"Caros Audiophiles, JJ Cale, who died last month, was a quietly influential guitarist and singer-songwriter who had his greatest commercial successes during the 1970s and 80s but whose songs are probably best-known in versions by other artists, in particular Eric Clapton.
In 1970 he heard Clapton's recording of After Midnight, an experience he compared to "discovering oil in your own backyard". This provided the catalyst to JJ Cale's own success in the music industry. As he later said, "I'd probably be selling shoes today if it wasn't for Eric."
Cale's sound was uniquely personal to him. It would typically include a sinuous, chugging rhythm and simple melody, minimalist embellishments on guitar, pedal steel or keyboards, and lyrics delivered by Cale as though he was having a late-night chat with a friendly bartender.
As Clapton put it, Cale's music was "a strange hybrid. It's not really blues, it's not really folk or country or rock'n'roll. It's somewhere in the middle."
On his albums he would often play most of the instruments himself, experimenting with different tones and techniques. Having started as a recording and sound engineer, he was fascinated with new technology, whether it was new types of electric guitar pickups or drum machines or digital recording,. By experimenting he discovered his own unique sound. "As the years went by and technology came in, I used a lot of technology," he said. "I try and manufacture recordings to sound spontaneous. Then, some things are spontaneous."
Cale was more than happy to see what other artists could make of his music. "I kind of write songs hoping that musicians will take them and make them better and more accessible," he said. He could hardly believe his luck in being able to make a comfortable living writing and recording songs in his own way at his own pace. "When my songs started making money I thought, 'What's the use of working all the time?' I believe in no work at all if you can get away with it. I'd recommend writing songs. You get all of the money and none of the bother."
Neil Young said of him: "What is it about JJ Cale’s playing? I mean, you could say Eric Clapton’s the guitar god, but... he can't play like JJ, JJ’s the one who played all that s--- first... And he doesn’t play very loud, either — I really like that about him. He’s so sensitive. Of all the players I ever heard, it’s gotta be Hendrix and JJ Cale who are the best electric guitar players. His song Crazy Mama - it's true, simple, and direct, and the delivery is very natural. JJ's guitar playing is a huge influence on me. His touch is unspeakable. I am stunned by it. JJ’s my peer, but he doesn’t have the business acumen — he doesn’t have the idea of how to deal with the rest of the world that I do. But musically, he’s actually more than my peer, because he’s got that thing. I don’t know what it is."
Cale undertook a slower pace in recent years. Embarking on his final tour in 2009, he said, "When I sit down and play the guitar, I'm 20 years old again. I have as much enthusiasm as I always did. Making the music picks up your day, but doing the business does not, and the trouble with gigs is there's a lot of business with a gig. And now aged 70 is really — you know, my hearing, eyesight, can't hit pitch, arthritis playing the guitar. All the things that whether you're healthy or not come at you as you grow older. Eventually something's gonna get you." The final song of his last album Roll On sounded like the farewell it proved to be: "Enough is enough, can't do it no more / Bring down the curtain, close the door."
Here are a couple of his most famous songs:
A proxima.
PO
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