Label: Mercury Records (West Germany), 810 001-2
Style: Rock, Pop
Country: Oklahoma City, U.S. (December 5, 1938 - July 26, 2013)
Time: 36:26
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 194 Mb
10 Things You Didn't Know About JJ Cale:
1.
Although a great many fans, and fellow musicians alike, were under the
presumption that JJ stood for Jean-Jacques, that is not the case. He was
born John Weldon Cale, and although he began his extensive career in
Tulsa, and is recognized as one of the architects of the “Tulsa Sound,”
he came into this world on December 5th, 1938, in Oklahoma City. It
wasn’t until the mid-1960s that the co-founder of the iconic Sunset
Strip clubs, Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy, and The Rainbow, Elmer Valentine,
suggest the JJ moniker. The recommendation was made so that people
wouldn’t confuse him with avant-garde rocker, John Cale, of the Velvet
Underground. In addition, Valentine thought it would look good on the
marquee at the Whisky.
2.
Cale didn’t start out to be rock star. In fact, he shied away from
public performances and the media for almost his whole life. His first
actual love was electronics and recording. He studied the principles of
sound engineering while still attending Tulsa Central High School,
building a recording studio in his parents’ home. He furthered his
knowledge of electronics while serving in the US Air Force and got his
first job in Los Angeles as a studio engineer. In his capacity as studio
engineer, Cale recorded artists that included Freddie King and Bobby
“Blue” Bland. Many of his own original recordings, including his demo
recording of “After Midnight,” in 1966 were done with electronic drum
machines providing the rhythm section, since he wasn’t making much money
and couldn’t afford session musicians.
3.
Speaking of “After Midnight,” Eric Clapton, who recorded it on his
eponymous debut solo album in 1970, was turned on to the song by other
Tulsa musicians. Well, let’s backtrack a bit. It was Delaney Bramlett,
the Mississippi born blues rocker that first introduced Clapton to the
music of JJ Cale, while Clapton was working with Delaney & Bonnie
and Friends. When Clapton went into the studio to record, Delaney, along
with two Tulsa musicians, Carl Radle, and Leon Russell were session
musicians on the album. It was Radle that played this particular song
for Eric, and the decision was made, on the spot, to include it on the
record. It was the runaway hit single from that project, scoring the
number four position on the Billboard charts, and Cale had no idea
Clapton had recorded it until he heard it on the radio and the royalty
checks began arriving.
4.
Of course, “After Midnight,” and later, “Cocaine,” were both JJ Cale
originals recorded, and made famous by Clapton. Probably his other most
famous song, was “Call Me the Breeze,” which he initially recorded in
1970, released on his album, Naturally, in 1972, and became a southern
anthem when Lynyrd Skynyrd rocked it on their 1974 album, Second
Helping. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Other famed
artists to record Cale’s music include, Jerry Garcia, Nazareth, Johnny
Cash, John Mayer, Kansas, Waylon Jennings, Dr. Hook, Poco, Beck,
Santana, Widespread Panic, Johnny Rivers, Lucinda Williams, Maria
Muldaur, Cissy Houston, Randy Crawford, The Band, George Thorogood, and
dozens more.
5.
Clapton once said of JJ Cale, “He has been misunderstood by most
people, referring to him as a recluse when he’s very sociable, open and
charismatic. He just prefers his own company.” To say the least. So much
so, in fact, that he never publicly claimed to be married to his
long-time guitarist, and muse, Christine Lakeland. Her first recorded
appearance with Cale came on his 1979 album, 5, although she had been a
member of the touring band for three years prior to that. Being a rather
cloistered artist herself, no confirmation was made of their actual
relationship until the printing of his obituary. They lived for years in
mobile homes, and eventually on a secluded piece of property outside
Escondido, California. Early in his touring career, supporting Black Oak
Arkansas, Cale’s band opened for Quicksilver Messenger Service at the
Warehouse in New Orleans. The night before, they had been booed and
assaulted with bottles, flung by the young crowd in Baton Rouge. Cale’s
response was to play the entire New Orleans show, seated on a stool with
his back to the crowd.
6.
Famed blues rocker, Tinsley Ellis, was once fired from a gig because of
JJ Cale – sort of. Ellis was just getting started in the music
business, playing as part of a ’70s-hits oriented, supposed family act
at Six Flags over Georgia. The story goes that the band broke into a
spirited rendition of the Cale song, “Cocaine,” at the amusement park,
and were summarily dismissed from employment, even having to leave the
park barefoot. According to Ellis, “They fired us and confiscated our
leisure suits and high-heeled boots.”
7.
Of all the recognition his songs achieved over the years, Cale has not
been included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame,
nor the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was posthumously inducted into
the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2014. Cale also received a Best
Contemporary Blues Album Grammy Award in 2008 for his collaborative
album with Clapton, The Road to Escondido. The award remained in the box
for the rest of his life. Cale said, “I may put it on the mantle but I
probably won’t. My domestic duties are kinda slow. It didn’t really
change my life, ’cept it was a nice pat on the back. Good for my ego.”
8.
Cale’s only hit song, that he performed himself, was in 1972. Recorded
in one take, with Barefoot Jerry slide guitarist, Mac Gayden, “Crazy
Mama,” was actually the B-side of the single, “Magnolia.” It was a DJ in
Little Rock, Arkansas that flipped the record, loved the tune, and
hammered it out on the airwaves. The song peaked at number 22 on the
charts, making it his only Top 40 hit. Cale was glad the flip-side got
the airplay. He considered “Magnolia,” a “slow, draggy-ass ballad.”
However, his fans loved it, and he ended up playing them both at every
gig he played.
9.
Neil Young once said, “Of all the players I ever heard, it’s gotta be
[Jimi] Hendrix and JJ Cale who are the best electric guitar players.”
Guitarist Mark Knopfler, also claimed Cale as in influence on his art,
even participating in the 2014 tribute album, The Breeze: An
Appreciation of JJ Cale. Cale, though, didn’t feel the same way about
Knopfler. According to Gayden, Cale would, “rag” on him, claiming the
Brit ripped off both his guitar playing and singing styles. Apparently
burying the hatchet however, JJ did eventually open for Knopfler on a US
tour.
10.
Not all of Cale’s recordings were the relaxed, dirt road, sounding
songs that caught the ears of generations of artists to follow. In 1967,
while trying to fit in to the California scene of the times, he joined a
band called the Leathercoated Minds at the insistence of producer,
Snuff Garrett. Their one venture was, A Trip Down the Sunset Strip,
which was mostly psychedelic covers of songs such as “Eight Miles High,”
“Along Comes Mary,” and even “Puff (The Magic Dragon).” Although it did
contain four original Cale instrumentals, Cale considered the entire
project regrettable. In a 1999 interview with Max Bell, Cale admitted
that it was recorded under the influence of LSD and quite a bit of pot.
“I hate that album,”Cale said. “I’ve tried to burn it whenever I see
one. We bought into the psychedelic scene but it was a bad imitation.
You guys might like it, but you’re nuts!”
(americanbluesscene.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-jj-cale/)
01. Hey Baby (03:13)
02. Travelin' Light (02:51)
03. You Got Something (04:00)
04. Ride Me High (03:35)
05. Hold On (01:59)
06. Cocaine (02:49)
07. I'm A Gypsy Man (02:43)
08. The Woman That Got Away (02:53)
09. Super Blue (02:42)
10. Let Me Do It To You (02:59)
11. Cherry (03:22)
12. You Got Me On So Bad (03:17)
No comments:
Post a Comment