio album by Robert Cray
Released 17 November 1986
Recorded Sage & Sound, Los Angeles; Haywood's, Los Angeles
Genre Blues, soul
Length 39:34
Label Mercury
Producer Bruce Bromberg, Dennis Walker
Robert Cray chronology
False Accusations
(1985)		 Strong Persuader
(1986)		 Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
(1988)

Strong Persuader is the fifth studio album by American blues singer and guitarist Robert Cray, released on November 17, 1986, by Mercury Records and Hightone Records.[1] It became his breakthrough album to the mainstream. "Strong Persuader" also became a nickname for Cray. The album was ranked #42 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 80's.[2] It has sold over two million copies by 1995.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Christgau's Record GuideA+[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]

Strong Persuader received rave reviews from contemporary critics.[7] In a review for Rolling Stone, Jon Pareles said Cray delivered intriguing stories about sex and infidelity with disciplined singing, songwriting, and "a version of blues and soul that doesn't come from any one region, building an idiom for songs that tell with conversational directness the stories of ordinary folks".[8] Robert Christgau from The Village Voice praised Cray's sophisticated blues aesthetic and the songwriting of his supporting studio team, hailing Strong Persuader as "the best blues record in many, many years, so fervently crafted that it may even get what it deserves and become the first album to break out of the genre's sales ghetto since B.B. King was a hot item."[9]

At the end of 1986, Strong Persuader was voted the third best album of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.[10] Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it fourth on his own year-end list.[11] In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Bill Dahl said "it was [Cray's] innovative expansion of the genre itself that makes this album a genuine 1980s classic."[4]

Track listing

  1. "Smoking Gun" (David Amy, Richard Cousins, Robert Cray) – 4:07
  2. "I Guess I Showed Her" (Dennis Walker) – 3:39
  3. "Right Next Door (Because of Me)" (Walker) – 4:19
  4. "Nothin' But a Woman" (Amy, Cousins, Cray, Peter Boe, David Olson) – 3:58
  5. "Still Around" (Boe) – 3:42
  6. "More Than I Can Stand" (Cray) – 2:57
  7. "Foul Play" (Walker) – 4:07
  8. "I Wonder" (Cray) – 3:57
  9. "Fantasized" (Walker) – 4:04
  10. "New Blood" (Amy, Boe, Cray, Ozall Washington) – 4:21

Personnel

Singles

Year Release Chart positions
UK
[12]		 US
[13]		 US M.
[14]
1986 Smoking Gun — 22 2
1987 Right Next Door (Because Of Me) 50 80 27
I Guess I Showed Her — — 28

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1986 – 1988) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[15] 34
bgcolor="#efefef" Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[16] 1
bgcolor="#efefef" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 5
bgcolor="#efefef" UK Albums (OCC)[18] 34
US Billboard 200[19] 13
US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)[4] 17
US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[4] 20
US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[4] 21

Year-end charts

Chart (1987) Ending
position
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[20] 3
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 20
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[22] 49

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[23] Platinum 70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Gold 50,000
Macao (IFPI Macao)[25] Gold 15,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[23] Platinum 100,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[26] 4× Platinum 60,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[27] 2× Platinum 2,000,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Billboard Nov 15, 1986
  2. ↑ Rolling Stone
  3. ↑ Billboard 1995
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Bill Dahl. "Strong Persuader – Robert Cray,Robert Cray Band | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1990). "The Robert Cray Band". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. p. 105. ISBN 067973015X.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Robert Cray". Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 2006. ISBN 0857125958.
  7. ↑ Tamarkin, Jeff (December 13, 1986). "Talent In Action". Billboard (New York): 20. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ Pareles, Jon (January 29, 1987). "Robert Cray: Strong Persuader". Rolling Stone (New York). Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ Christgau, Robert (December 2, 1986). "Blues Without Corn Pone". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  10. ↑ "The 1986 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice (New York). March 3, 1987. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ Christgau, Robert (March 3, 1987). "Pazz & Jop 1986: Dean's List". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ UK Charts
  13. ↑ US Hot 100 US MSRT & Hot 100
  14. ↑ MSRT
  15. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 46, No. 1, April 11, 1987". RPM magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Robert Cray – Strong Persuader" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  17. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Robert Cray – Strong Persuader". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "ROBERT CRAY BAND | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Strong Persuader – Billboard 200". Ultimate Music Database. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  20. ↑ "Dutch Charts – Jaaroverzichten 1987". Dutch Charts. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  21. ↑ "Top Selling Albums of 1987". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  22. ↑ "Robert Cray Album & Song Chart History". Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Robert Cray. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  23. 1 2 3 "The Robert Cray Band" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. 1987-12-26. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  24. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Robert Cray – Strong Persuader". Music Canada. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  25. ↑ "如果在澳门的销售数字你看" (in Chinese). Record Sale. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "Latest Gold / Platinum Albums". RadioScope New Zealand. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "American album certifications – Robert Cray – Strong Persuader". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 30 April 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

External links

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