Cray returns to valley with a message.

Byline: Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard

It's been more than 30 years since Robert Cray moved to Eugene and put together the first incarnation of the Robert Cray Band.

Since then, Cray has done his onetime hometown proud, collecting five Grammys, a platinum record, a handful of gold albums and a host of other accolades.

He's back on the scene with his 14th album, "Twenty." The title doesn't refer to any big milestone in Cray's life - except perhaps the 20th anniversary of his first Grammy-winning record, 1985's `Showdown!' recorded with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland.

Instead, "Twenty" is a song about a young soldier who enlisted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and was sent to Iraq. He didn't make it out.

The bitter lyrics urge a grieving mother to dry her eyes about her son's death: `Was supposed to leave last week/ Promises they don't keep any- more/ Got to fight the rich man's war.'

The online All Music Guide called the song "one of the harshest anti-Iraq war songs to date." It's worth noting that Cray's father spent 30 years in the Army.

We caught up with Cray as he enjoyed a few days off at home in Los Angeles before hitting the road again. His Northwest swing will include a visit to that other college town just up Highway 99, where he'll play Oregon State University's LaSells Stewart Center on Tuesday. Here's what he had to say.

Question: What were you aiming for when you headed into the studio to record `Twenty'?

Answer: We didn't really have a direction we were going toward. What we did want to do was try to get a more live performance type of feel.

So what we did is we called off rehearsals. Everybody who wrote songs sent their demo tapes to each other in the mail and we listened to them and then we showed up in the studio, put the charts together and then we started rolling the tape.

And so we tried to do the songs in as few takes as possible, learning the songs at the same time.

Question: Is that something you see yourself doing again?

Answer: I'd like to do it that way because I think that you really focus in on what you're trying to do, especially when you don't know the songs as well as (ones) we've done in the past.

Question: How are the fans reacting to the new songs live?

Answer: We're getting a really good response. The song `Twenty" is getting an excellent response.

Question: I was curious about that song in particular.

Answer: I think the whole tone has changed. We'd written a couple songs on the previous record that talked about the war in Iraq, and they were written before the invasion happened. So this particular song, it's about the soldiers and about them not having a choice.

I didn't know what the response was going to be like, but as we play the song, people stand up in the middle of the song. They applaud after certain verses and we get a standing ovation from a lot of people in the audience.

Question: People might be a little surprised that a former Army brat wrote that song. Clearly, you have pretty intimate know- ledge of what life in the military is like.

Answer: For me, it just comes from understanding that once you're in the service, you're supposed to do your job. You don't have a choice.

I don't really like to tell on my dad, but there were things he would say to us, `Don't question.' And I understood that to be something he learned in the military. Once an order is giv- en, that's what you're supposed to do. And then understanding what's going on with this war, being ordered to go to Iraq, then not knowing what you're there for - you gotta feel bad for the guys.

Question: Are there people who are angry at you for writing that song?

Answer: You know what? I've only seen one or two.

Question: How much of the new record has made it into your live show? When people go to Corvallis next week, what can they expect?

Answer: We've been known to do about half the record. We do "Twenty" and "Poor John- ny." We've been doing "Two Steps From the End." We've been playing "That Ain't Love."

Question: When you were playing gigs at the Eugene Hotel and other local bars back in the 1970s, did you ever expect that you would still be at it 30 years later?

Answer: Well, it was what I wanted to do. You really can't see that far in advance, but I was having fun playing music. Even back when I first got a guitar, I was talking about playing.

You never know what's going to happen. I'm happy to be where I'm at.

CONCERT PREVIEW

Robert Cray

With: Coco Montoya 

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: LaSells Stewart Center, 100 S.W. 26th St., Corvallis

Tickets: $20 to $35, available through Tickets- West at (800) 992-TIXX, www.ticketswest .com, or at Safeways in Albany and Corvallis; $23 to $38 at the door

CAPTION(S):

For his latest studio album, Robert Cray sought a "live" feel. How'd he do it? No rehearsals.