J.J. Cale

You can't rush the good things in life. And that includes J.J. Cale.
"Yeah, they told me it's eight years since the last studio album. But it doesn't seem that long," he says, scratching his head and wondering where the time has gone.

Now the long wait is finally over and he's back with an immaculate and classic collection of new songs. To Tulsa And Back (Sanctuary Records) is both different from what has gone before, and yet also reassuringly delivers the familiar, hand-tooled, trademark sound that has made Cale a musical legend for more than 30 years.

Over his career Cale has harbored a healthy suspicion of change for the sake of it. The whims and caprices of fad and fashionability have left his timeless genius unmoved. But one fundamental change was forced upon him this time around. He had initially planned that the follow-up to 1996's 'Guitar Man' would be recorded in Nashville with Audie Ashworth, who began producing Cale's records back in 1971 with 'Naturally,' the unforgettable debut that included songs such as "After Midnight," "Call Me The Breeze," "Magnolia," and "Crazy Mama."

Cale and Ashworth continued working together over the years, setting up their own studio, Crazy Mama's, when Cale moved to Nashville in 1975. "We were going to do the record like we did in the old days," Cale says. "Two old friends sitting around talking music and playing songs." Sadly, Ashworth passed away before they could start work and Cale dedicated 2001's 'J.J. Cale Live' album to his old friend's memory.

So which direction to go for his first studio album in eight years? Cale - who these days lives in the southern California desert - decided to go back to his roots. Back to Tulsa, the town in Oklahoma where he was born but left decades ago.

There he hired a small studio owned by drummer and old friend David Teagarden and looked up the good ol' boys he had grown up with. "I drove down there and we found all the guys I had played with in bars when we were young fellas. We spent a week tracking in the studio, but it was like a social thing with barbecues and stuff, as much as a recording session. I played with some of these guys 40 years ago and I tell you, I don't think there's anyone on this record who's under 60 years old."

The result is a wonderfully warm, rhythmic and relaxed record that preserves the unique down-home flavor that has come to define J.J. Cale's music. That, of course, is exactly how his fans want it. Indeed, there would probably be a riot if Cale tried to change now. So what is it about the Tulsa scene and the sound that came out of it that Cale's music has come to embody?

"I don't think there is a Tulsa sound as such. It's just individuals," he says. "But I know what you mean. In western Oklahoma you've got a lot of country music. Then in eastern Oklahoma, it's closer to the Mississippi and you've got more blues musicians. In Tulsa we got influenced by both and there's some jazz in there too. So I guess that's what made my sound."

Whatever its origins, the Cale sound has profoundly influenced artists such as Eric Clapton and Dire Straits, and his songs have been covered by everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, and the Allman Brothers to Johnny Cash, The Band, Santana, Captain Beefheart, and Bryan Ferry.

With his laid-back rootsy style, J.J. Cale is best known for writing "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," songs that Eric Clapton later made into hits. But Cale's influence wasn't only through songwriting -- his distinctly loping sense of rhythm and shuffling boogie became the blueprint for the adult-oriented roots rock of Clapton and Mark Knopfler, among others. Cale's refusal to vary the sound of his music over the course of his career caused some critics to label him as a one-trick pony, but he managed to build a dedicated cult following with his sporadically released recordings.

Born in Oklahoma City but raised in Tulsa, OK, Cale played in a variety of rock & roll bands and Western swing groups as a teenager, including one outfit that also featured Leon Russell. In 1959, at the age of 21, he moved to Nashville, where he was hired by the Grand Ole Opry's touring company. After a few years, he returned to Tulsa, where he reunited with Russell and began playing local clubs. In 1964, Cale and Russell moved to Los Angeles with another local Oklahoma musician, Carl Radle.

Shortly after he arrived in Los Angeles, Cale began playing with Delaney & Bonnie. He only played with the duo for a brief time, beginning a solo career in 1965. That year, he cut the first version of "After Midnight," which would become his most famous song. Around 1966, Cale formed the Leathercoated Minds with songwriter Roger Tillison. The group released a psychedelic album called A Trip Down Sunset Strip the same year.

Deciding that he wouldn't be able to forge a career in Los Angeles, Cale returned to Tulsa in 1967. Upon his return, he set about playing local clubs. Within a year, he had recorded a set of demos. Radle obtained a copy of the demos and forwarded it to Denny Cordell, who was founding a record label called Shelter with Leon Russell. Shelter signed Cale in 1969. The following year, Eric Clapton recorded "After Midnight," taking it to the American Top 20 and thereby providing Cale with needed exposure and royalties. In December 1971, Cale released his debut album, Naturally, on Shelter Records; the album featured the Top 40 hit "Crazy Mama," as well as a re-recorded version of "After Midnight," which nearly reached the Top 40, and "Call Me the Breeze," which Lynyrd Skynyrd later covered. Cale followed Naturally with Really, which featured the minor hit "Lies," later that same year.

Following the release of Really, J.J. Cale adopted a slow work schedule, releasing an album every other year or so. Okie, his third album, appeared in 1974. Two years later, he released Troubadour, which yielded "Hey Baby," his last minor hit, as well as the original version of "Cocaine," a song that Clapton would later cover. By this point, Cale had settled into a comfortable career as a cult artist and he rarely made any attempt to break into the mainstream. One more album on Shelter Records, 5, appeared in 1979 and then he switched labels, signing with MCA in 1981. MCA only released one album (1981's Shades) and Cale moved to Mercury Records the following year, releasing Grasshopper.

In 1983, Cale released his eighth album, 8. The album became his first not to chart. Following its release, Cale left Mercury and entered a long period of seclusion, reappearing in late 1990 with Travel Log, which was released on the British independent label Silvertone; the album appeared in America the following year. 10 was released in 1992. The album failed to chart, but it re-established his power as a cult artist. He moved to the major label Virgin in 1994, releasing Close to You the same year. It was followed by Guitar Man in 1996. Cale returned to recording in 2003, releasing To Tulsa and Back in 2004 on the Sanctuary label and The Road to Escondido, a collaborative effort with Clapton, in 2006 on Reprise. Roll On appeared in 2009 on Rounder Records. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide