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230 Part IV: Sounding Like the Masters: Blues Styles through the Ages TEAM LinG
Seals was a fixture on the Chicago blues scene during the late ’60s and early
’70s. He had a raw vocal quality and muscular approach to guitar playing and
was the true link between the old school and the new. His traditional
approach derived from the leaders of the West Side school but helped keep
alive the 1970s Chicago blues scene.
Robert Cray, smooth persuader
Robert Cray took the pop charts by storm in the 1980s with his soul and R&Bbased
blues, but he wasn’t exactly an overnight sensation, having been
around long enough to see Albert Collins, Freddie King, and Muddy Waters
play in concert, and to join Collins on the stage before the elder blues man
passed. Cray, who was born in 1953, was largely influenced by Albert King
and was the leading blues guitar personality of the ’80s, along with Stevie Ray
Vaughan (covered in Chapter 13).
Cray demonstrated a complete package: great singing, songwriting, showmanship,
and guitar playing. He won a Grammy for his album Strong Persuader in
1986, featuring the song “Smokin’ Gun.” He also has a close association with
Eric Clapton (often appearing with him in concert) and continues to be a
major influence in the modern movement of electric blues players today.
Figure 12-10 shows a lick in the style of Cray’s smooth, economical, and tasteful
approach to lead guitar. To achieve a similar sound, work to make your
lines forceful (with plenty of attack) but legato (that is, hold them for their
full value), and apply some high-quality effects to the guitar sound (digital
reverb). And don’t play too busily, either. Cray makes every note count.
Bonnie Raitt, stellar lyrical slides artiste
Bonnie Raitt was born to a musical family (her father was a Broadway star),
and Raitt split her time between music, political activism, and academic pursuits.
Performing kept pulling her away from her academic studies at
Radcliffe, but those performances turned her into a seasoned performer who
appeared in Boston clubs with blues legends such as Howlin’ Wolf and
Mississippi Fred McDowell. At age 20, in 1970, she was offered a spot touring
with the Rolling Stones.
Raitt was a hard-working blues player for many years before commercial success
finally found her in the 1980s. When her two expertly produced albums
appeared in close succession — 1989’s Nick of Time and 1991’s Luck of the
Draw — mass audiences finally appreciated what discerning blues listeners
had known for a long time: Raitt possessed a talent for playing melodically
lyrical slide lines, which she does in open A tuning.