To celebrate the 50th anniversary of JJ Cale’s career, his first eight, iconic, albums – Naturally, Really, Okie, Troubadour, 5, Shades, Grasshopper and #8 are presented in a limited edition vinyl box set that features some of his best known songs including ‘Cocaine’, ‘Travelin’ Light’, ‘Call Me The Breeze’ and ‘After Midnight’ that will be released on 6 October.
Available to pre-order now, each album is pressed on 180g colour vinyl with the ninth bonus vinyl containing ‘The Early Years’, a collection of his 1960’s singles. All have been remastered at Abbey Road studios.
In addition to the records, this package contains a 40 page hardback book featuring rare and unseen images, essays, memorabilia and a foreword from legendary guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.
Cale’s influence is immeasurable. As an artist he was known for being unassuming and one to actively not seek spotlight proclaiming in 2013 “… I knew what fame entailed. I tried to back off from that. I had seen some of the people I was working with forced to be careful because people wouldn’t leave them alone… “. Raised in Tulsa, he was a true innovator who wrote and recorded his own music. His innovative nature saw him use the latest recording technology – an interest that started from his years working as a sound engineer. As a result he became known as the originator of the “Tulsa Sound”, all though, when once asked about the “Tulsa Sound” he reflected… “I guess I had something to do with that, and Leon had something to do with it; Jamie Oldaker, Carl Radle – everybody’s kind of that way. Everybody knows everybody. I’ve played for two generations there. Tulsa was the kind of place you could slide in, and, ‘You want to be the leader? You be the leader tonight, you be the leader tomorrow night.’ That was the Tulsa sound, to me. It was in an attitude more than it was in music.”
He viewed his albums as “demos.” Primitively (or more accurately, eccentrically) recorded, they weren’t likely to generate hit singles; instead, his original songs spawned numerous cover versions by more established artists. Songwriting royalties provided Cale with a good living. ‘Naturally’, his debut album, alone spawned Top 40 hit ‘Crazy Mama’ (covered by The Band, Larry Carlton, Johnny Rivers, and others), ‘Call Me The Breeze’ (a hit for Lynyrd Skynyrd, also recorded by Johnny Cash) and ‘After Midnight,’ which Cale reluctantly recorded for the album after Eric Clapton had already scored a hit with it.
His inspiration is multi-generational and some of those who have covered his music include – Beck with The Flaming Lips (‘Magnolia’), Captain Beefheart (‘I Got The Same Old Blues’), Santana (‘Sensitive Kind’), Jerry Garcia (‘After Midnight’), Band of Horses (‘Thirteen Days’), Waylon Jennings (‘Louisiana Women’), Dan Auerbach (‘Don’t Go To Stranger’) – for a full list see www.jjcale.com/covers.
This collection of albums in ‘Tulsa Sound’ is an extremely influential body of work. Released between 1971 and 1983, he and his work had a profound influence on some of the best known and regarded songwriters of all time…
Speaking of Cale, Eric Clapton said – “One of the most important artists in the history of rock, quietly representing the greatest asset his country has ever had…He has been an incredible inspiration to me. His records are really minimal, light, it’s all about finesse. It’s almost like he’s whispering in your ear but you hear everything single word. I don’t know how he does it. It’s such a cunning technique.”
‘Tulsa Sound’ 9LP Box Set – Tracklist:
Naturally – Side A
Call Me The Breeze
Call The Doctor
Don’t Go To Strangers
Woman I Love
Magnolia
Clyde
Naturally – Side B
Crazy Mama
Nowhere To Run
After Midnight
River Runs Deep
Bringing It Back
Crying Eyes
Really – Side A
Lies
Everything Will Be Alright
I’ll Kiss The World Goodbye
Changes
Right Down Here
If You’re Ever In Oklahoma
Really – Side B
Ridin’ Home
Going Down
Soulin’
Playing In The Street
Mo Jo
Louisiana Women
Okie – Side A
Crying
I’ll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)
Starbound
Rock And Roll Records
The Old Man And Me
Everlovin’ Woman
Okie – Side B
Cajun Moon
I’d Like To Love You Baby
Anyway The Wind Blows
Precious Memories
Okie
I Got The Same Old Blues
Troubadour – Side A
Hey Baby
Travelin’ Light
You Got Something
Ride Me High
Hold On
Cocaine
Troubadour – Side B
I’m A Gypsy Man
The Woman That Got Away
Super Blue
Let Me Do It To You
Cherry
You Got Me On So Bad
5 – Side A
Thirteen Days
Boilin’ Pot
I’ll Make Love To You Anytime
Don’t Cry Sister
Too Much For Me
Sensitive Kind
5 – Side B
Friday
Lou-Easy-Ann
Let’s Go To Tahiti
Katy Kool Lady
Fate Of A Fool
Mona
Shades – Side A
Carry On
Deep Dark Dungeon
Wish I Had Not Said That
Pack My Jack
If You Leave Her
Shades – Side B
Mama Don’t
Runaround
What Do You Expect
Love Has Been Gone
Cloudy Day
Grasshopper – Side A
City Girls
Devil In Disguise
One Step Ahead Of The Blues
You Keep Me Hangin’ On
Downtown L.A.
Can’t Live Here
Grasshopper
Grasshopper – Side B
Drifters Wife
Don’t Wait
A Thing Going On
Nobody But You
Mississippi River
Does Your Mama Like To Reggae
Dr. Jive
#8 – Side A
Money Talks
Losers
Hard Times
Reality
Takin’ Care Of Business
#8 – Side B
People Lie
Unemployment
Trouble In The City
Teardrops In My Tequila
Livin’ Here Too
The Early Years – Side A
Dick Tracy
It’s A Go-Go Place
Outside Looking In
The Early Years – Side B
In Our Time
After Midnight
Slow Motion
