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Strong Persuader

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Strong Persuader

| type = Album

| artist = Robert Cray

| cover = Robert cray - strong persuader.JPG

| alt =

| released = November 17, 1986

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = Sage & Sound and Haywood's in Los Angeles

| genre = Blues, soul

| length = 39:34

| label = Mercury

| producer = Bruce Bromberg, Dennis Walker

| prev_title = Showdown!

| prev_year = 1985

| next_title = Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

| next_year = 1988

}}

Strong Persuader is the fourth studio album by American blues singer and guitarist Robert Cray. It was recorded by Cray at the Los Angeles studios Sage & Sound and Haywood's with producers Bruce Bromberg and Dennis Walker,{{cite AV media notes|author=Anon.|year=1986|title=Strong Persuader|others=Robert Cray|publisher=Mercury|id=830 568-2 M-1|type=CD edition booklet}} before being released on November 17, 1986, by Mercury Records and Hightone Records.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22|title=Billboard|page=22|date=15 November 1986|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|access-date=14 May 2021|via=Google Books}} Strong Persuader became his mainstream breakthrough and by 1995 it had sold over two million copies.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wg4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Strong+Persuader%22+%22cray%22+%22hightone%22+%22november%22&pg=PA14|title=Billboard|page=14|date=4 November 1995|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|access-date=14 May 2021|via=Google Books}} The record was later ranked No. 42 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 80's.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/|title=100 Best Albums of the Eighties|website=Rollingstone.com|date=16 November 1989|access-date=14 May 2021}}

Critical reception

{{Music ratings

| subtitle = Retrospective reviews

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web|author=Bill Dahl |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r88352 |title=Strong Persuader – Robert Cray, Robert Cray Band | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |website=AllMusic|access-date=2014-02-24}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s

| rev2Score = A+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|chapter=R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=80|title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|publisher=Pantheon Books|year=1990|isbn=0-679-73015-X|accessdate=March 18, 2022|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|page=2006|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&pg=PA2006-IA1484|chapter=Robert Cray|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2011|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0857125958|edition=5th}}

|rev4 = The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings

|rev4score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Tony |last2=Smith |first2=Chris |title=The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings |year=2006 |edition=|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-140-51384-4|page=143}}

}}

Strong Persuader received rave reviews from contemporary critics.{{cite magazine|last=Tamarkin|first=Jeff|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20|access-date=September 24, 2015|title=Talent In Action|magazine=Billboard|location=New York|date=December 13, 1986}} 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".{{cite magazine|last=Pareles|first=Jon|author-link=Jon Pareles|date=January 29, 1987|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/robertcray/albums/album/244433/review/6067492/strong_persuader|title=Robert Cray: Strong Persuader|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|access-date=September 24, 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112110753/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/robertcray/albums/album/244433/review/6067492/strong_persuader|archivedate=November 12, 2007|url-status=dead}} 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."{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=December 2, 1986|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/cray-86.php|title=Blues Without Corn Pone|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=September 24, 2015}}

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres86.php|title=The 1986 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|date=March 3, 1987|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=September 24, 2015}} Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it fourth on his own year-end list.{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=March 3, 1987|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/deans86.php|title=Pazz & Jop 1986: Dean's List|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=September 24, 2015}} 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."

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)" (Dennis Walker) – 4:19
  4. "Nothin' But a Woman" (David Amy, Cousins, Cray, Peter Boe, David Olson) – 3:58
  5. "Still Around" (Peter Boe) – 3:42
  6. "More Than I Can Stand" (Cray) – 2:57
  7. "Foul Play" (Dennis Walker) – 4:07
  8. "I Wonder" (Cray) – 3:57
  9. "Fantasized" (Dennis Walker) – 4:04
  10. "New Blood" (David Amy, Peter Boe, Cray, Ozall Washington) – 4:21

Personnel

  • Fidel Bell – mixing assistant
  • Charlie Brocco – mixing assistant
  • Peter Boe – keyboards
  • Bruce Bromberg – producer (songwriting credit: David Amy)
  • Richard Cousins – bass
  • Robert Cray – guitar, vocals
  • David Olson – drums
  • Lee Spath – percussion
  • Andrew Love – tenor saxophone
  • Wayne Jackson – trumpet, trombone

Singles

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
width="40" rowspan="2"|Year

!width="220" rowspan="2"|Release

!width="150" colspan="3"|Chart positions

bgcolor="#efefef;"

!width="40" |UK
{{Cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/right+next+door/|title=right next door | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=14 May 2021}}

!width="40" |US
{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/strong-persuader-mw0000193428/awards|title=Strong Persuader - Robert Cray Band, Robert Cray | Awards | AllMusic|access-date=14 May 2021|website=AllMusic}}

!width="40" |US M.

1986

|bgcolor="#efefef"|Smoking Gun

|align="center"|—

|align="center"|22

|align="center"|2

rowspan="2"|1987

|bgcolor="#efefef"|Right Next Door (Because Of Me)

|align="center"|50

|align="center"|80

|align="center"|27

bgcolor="#efefef"|I Guess I Showed Her

|align="center"|—

|align="center"|—

|align="center"|28

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (1986–1988)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=76}}

| 6

scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM){{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0798&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3|title=Top Albums/CDs – Volume 46, No. 1, April 11, 1987|publisher=RPM magazine|access-date=July 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708081038/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0798&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=m89iq841abagb37ld9c0fdc1f3|archive-date=July 8, 2015|url-status=dead}}

| 34

{{Album chart|Netherlands|1|album=Strong Persuader|artist=Robert Cray|rowheader=true|access-date=July 7, 2015}}
{{Album chart|New Zealand|5|album=Strong Persuader|artist=Robert Cray|rowheader=true|access-date=July 7, 2015}}
{{Album chart|UK|34|artist=ROBERT CRAY BAND|rowheader=true|access-date=July 7, 2015}}
scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite web|url=http://umdmusic.com/default.asp?Lang=English&Chart=E&ChDay=&ChMonth=&ChYear=&ChBand=&ChSong=Strong+Persuader|title=Strong Persuader – Billboard 200|publisher=Ultimate Music Database|access-date=July 7, 2015}}

| 13

scope="row"| US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)

| 17

scope="row"| US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)

| 20

scope="row"| US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)

| 21

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"| Chart (1987)

! scope="col"| Position

scope="row"| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts){{cite web|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1987&cat=ac|title=Dutch Charts – Jaaroverzichten 1987|publisher=Dutch Charts|access-date=July 7, 2015}}

| 3

scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ){{cite web|url=https://aotearoamusiccharts.co.nz/archive/annual-albums/1987-12-31|title=Top Selling Albums of 1987|publisher=The Official New Zealand Music Chart|access-date=July 7, 2015}}

| 20

scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1987|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 28, 2021|archive-date=January 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124095042/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1987/the-billboard-200|url-status=live}}

| 24

scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard){{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/365700/Robert%20Cray/chart?f=415|title=Robert Cray Album & Song Chart History|publisher=Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Robert Cray.|access-date=July 7, 2015}}

| 49

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|title=Strong Persuader|artist=Robert Cray|award=Platinum|relyear=1986|certref={{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1987/Billboard-1987-12-26.pdf|title=The Robert Cray Band|magazine=Billboard Magazine|date=1987-12-26|access-date=30 April 2016}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|title=Strong Persuader|artist=Robert Cray|award=Gold|relyear=1986|certyear=1986|access-date=30 April 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|type=album|title=Strong Persuader|artist=Robert Cray|award=Platinum|relyear=1986|certref=}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=album|award=Platinum|number=4|relyear=1986|certyear=2008|source=archive|access-date=August 24, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1986|certref=}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|title=Strong Persuader|artist=Robert Cray|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1986|certyear=1996|access-date=30 April 2016}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Discogs master|type=album|131477}}

{{Robert Cray}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1986 albums

Category:Robert Cray albums

Category:Mercury Records albums

Category:Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album