JJ Cale

from Tulsa Oklahoma
Photos (0)
Videos (0)
Albums (0)
Roster (0)
Articles (0)

About

JJ Cale

J.J. Cale (born John W. Cale on December 5, 1938, in Tulsa, 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 hits "Call Me the Breeze" and " I Got the Same Old Blues". Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean Jacques Cale". 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. 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.
Unknown

Community Events

Search the Directory / Archive

List an Event in the Calendar

List a Physical Single Date or Recurring Event

For physical events that happen at a specific time. For example a concert, or dance performance. If there are multiple shows, you can still duplicate your event to cover them all.

List an Online Livestream Event

For online / livestream events. This will allow you to include a livestream url and have it featured in our livestream listings.

List an Ongoing Event

For events that run over a range of consecutive dates. i.e. Art show, museum show etc.

Submit a Profile to the Directory

List an Individual Artist / Artisan / Musician

(Painter, Carver, Dancer, Writer etc)

List an Arts Ensemble

(Band / Choir /Dance Troupe, Theatre Troupe, Artist Collective etc.)

List an Organization / Resource / Space

(organization, business, venue etc)

Submit Art

Submit a piece of Art

Add a photo / information on art by a local artist

News + Media

Post an Opportunity

(Jobs, Funding, Calls to Artists)

Add / Link a Video

Add a video, which will be linked to profiles, and appear in the video feed

Add / Link an Article

Add, or link to an article about content in the directory.

Log In to Your Account