Strong Persuader

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,^[1] before being released on November 17, 1986, by Mercury Records and Hightone Records.^[2] Strong Persuader became his mainstream breakthrough and by 1995 it had sold over two million copies.^[3] The record was later ranked No. 42 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 80's.^[4]

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

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Retrospective reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s	A+[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[7]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[8]

Strong Persuader received rave reviews from contemporary critics.^[9] 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".^[10] 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."^[11]

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.^[12] Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it fourth on his own year-end list.^[13] 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."^[5]

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

Year	Release	Chart positions
		UK [14]	US [15]	US M. [15]
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 Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[16] 6 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 34 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 5 UK Albums (OCC)[20] 34 US Billboard 200[21] 13 US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)[5] 17 US Top Jazz Albums (Billboard)[5] 20 US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[5] 21

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[22] 3 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 20 US Billboard 200[24] 24 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[25] 49

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[26]	Platinum	70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[27]	Gold	50,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[26]	Platinum	100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[28]	4× Platinum	60,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[29]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.