Robert Cray, What Have You Done?

MusicBrainz
1

What to do when the release is self-contradictory on the artist name? I’ve found nothing in the Guidelines to help me on this.

On the front and back covers, the release artist is “Robert Cray.” On the spine and medium, it’s “The Robert Cray Band.” So I’m questioning what the release artist should be.

I looked through all of the releases listed under artist “Robert Cray” in MB, and consulted Discogs in a few cases. I found that they are… consistently inconsistent.

  • The front cover always says “Robert Cray.”
  • The back cover usually matches the front.
  • The spine is always “The Robert Cray Band.”
  • The medium (CD, LP, cassette) is almost always “The Robert Cray Band.”

One album should be moved to the artist “The Robert Cray Band,” as it’s consistently labeled that way. I’ve entered that edit.

Thankfully, all the albums under “The Robert Cray Band” are consistently credited that way.

The only albums I find where the release artist is consistently “Robert Cray” are compilations, and collaborations with musicians other than those in “The Robert Cray Band.”

3 Likes
2

I usually use the more common variant, slightly favoring what’s on the spine, since that’s what you’d more likely see on the shelf.

4 Likes
3

Usually MB will pick a title based on the cover, but the artist should be based on the actual artist.

If you know that this is The Robert Cray Band and are sure the cover is just an artist’s sales trick, then file it under the band.

At the heart, MB is about accurate data.

Quite a mess. The more I look, the more confused it is. Sometimes credited to the man, other times the band. Wikipedia keeps Band and Person in the same discography and keeps swapping terms. I’d want to find a real fanclub site or biography and see who it is credited.

On his own site he has everything mixed in together. Music - Robert Cray

Makes it even harder to separate Man from Band. :slight_smile:

4

Yep, that’s what I found, too. That’s what sent me here. It’s starting to look like nearly all of “Robert Cray’s” albums (excluding compilations) should be moved to “The Robert Cray Band.”

But later. Right now, I’m off to the beach. :slight_smile:

1 Like
5

I know this problem well enough. Especially with eponymous bands. On one release it’s the band, on the next one the main artist alone, sometimes both variants on one release. Most of the time I decide based on whether the band is significant as an independent entity. If the members are constantly changing and the focus is only on the eponymous artist anyway, I would settle for “credited as”. However, it is probably not possible to establish a general rule.
In the case of The Robert Cray Band, there seems to be no fixed line-up.
Knowing that probably won’t be of much help as this band can’t possibly be ignored. There are too many credits for the band… :slight_smile:

6

Maybe do The Robert Cray Band but use “Robert Cray” as artist credit?