''Bad Influence'' is the second studio album by the blues singer-songwriter and guitarist

Robert Cray Robert William Cray (born August 1, 1953) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards. Early life Robert Cray was born on August 1, 1953, in Columbus, Georgia, while his father was stationed at ...

. Released with

Hightone Records HighTone Records was an American independent record label based in Oakland, California, United States. HighTone specialized in American roots music including, country, rockabilly, western swing, blues and gospel. The label was created by Larry ...

, this was the album thought to have put Cray on the map, prior to his explosion into the mainstream with ''

Strong Persuader ''Strong Persuader'' is the fifth 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, before being released ...

'' in 1986. It was his second release and his first on Hightone Records. It contained two

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Johnny Guitar Watson Johnny is an English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germ ...

's "Don't Touch Me" and

Eddie Floyd Edward Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song " Knock on Wood". Biography Floyd was born in ...

's "Got to Make a Comeback". The most well-known songs off the album are probably the funky minor-key blues song "Phone Booth", later covered by Cray's idol

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

, and the title track which was subsequently covered by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Bruce Bromberg Bruce Bromberg (October 31, 1941 - December 27, 2021) was an American Grammy Award winning producer of blues music. He was born in Chicago, and raised there and in Park Forest, Illinois. In 1958 he moved with his family to Los Angeles, and beg ...

and Dennis Walker produced the album for the California-based label. To date the album has sold over one million copies.

Track listing

#"Phone Booth" (Robert Cray, Richard Cousins, Dennis Walker, Mike Vannice) (3:32) #"Bad Influence" (Cray, Mike Vannice) (2:56) #"Grinder" (Cray, David Amy) (4:09) #"To Make a Comeback" (

, Joe Shamwell) (2:50) #"So Many Women, So Little Time" (Oscar Washington, David Amy, N.T. Clemens) (4:01) #"Where Do I Go from Here" (Cray, Mike Vannice, Dennis Walker) (4:03) #"Waiting for the Tide to Turn" (Cray, Mike Vannice, Dennis Walker) (3:31) #"March On'" (Cray) (2:25) #"Don't Touch Me" (

Johnny "Guitar" Watson John Watson Jr. (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996), known professionally as Johnny "Guitar" Watson, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career ...

, Shawn Dewey) (3:25) #"No Big Deal" (Cray, David Amy) (4:14) Bonus Tracks #

"I Got Loaded" (Robert Camille) (3:37) #"Share What You've Got, Keep What You Need" (

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known art ...

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...

) (3:50)

Personnel

;The Robert Cray Band *Robert Cray – vocals, guitar *Richard Cousins – bass *David Olson – drums *Mike Vannice – keyboards, tenor saxophone *Warren Rand – alto saxophone *David Li – percussion on "No Big Deal" *"Night Train" Clemens, Philip Walker, Tony Mathews – backing vocals on "So Many Women, So Little Time"

References

1983 albums Robert Cray albums HighTone Records albums {{1980s-album-stub