J. J. Cale
J. J. Cale |
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JJ Cale (also J.J. Cale), born John Weldon Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,[1] is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and musician. Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back".
His only U.S. hit single, Crazy Mama, peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972, making him a one hit wonder. His songs have been covered my a number of other musicians: "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton, "Bringing It Back" by Kansas, and "Call Me the Breeze" and " I Got the Same Old Blues" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, to name a few.
Biography
John Weldon Cale was born on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean Jacques Cale". A Sunset Strip nightclub owner employing Cale in the mid-1960s came up with the "JJ" moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale.[2] 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.
Career
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.
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. February 2009 saw the release of his 23rd album, Roll On, including the previously unreleased title track recorded with Eric Clapton.
Early on he was known for playing a heavily modified Harmony H162 guitar. He is currently playing a Casio PG380 MIDI guitar from ca. 1980.
Discography
Singles
- 1958 Shock Hop/Sneaky [45 - as Johnny Cale][3]
- 1960 Troubles, Troubles/Purple Onion [45 - as Johnny Cale Quintet] [4]
- 1961 Ain't That Lovin You Baby/She's My Desire [45 - as Johnny Cale Quintet] [5]
- 1971 Crazy Mama [45 as J.J. Cale], from the album Naturally, peaked at #22 on the U.S. single charts on April 8, 1972.
Albums
- 1966 A Trip Down The Sunset Strip (with the Leathercoated Minds)
- 1971 Naturally
- 1972 Really
- 1974 Okie
- 1976 Troubadour
- 1979 5
- 1981 Shades
- 1982 Grasshopper
- 1983 #8
- 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
- 2009 Roll On
Cover songs
Artists including Eric Clapton,[6][7] Mark Knopfler,[7] Neil Young ,[citation needed] Tom Petty, and Bryan Ferry,[citation needed] have noted Cale's influence on their music.
Several artists, including Clapton, have made hits of Cale songs, and many more have covered them. Cale's most covered songs include "Call Me the Breeze", "Sensitive Kind", "After Midnight", and "Cocaine". A partial list of performers who covered Cale's songs includes The Band ("Crazy Mama"), Beck ("Magnolia"), Johnny Cash ("Call Me The Breeze"), Clapton ("After Midnight", "Cocaine", and more), Bob Dylan ("Cocaine"), Kansas ("Bringing It Back"), Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Bringing It Back", "Call Me The Breeze", "Same Old Blues"), Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers ("Thirteen Days", "Call Me The Breeze," "I'd Like to Love You, Baby"), Johnny Rivers ("Crazy Mama", "Don't Go To Strangers"), Santana ("Sensitive Kind"), and Widespread Panic ("Travelin' Light", "Ride Me High").
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/c/cale5000.htm
- ^ http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/c/cale5000.htm
- ^ http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/c/cale5000.htm
- ^ "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 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b "J.J. Cale: The Early Years". Jam Base. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
External links
- Official website
- "To Tulsa and back - On Tour with J.J. Cale" Documentary about J.J. Cale
- VH1: Biography
- Laid Back – Thirty years under the influence of "Cocaine"
- NPR: June 2004 story
- Rocky Frisco: Rocky Frisco Cale's Pianist
- Christine Lakeland Cale's Wife
- JJ Cale Fan Network Largest Cale fan site
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Cale, Jean J.
- On his Casio 360 guitar