Larry McCray (born April 5, 1960), is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

from

Magnolia, Arkansas Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 11,577. The city is the county seat of Columbia County. Magnolia is home to the World's Largest Charcoal Grill and the World Championship S ...

Early life

McCray, the second youngest of nine siblings, grew up living on a farm.
McCray learned guitar from his sister, Clara. "She used to play real low-down and dirty", McCray recalled years later. His family moved to

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

in 1972. McCray took his influence from his sibling and the three Kings ( B.B., Freddie and

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

), to playing the local club circuit, with his brothers Carl on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and Steve on drums.

Music career

After high school, McCray worked at

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

on the assembly line, before recording his debut album, ''Ambition'' (1991), via

Point Blank Records Point Blank Records is a record label subsidiary of Virgin Records. Point Blank Records was founded in 1988 by John Wooler. Wooler served as Deputy Head of A&R at Virgin Records UK from 1984 to 1994 and Senior Vice President of Virgin Reco ...

. It was recorded in a friend's basement recording studio in Detroit. He was soon touring with a fellow record label artist,

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

. His 1993 follow-up, ''Delta Hurricane'', was produced by the veteran British blues devotee, Mike Vernon. In 1999, McCray recorded a

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 ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's "

All Along the Watchtower "All Along the Watchtower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, ''John Wesley Harding'' (1967). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The song's lyrics, which in its original vers ...

" for the

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, '' Tangled Up in Blues.'' In 2000, McCray founded his own

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, Magnolia Records, and ''Believe It'' was its first release. The same year, McCray played alongside

Jimmy Thackery Jimmy Thackery (born May 19, 1953, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. Career Thackery spent fourteen years as part of The Nighthawks, the Washington, D.C. based blues and roots rock e ...

, as guest guitarists on Sista Monica Parker's album, ''People Love the Blues''. Magnolia released McCray's first

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Live on Interstate 75'', in mid-2006. This was followed with ''Larry McCray'', in 2007. His 2015 tour commenced at the

King Biscuit Blues Festival The King Biscuit Blues Festival is an annual, multi-day blues festival, held in Helena, Arkansas, United States. History The name of the festival comes from ''King Biscuit Time'', which was the longest running radio show. Sonny Boy Williamson ...

in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas on October 11, where McCray was honored with the

"Sunshine" Sonny Payne John William Payne (November 29, 1925 – February 10, 2018), better known as "Sunshine" Sonny Payne, was an American radio host, who had presented blues music as the host of the ''King Biscuit Time'' radio show on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas fr ...

Award for Blues Excellence.

Personal life

McCray has one son, Bleau McCray-Morel, with Kelly Morel.

Discography

* ''Ambition'' (1990) * ''Delta Hurricane'' (1993) * ''Meet Me at the Lake'' with the Bluegills (1996) * ''Born to Play the Blues'' (1998) * ''Believe It'' (2000) * ''Blues is My Business'' (2001) * ''Live on Interstate 75'' (2006) * ''Larry McCray'' (2007) * ''The Gibson Sessions'' (2015) * ''Blues Without You'' (2022)

References

External links

Official website
*

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCray, Larry 1960 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American male singers Blues musicians from Arkansas Songwriters from Arkansas Singers from Arkansas Guitarists from Arkansas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters