There's something distinctly rock 'n' roll about Larry
McCray's Believe It. He's always freely mixed a bit of, say,
Hendrix with the influences of Freddie King, Albert Collins and Magic Sam,
but it's fair to state that one finds rather more power chordage in
McCray's music than in that of most other contemporary blues players.
Consider, for instance, the ballad "Strong Companion." True, any blues
album worth its salt is going to include at least one song detailing the
artist's travails in his search for love, but most don't have guitar solos
quite this stratospheric.
There's an element of calculation in McCray's material;
"Blues Is My Business" couldn't possibly have anything other than a
Chicago feel, and "Best in Town" is upbeat and uptempo, of course. What
saves the album from the ho-hum consequences of this kind of calculation
is McCray's evident sincerity, his skill in combining diverse influences
and musical genres (there's more than a hint of R&B here, and quite a bit
of funk) and the exemplary tightness of his band, which never misses a
step. As a result, the bass line alone of "Best Friend" is eminently
satisfying, but some funky changes and McCray's rich lead vocals only add
to the experience. He also does very good work with "Burglar," so that it
fits well with the rest of the set.
McCray's slick, but he's got heart, and one gets the sense
that even the cleverly worded stuff is autobiographical. Similar in some
ways to Robert Cray, he isn't quite as polished--which might be expected,
considering that Cray's been at this a lot longer. In a way, though, it's
refreshing, as if McCray seeks to chart a course somewhere between the
stylistic melange of contemporary blues and a rawer, more straightforward
edge. Believe It suggests that he's succeeding.
-- Originally appeared in Blues Revue No. 69,
July/August 2001, pp. 65-66