J. J. Cale

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J. J. Cale

Background information
Birth name John W. Cale
Born December 5, 1938 (1938-12-05) (age 69)
Origin Flag of the United States Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Genre(s) Cajun
Blues
Swamp rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Guitar, piano, keyboards,
bass guitar, drums
Years active 1958–present
Website www.jjcale.com

J. J. Cale (born John W. Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter and musician best known for writing two songs that Eric Clapton made famous, "After Midnight" and "Cocaine", as well as the Lynyrd Skynyrd hit "Call Me The Breeze". Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean Jacques Cale". According to keyboard player, Rocky Frisco, "The 'Jean Jaques' crap was created by a drunk French 'journalist' who got thrown out of the venue and made a lot of crap up to pretend he had done an interview". In fact, a Sunset Strip nightclub owner employing Cale in the mid-1960s came up with the "J.J." moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale.[1] In the 2006 documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J. J. Cale, Rocky Frisco tells the same version of the story mentioning the other John Cale but without further detail.

Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a very loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back", and is characterized by shuffle rhythms, simple chord changes, understated vocals, and clever, incisive lyrics. Cale is also a very distinctive and idiosyncratic guitarist, incorporating both Travis-like fingerpicking and gentle, meandering electric solos. His recordings also reflect his stripped-down, laid-back ethos; his album versions are usually quite succinct and often recorded entirely by Cale alone, using drum machines for rhythm accompaniment. Live, however, as evidenced on his 2001 Live album and 2006 To Tulsa And Back film, he and his band regularly stretch the songs out and improvise heavily.

Many artists, including Eric Clapton[2][3] , Mark Knopfler[3], Neil Young[citation needed] and Bryan Ferry[citation needed], have noted Cale's influence on their music; several artists in addition to Clapton have made hits of Cale songs, and many more have covered them. Cale has often noted that he writes and records songs primarily so that other artists will cover them, but given the texturally sparse but fine craftsmanship on his albums, this sentiment is far from universal. His most covered songs include "Call Me the Breeze", "Sensitive Kind", "After Midnight", and "Cocaine".

Cale is also well known for his longstanding aversion to stardom, extensive touring, and even continual recording. He has happily remained a relatively obscure cult artist for the last 35 years.

The release of his album, To Tulsa and Back in 2004, his appearance at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, and the 2006 release of the film documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J. J. Cale, have brought his understated discography and songwriting to a new audience. This mainstream exposure continued into late 2006 with the release of a collaborative album with Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido, which won "Best Contemporary Blues Album" at the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008.

Contents

[edit] Discography

  • 1958 Shock Hop/Sneaky[45 - as Johnny Cale]
  • 1960 Troubles, Troubles/Purple Onion[45 - as Johnny Cale Quintet]
  • 1961 Ain't That Lovin You Baby/She's My Desire[45 - as Johnny Cale Quintet]
  • 1966 A Trip Down The Sunset Strip (with the Leathercoated Minds)
  • 1971 Naturally
  • 1973 Really
  • 1974 Okie
  • 1976 Troubadour
  • 1979 5
  • 1980 Shades
  • 1982 Grasshopper
  • 1983 Number 8 with Steve Ripley, Jim Keltner...
  • 1984 Special Edition (a compilation of hits from previous albums)
  • 1990 Travel Log
  • 1992 Number 10
  • 1994 Closer To You
  • 1996 Guitar Man
  • 1997 Anyway the Wind Blows
  • 1998 The Very Best of J. J. Cale
  • 2000 Universal Masters Collection
  • 2001 Live
  • 2004 To Tulsa and Back
  • 2006 Collected (with Bonus Tracks) (Dutch release only)
  • 2006 The Road to Escondido
  • 2007 Rewind: The Unreleased Recordings

[edit] Cover songs

Songs by Cale have been covered by the following artists:

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Guitar Legends J.J. CALE AND ERIC CLAPTON Unite For an Epic, Soulful CD Release “THE ROAD TO ESCONDIDO”. whereseric.com (2006-09-14). Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
  3. ^ a b J.J. Cale: The Early Years. Jam Base (2007-08-17). Retrieved on 2008-05-06.

[edit] External links