“Portrait”: J.J. Cale, the anti-rock star

In this new “Portrait”, Mike Lécuyer looks back on the path of a musician as discreet as he is essential: J.J. Cale, the master of the Tulsa sound. From his early days in Oklahoma clubs to the first successes of his songs later covered by Eric Clapton, this is a return to the formative years (1958–1970) of an artist who made blues, rock, and freedom rhyme.

🎧 Listen to the podcast – Part 1

Part One: The Early Years (1958–1970)

Any blues or rock fan should be familiar with J.J. Cale, either through his own records or through his songs covered by many artists such as Eric Clapton with After Midnight and Cocaine, or Lynyrd Skynyrd with Call Me the Breeze.

J.J. Cale, whose real name is John Weldon Cale, was an American songwriter, composer, singer, and guitarist, born on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and who died on July 26, 2013, in La Jolla, California. He grew up in Tulsa, the oil capital of the United States in the twentieth century. He discovered country music and rhythm & blues through the radio, and learned guitar with a young neighbor with whom he played a few shows at dances or weddings. He was then 14 or 15 years old. In 1954, rock ’n’ roll swept across America, and Johnny – his nickname at the time – formed a trio at his high school.

His first semi-professional experience took place in 1956 with the Rockets, the band of singer Gene Crose, who helped him progress by introducing him to guitarists such as Chuck Berry or Scotty Moore, the legendary guitarist of Elvis Presley. Gene Crose left the band, which became The Valentines, but in 1957 Johnny Cale, then 18 years old, left to do his military service, where he learned about electronics.

After returning from the army, he and his father put together a small recording studio in a room of the family home and he rejoined the Valentines. The new singer, Bobby Taylor, in turn left for the army. Things gradually became more serious under the name Johnny and the Valentines, with many concerts, jams, and backing work for other artists, leading to the release of his first single on Mercury Records in 1958.
It consisted of two instrumentals, Shock Hop / Sneaky, neither of which he had written.

His second single was released in 1960 under the name Johnny Cale Quintette, featuring his first compositions: an instrumental on the A-side, The Purple Onion, which enjoyed some local success, and on the B-side Troubles, Troubles, strongly inspired by Trouble by Elvis Presley. His third single came out in 1961, again under the name Johnny Cale Quintette, and offered a cover of bluesman Jimmy Reed: Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby.

In early 1964, Leon Russell convinced him to return to Los Angeles to take care of a four-track recording studio he had just built in his house, thanks to his work as a pianist within the famous Wrecking Crew, the studio musicians who backed The Byrds, The Everly Brothers, The Ronettes, The Monkees, Buffalo Springfield, and many others.

His wife soon joined him, while he refined his recording skills at Russell’s studio, all the while playing wherever he could. These musical wanderings led him to the Whisky a Go-Go, a new club on Sunset Boulevard run by a former police officer, Elmer Valentine.

The Johnny Cale Trio was hired to play on the off nights of the resident star, Johnny Rivers.

And Johnny Becomes JJ …

It was therefore at the Whisky a Go-Go, on Sunset Boulevard, that Johnny Cale, then leader of the Johnny Cale Trio, became J.J. Cale, at the request of owner Elmer Valentine, in order to avoid any confusion with Johnny Rivers, the club’s star performer.

At the end of 1965, he recorded Leon Russell’s first single, which he also co-wrote: Everybody’s Talking ’Bout the Young, in a very Dylan-esque style.

Tired of club gigs, J.J. Cale now spent more time in the studio. In November 1965, Dick Tracy was released, a track discovered by his producers Snuff Garrett and Leon Russell, inspired by the comic strip detective. It was his first official record signed as J.J.

Apart from a small appearance in the Canadian charts, the record went largely unnoticed, as did the next one, released in the spring of 1966, which finally included two of his own compositions, Outside Lookin’ In and In Our Time, with a mood somewhat reminiscent of The Byrds.

In May 1966, he divorced his wife Ruth. His producer Snuff Garrett commissioned him to write songs for various artists, but none met with success. However, he insisted that Cale record a rough composition he had been carrying around for some time, with unfinished lyrics: this would become the first version of After Midnight.

While waiting for the future success of that song, the producer, never short of ideas, wanted to ride new musical trends and suggested that Cale record an album of covers and originals in a psychedelic style. A Trip Down the Sunset Strip was released in 1967 under the group name The Leathercoated Minds, featuring instrumentals by Cale and covers of songs by The Byrds, Donovan, The Yardbirds, and Bob Dylan.

Success Still Takes Time

On the advice of Snuff Garrett, he returned once again to Nashville, accompanied by Patsy Camp, his new partner, and two of his musicians, to meet a certain Hubert Long, who would introduce him to Audie Ashworth, a former musician turned publisher. This first meeting was not very fruitful, but it was only a matter of time.

After a few months collaborating as a musician, songwriter, or sound engineer, he returned to Los Angeles, as Snuff Garrett had just purchased a recording studio and tasked J.J. Cale with making it operational.

In 1968, he resumed live performances and met Delaney & Bonnie, a rising duo with whom he occasionally played for several months, before returning to Tulsa for the end-of-year holidays.

Eric Clapton Discovers J.J. Cale

In 1969, Delaney & Bonnie opened the American tour of Blind Faith, the English supergroup whose guitarist, Eric Clapton, struck up a friendship with them. He so appreciated their soul and rhythm & blues that he discreetly joined the rest of their tour.
Through their discussions, Delaney Bramlett convinced him to take singing seriously and to cover a song by J.J. Cale, whose single After Midnight he had just received.
Produced by Delaney Bramlett and recorded between London and Los Angeles with the help of the band’s musicians, this first solo album, simply titled Eric Clapton, was released in the summer of 1970.

This cover would soon change the fate of John Weldon Cale: the song climbed the American charts, and publisher Audie Ashworth wanted to capitalize on this unexpected success and the growing notoriety of J.J. Cale to have him record a full album and finally launch his career…

🎧 Listen to the podcast – Part 2

Part Two: The Beginnings… of Recognition (1970–1975)

First Album “Naturally”

So here we are in 1970. J.J. Cale was scraping by in Tulsa, playing in local clubs, while Eric Clapton had just covered his song After Midnight. It was a stroke of luck that might finally lift him out of anonymity… That is certainly what publisher Audie Ashworth thought, as he once again invited him to Nashville to record his first album.

In the fall of 1970, Cale recorded a few tracks alone in a small studio with his guitars and, for drums, the rhythm box of an organ. He then continued in another studio with musicians hired by Audie Ashworth. The final touch was added by a horn section on four tracks. All the sessions cost less than $4,000. In the end, a new label signed the artist: Shelter Records, created by Denny Cordell and Leon Russell, whom J.J. Cale had known since Tulsa and Los Angeles. But Denny Cordell had an unexpected request: record a new version of After Midnight! Initially reluctant, J.J. Cale accepted the idea and recorded a slower version in 1971. The album was released in the winter of 1971–1972.

Muted atmospheres, medium tempos, interwoven guitars, and a whispered or murmured voice: that is the J.J. Cale sound, the style that would be called laid-back, meaning relaxed, easygoing…

With the first songwriting royalties from After Midnight, he bought a house and equipment to improve the small recording studio he had built with his father in the family home.

J.J. Cale could now consider himself a true songwriter, as several artists covered this song in the early 1970s. Today there are more than 80 versions, including two French adaptations: one by Joël Daydé in 1976 and another by Eddy Mitchell in 1978, both titled Après Minuit but with different lyrics…

The first single Crazy Mama enjoyed some success in the American charts before quickly dropping after Cale refused to sing in playback on a famous TV show. That’s Cale all over!

Second Album “Really”

In quick succession, a new album, Really, was recorded and released in 1972, again on the Shelter label, even though J.J. Cale had turned down a million-dollar contract offered by Columbia! That’s still very much Cale.

The record contains twelve tracks, including two covers. Recording sessions took place in Nashville and Muscle Shoals. The single Lies / Ridin’ Home was released in October, and the album in November 1972.

That same year, Leon Russell moved back to Tulsa with Shelter Records and transformed an old church into a recording studio and rehearsal space for J.J. Cale.

First Article in the French Music Press

In November 1973, Philippe Garnier wrote in Rock & Folk no. 82 the first major article about the artist. Here are a few excerpts:
But J.J. Cale is also an extraordinary guitarist, his playing calls for adjectives that do not exist in the lexicon of the Académie: “gritty”, “husky”, “funky”, “sharp”, dry and above all controlled. Very controlled. Because JJ Cale, with all his “down-home” and “laid-back” side, tired and indolent, is never relaxed. But J.J., even after midnight, never overflows, never lets himself go. This restraint, this control, this way of holding things back is one of the main characteristics of his two albums. It is music that delights, music that is crunchy, intense and rich, but that can make your stomach hurt because it is so tense. Even when he uses a horn section, nothing ever obstructs the natural flow. Everything seems to flow naturally. Likewise, when he changes scenery and goes to record at Muscle Shoals, he achieves the same effects. Talking about one song rather than another does not make much sense: you either like them all or not at all. The lyrics are often extremely simple, murmured, on the edge of intelligibility. They mainly speak of absences, runaway women, or good times. These songs are rarely autobiographical in an anecdotal sense. They reflect more a world, an experience, than a story. It is indeed very difficult to make a distinction between the two albums. Let’s just say that “Really” is musically more muscular, more nervous, but the first album “Naturally” contains some of his best songs…
J.J. resembles no one, sings like no one else, and even his guitar has no equivalent. He does not play a Gibson or a Martin, but a battered old Harmony that he amplified himself. You should listen to his records: you will hear some of the best musicians around and the voice of a unique, irresistible, and truly original artist.

Third Album “Okie”

The album Okie (1974) climbed to a modest 128th place in the charts, and Cajun Moon was released as a single only in Europe, yet it still accumulated more than 30 covers over the years…

In this first half of the 1970s, after Eric Clapton, many artists drew from the first three albums of J.J. Cale: “Crazy Mama” by Johnny Rivers (1972), “Magnolia” by Poco (1973), “Bring It Back” by Kansas (1974), “I Got the Same Old Blues” by Captain Beefheart and also by the great bluesman Freddie King in 1974, but it was the American band Lynyrd Skynyrd that would confirm his status as a successful songwriter by recording a cover of the opening track from the first album by J.J. Cale: Call Me the Breeze.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd LP Second Helping, which contains the famous and controversial Sweet Home Alabama, would sell millions of copies, and the J.J. Cale song would become one of the highlights of their live shows.

🎧 Listen to the podcast – Part 3 (french)

Part Three: Recognition… and the Blues

Thanks to the royalties from his first three albums, and above all to the covers of After Midnight by Eric Clapton and of Call Me the Breeze by Lynyrd Skynyrd, J.J. Cale bought a house near Nashville, a fishing boat, a motorcycle, a few guitars, and… a camper van! This did not prevent him from touring Europe and France for the first time, where he played on April 26, 1976, at the Pavillon de Paris, also known as “Les Abattoirs”. A venue ill-suited to his intimate style for meeting the French audience, but such are the ups and downs of touring, something J.J. Cale was never particularly fond of.

He also recorded his fourth album, Troubadour, released in September 1976.

Fourth Album “Troubadour” (1976)

As with every album, the opening track, Hey Baby, is a little gem. One can easily imagine sitting on a dock in the late afternoon, putting away fishing rods and counting the catch, a cold beer in hand. It swings gently, the mood settles into a soft torpor with discreet, hypnotic horns and a superb pedal steel solo.

The sound is much clearer, more open. The instruments are more distinct, and even his voice is slightly more forward, but not too much. That is a hallmark of J.J. Cale: never putting oneself “out front”, never grabbing the spotlight. A bit of Mexican music, a bit of jazz, a bit of blues of course.

And then, at the end of side one, without warning, just before flipping the LP, comes Cocaine, which would become his biggest hit thanks once again to Eric Clapton. The guitar riff, recognizable from the very first bar, became one of the most famous rock hooks, on a par with those of Keith Richards or Pete Townshend. Needless to say, this is not an invitation to use drugs. J.J. Cale always explained that he never took cocaine.

The cover of Cocaine, slightly faster and slightly harder, by Eric Clapton on his album Slow Hand, played a major role in the success of J.J. Cale’s second European tour, which stopped in May 1977 at a packed Olympia, where it still took two or three songs before the audience recognized the man!

Fifth Album “Five” (1979)

Back in Nashville, it was at a B. B. King concert that J.J. Cale met Christine Lakeland for the first time, a rhythm guitarist who took part in sessions and stand-ins, mainly in country bands. Cale occasionally invited her to join him on stage, until she became a permanent member of his band and eventually his wife.

From the very first track, the beautiful Thirteen Days, Christine Lakeland’s voice can be heard, and on Don’t Cry Sister they sing together in harmony. A first.

After the album’s release, J.J. Cale took a break, traveling across California in his camper van, always with his guitars. In 1980, he decided to leave Nashville for good and settle in Los Angeles, renting a house during the week and returning to his camper van on weekends.

Sixth Album “Shades” (1981)

Shades, his sixth album released in 1981, was the last for his friend Leon Russell’s Shelter Records label. It resulted from sessions between Nashville and Los Angeles and once again featured a fine harmonized vocal performance, Carry On, which opens the record.

Seventh Album “Grasshopper” (1982)

Also drawn from sessions between Nashville and Los Angeles, Grasshopper, although it does not contain a huge hit, is for me the ideal album to introduce J.J. Cale to anyone who may never have heard of him.

It showcases the full range of the artist’s sounds, styles, and compositions, starting with the magnificent City Girls, with its bittersweet atmosphere.

The voice, the instruments, the mix of this record: everything is a complete success. The acoustic folk of Drifter’s Wife, the shuffle of One Step Ahead of the Blues, the poignant ballad You Keep Me Hangin’ On, the rock of Devil in Disguise, and the surprising reggae-pop Does Your Mama Like to Reggae (with Christine Lakeland).

Eighth Album “#8” (1983)

For the release of his eighth album, simply titled Eight, a major novelty appeared: for the first time, J.J. Cale appeared on the front cover. However, relations between the artist and Mercury became tense, as he was criticized for not recording a big hit for his new label. Yet a song like Money Talks would, over the years, become a real standard…

The contract with Mercury stipulated four albums, but J.J. Cale decided to buy out his contract and take a four-year break. With Christine Lakeland, they went cycling, regularly visited Disneyland, attended concerts, and saw friends. A small camper-van tour of Canada followed, then another along the west coast of the United States, while still recording new compositions inspired by chance encounters or sudden ideas…

🎧 Listen to the podcast – Part 4 (french)

Part Four: The Final Act

Four years after the release of his previous album in 1983, J.J. Cale continues writing songs but without a clear plan for a new record. He performs a handful of concerts in Canada and undertakes a U.S. tour accompanied by a drummer, a bassist, and Christine Lakeland on piano.

Travel-Log (1990)
During this period, his manager Mike Kappus secures a two-album recording deal with Silverstone Records. The first release, Travel-Log, comes out in 1990 and is built around the theme of travel, exploring various musical landscapes: a Louisiana feel on New Orleans, Mexican influences on Tijuana, and Asian tones on Shanghaid, which also becomes Cale’s first music video.

The rest of the album remains faithful to his trademark sound, with tracks such as Hold On Baby and Lady Luck.
Cale settles near Escondido, in the San Diego area, close to where his sister lives. A subsequent U.S. tour leads to a meeting with Paul Simon, who invites him to participate in the recording of The Rhythm of the Saints.

Number 10 (1992)
Released in 1992, Number 10, the second album for Silverstone Records, is marked by the prominent use of drum machines, particularly on tracks like Lonesome Train, Digital Blues, and Artificial Paradise.

Closer To You (1994)
In 1992, French music executive Emmanuel de Buretel approaches Mike Kappus with a proposal to sign J.J. Cale to his newly founded label, Delabel. After extended negotiations, Cale agrees to return to the studio.
Released in 1994, Closer To You benefits from an unusually strong promotional campaign in Europe. The album opens with the upbeat Long Way Home, which is released as a single with a music video.

Cale gives several interviews, notably to Rock & Folk and Guitare & Claviers, expressing surprise that public interest in his work remains strong. The album is well received across Europe, prompting a tour in autumn 1994. This marks Cale’s third and final visit to France, including appearances on national television, the show Taratata, and a concert at the Grand Rex in Paris. Recordings from this European and American tour later form the basis of a live album released in 2001.

Guitar Man (1996)
Cale’s twelfth studio album, Guitar Man, is released in 1996 on Delabel. Without a European tour, the album receives less media exposure, despite notable tracks such as Days Go By and the title song Guitar Man.
Plans for a back-to-basics project with producer Audie Ashworth in Nashville are abandoned following Ashworth’s death.

To Tulsa and Back (2004)
The abandoned project is revived in 2004 with To Tulsa and Back. Although associated with Tulsa, the album is recorded nearby and reunites many of Cale’s longtime musician friends. Six tracks feature full-band performances, while the remainder are recorded by Cale alone. A documentary bearing the same title is released the following year.
That same period, Eric Clapton invites Cale to perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, where the idea for a future collaboration begins to take shape.

The Road to Escondido (2006)
Originally conceived as a Clapton album produced by Cale, the project gradually evolves into a joint release. Insisting that Cale’s name appear first, Clapton underscores his admiration for the songwriter. Released in 2006, The Road to Escondido wins the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album and includes new versions of Don’t Cry Sister and Anyway the Wind Blows.
In 2007, Cale releases Rewind, a collection of covers and previously unreleased recordings.

Roll On (2009)
Cale returns with Roll On in 2009 on Because Music. The album draws from various recording sessions spanning several years. Eric Clapton appears on the title track, originally recorded in 1984.
At the age of 70, Cale unexpectedly embarks on his final tour, with dates in the United States and Canada. Later that year, he contributes to Clapton’s album Clapton (2010) but is forced to withdraw due to heart problems.

J.J. Cale dies on July 26, 2013, in La Jolla, California.
Following his death, Eric Clapton records a tribute album with musicians close to Cale and Christine Lakeland. The Breeze: An Appreciation of J.J. Cale is released in July 2014.

Stay Around (2019)
Released in 2019, Stay Around is a posthumous studio album featuring fifteen previously unreleased tracks recorded between the 1980s and 2000s. Compiled by Christine Lakeland and Mike Kappus, it includes My Baby Blues, written by Lakeland in 1977.

While less widely recognized in the United States than in Europe, Canada, and Australia, J.J. Cale is posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, though he has yet to be included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

These programs were largely inspired by the excellent book by Bertrand Bouard, “JJ Cale”, published in 2022 by Éditions Le Mot et le Reste.

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