Showdown was the first Grammy you won – where you shared the limelight with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland – was that album very important for your career?

Yeah, it was, the opportunity to work with Albert Collins, who was one of my heroes, was great. For all of us, actually, it was great and the sales were good for Alligator. It was just before we hit with Strong Persuader. We’d had the opportunity to work behind Albert Collins, off and on, for some time and actually worked as his back up band. We had an opportunity to get together and go into a studio, and just have fun.

Was it planned out – who chose who would do what?

Basically, what we did was – Bruce Bromberg, who was working with us at that particular time at High Tone Records and Bruce Iglauer of Alligator had been old friends for some time and they wanted to get these guys together and make a record. So what we all did was pick out some songs. I picked out some. Bruce and I wrote a song together, The Dream, and the Muddy Waters song, I’m Into Something was one the Cray Band was already covering. The rest of the songs Albert and Johnny grabbed, or were brought up for them to do. As far as picking the solos, for The Dream, I had asked Albert to pick a solo for the minor key The Dream was in, because I never recalled Albert playing that many songs in a minor key. I thought that would be really nice. We kept everything really loose. We had a couple of days at rehearsal and then we went into the studio and just had fun.

I was curious about Albert because he played in this peculiar tuning of his, did that limit you, did you all have to work in with what he could do?

No. Albert played in a different tuning, I don’t really understand what it was, some kind of minor tuning, D or C, some kind of weird minor thing he was in. But, no, Albert played in every key.

I’m not doubting his musicianship. That record was pretty good for him; although he had an incredible track record he hadn’t made the big time…

Yeah, it was really cool for Albert. We had a really good time. When we went to the Grammys and accepted the award it was just a ball.

Tell me about Strong Persuader, that’s the first Grammy under your own name, that’s your big selling album, there are still tracks play-listed from it on this station, for example. Can you tell us about Dennis Walker and how important he was for your career?

Dennis Walker’s a good friend. Dennis Walker and Bruce Bromberg were the two guys that came and saw the Cray Band in ’77 at the San Francisco Blues Festival and asked if we wanted to record. Of course, we weren’t recording with anybody, so we said yes. Dennis is a great writer, a great musician, and I learned a lot from Dennis. Dennis went on after Bruce left, after Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, and produced a few more records for us. Dennis and I did a lot of writing together, he’s just a really on-top guy.

When I look back at the tracks over all your albums he features strongly on the early ones and then fades out until it’s all your own stuff later on. Does that represent a trend of development for you?

Yeah, I think so. Dennis had a great way of setting a mood in a song, with the music, and telling fantastic stories. A lot of the songs from Strong Persuader were great pictures, very visual songs. That’s something I tried to learn.

At that time it was a refreshing change, not trotting out the old cliches of blues about mules and “going down to the train station”. It was very contemporary, a lot of stuff about infidelity set in a more modern context.

It’s not to say all that stuff wasn’t going on back then. There’s a lot of double-entendres in the older music; a lot of blame, placing the blame on somebody else not yourself, you know. We changed it up a little bit and accepted some of the responsibility.

The title track, Strong Persuader has got a very powerful theme, of the guy breaking up a relationship. I wonder if there’s anything true in here. Are any of these based on your experiences?

(laughs) That, you’d have to ask Dennis Walker…Dennis did a lot of lyric writing in those days! I’m gonna deny a lot of it. I did a lot of writing with Dennis, most of the time I was doing music and he was telling a lot of the stories. I think that a lot of it pertains to what was going on for him or what he visualised.

I’d like to talk to you a bit about John Lee Hooker, now. You’ve been on three separate John Lee Hooker albums. What’s he like to work with?

John Lee’s great. He’s really easy going. He likes to do songs, in the studio, in one take. Which I like, because I like the spontaneity, I like for anything to go down, for anything to happen. I really like working in that kind of fashion. It’s just great to be on stage with him because anything can happen. I like being on stage and just watching people accept John Lee Hooker and what he’s stood for, all these years.

It’s amazing how you can look so cool at 76, isn’t it…

He is totally, he is Mr Cool that word was invented for him!

I was wondering, on his early stuff, guys like him didn’t follow a strict 12 bar pattern, they’d change whenever they want to. Does he still do that when you’re playing with him or does he follow you?

Yeah – he does that. I’m glad you brought that up because that is something that’s really important for myself and anybody else who works with him. Especially the Coast To Coast Blues Band. I’ve never seen anybody follow the front man so intently, tensely, as they would when they were with John Lee. Those guys would go full bore in the grooves but when John changed, not sticking to the 12 bar format, they would be right there with him. If you think you going to get on stage and you’re Mr. know-it-all … who’s wrong?

What are the clues you pick up when he’s going to change – is it something in the vocal?

No, you just follow him, you listen and you watch!

The Blues Brothers 2000 film has just been released in the USA. I’ve read that when you worked with Curtis Salgado in Eugene, Oregon, John Belushi used to hang around and that part of the inspiration for the Blues Brothers was the stuff you were doing with Curtis – can you remember that happening?

Oh yeah, Curtis was in a band called the Nighthawks, and we had The Robert Cray Band. And we had a splinter group that worked on Monday night called the Crayhawks. Curtis and I sang together and Cutis played harmonica. Some of the things Belusihi got were from my records and Curtis’ records. Belushi was in town making Animal house.

You played bass, I gather…

Fake bass!

How did you get chosen for that – just your good looks!

Some lady asked me if I wanted to be in a film, I thought she was jiving, some months later I got a call.

What was it like on the set of that film, was it pretty crazy?

In the scenes that we did, the club scene and the toga party, it was funny. I was 23 years old and I never been on a set before. We got our hair all done and had these funny looking clothes on. We just had a good time, watching everybody screw up and do take after take after take. I said “well, look at this man – there’s a difference between movies and stage (laughs), definitely, you don’t get a second chance on stage!

At that time your bass player was Richard Cousins. I saw you play in England in the early 80s and was impressed with his playing – what’s happened to him?

Richard is living in Europe. He occasionally tours with Etta James and he’s working on a record.

You’ve played with quite a few famous people, B.B. King, you were in Chuck Berry’s “Hail, Hail Rock and Roll”, John Lee Hooker, you’ve played a lot with Clapton and Stevie Ray. You’ve often been a guest on other people’s albums, have you ever been pushed by the record company to do the reverse thing on yours?

No, not pushed. I guess the only guest we’ve had on our records is Albert Collins when we did a tribute to Albert King, You’re Gonna Need Me. There was a time when everybody had the records that had all kinds of guests on. I thought it detracted away from the main focus, the band.

Someone wanted me to ask you about harmonica players. On that first album, Curtis played a cut. Have you ever been tempted to use one again? Why not?

No, never been tempted to use one since. Only because that’s not the focus of our band. Maybe if there was a particular song that came up, that would be a possibility. Usually, harmonica players are their own front persons.

A technical question, now. Like those other players we’ve mentioned, you have what it takes for greatness, you have a signature guitar sound, an unmistakable technique. You know it’s you just a from few notes – and it’s all the same guitar – they’re all Stratocasters! Are you aware of how that happened – is it a blend of anything you can name?

I guess it just happens. I don’t think anybody can really plan for it. No matter who you ask, we’ll all shell out a bunch of names we listen to. I think it all depends on a particular person and how they’ve meshed together a bunch of different styles, to derive their own sound. A recognisable sound, anyway.

Do you use a standard Strat, do you set it up in any special way?

Mine is pretty much a standard Strat. The pick-ups on them are called “Texas Style” pick-ups. There’s no whammy bar on it, so it’s “straight in”. Nothing special about it. I do play with a lot of high end, on the amplifier, so it’s not such a “heavy” sound. Most everybody will say it’s in the hands!

Your last album, Sweet Potato Pie, is about a year old. I really like it. To me it seems the most soulful of all your albums. Last year we did a feature on Otis Redding, on the anniversary of his death, and I thought some of Sweet Potato Pie sounded like that. Is that a co-incidence or have you been listening to a lot of that stuff lately?

I go back and forth. Sometimes I get back into the Stax groove and sometimes I want to play blues, you know. We did work with the Memphis Horns on this last record, so whenever the Memphis Horns attack anything, it’s got that flavour. It did lend a lot to that Stax sound. Of course, we had an Otis Redding cover on there. I’m a big fool for all that stuff.

If people wanted to follow up the sort of stuff you’ve been listening to, who would you recommend?

I’m a big fan of a singer of the name of O. V. Wright, Johnny Taylor, Bobby Bland, Sam Cooke. You’d be hard pressed to find it on the radio. Radio doesn’t play much of that stuff, unless it’s on a blues programme, like yours. In the clubs, the festivals, it’s there.

Your gig is on Monday 13 April at The Powerstation in Auckland. Who’s coming out with you in the band?

It’s the same band that’s on the record, with the exception of the horns. Karl Sevareid on bass, Jim Pugh on keyboards and Kevin Hayes on drums.

Some of those guys have been with you a long time, haven’t they?

Yes they have. Kevin and Jim have been in the band since ’89.

Is there another CD in the offing?