J.J. Cale

J.J. Cale earned his reputation chiefly as the composer of “After Midnight” and “Cocaine,” two numbers Eric Clapton later turned into commercial successes through his own relaxed, roots-infused delivery. Beyond those songwriting credits, Cale’s unhurried rhythmic gait and loose-rolling boogie supplied the template for the mature, roots-oriented rock later associated with Clapton and Mark Knopfler. Although his steadfast refusal to alter that sonic signature prompted certain reviewers to dismiss him as a one-note artist, he steadily assembled a devoted audience through irregularly issued recordings, four of which—singles released between 1972 and 1976—reached the Top 100. Naturally, the 1972 long-player, peaked at a solid number 51 on the Billboard 200, yet the 2006 joint project with Clapton, The Road to Escondido, climbed highest, landing at 23, securing a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, and becoming Cale’s first RIAA-certified gold release. His catalog has been interpreted by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Clapton, Neil Young, the Allman Brothers, Beck, John Mayer, Band of Horses, and others, and has appeared repeatedly in film and television. After Cale’s passing in 2013, Clapton convened a circle of sympathetic musicians to record The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale; issued the following year, the album featured numerous high-profile guests and entered the Top Ten in seven countries.

Born in Oklahoma City and raised in Tulsa, Cale performed with an assortment of rock-and-roll and Western-swing ensembles during his teenage years, one of which also included Leon Russell. At age 21 in 1959 he relocated to Nashville and joined the Grand Ole Opry’s touring organization. A few years later he returned to Tulsa, rejoined Russell, and resumed playing neighborhood venues. In 1964 Cale and Russell traveled to Los Angeles alongside fellow Oklahoma musician Carl Radle.

Soon after arriving, Cale joined Delaney & Bonnie for a short stint before launching a solo career in 1965. That year he cut the original version of “After Midnight,” the song that would become his signature piece. Around 1966 he formed the Leathercoated Minds with songwriter Roger Tillison; the group issued the psychedelic album A Trip Down Sunset Strip the same year.

Concluding that Los Angeles offered limited prospects, Cale moved back to Tulsa in 1967 and resumed local club work. Within a year he had cut a batch of demos that Radle passed to Denny Cordell, then establishing Shelter Records with Russell. Shelter signed Cale in 1969. The next year Eric Clapton recorded “After Midnight,” sending it into the American Top 20 and supplying Cale with both visibility and royalties. In December 1971 Cale issued his Shelter debut Naturally, which contained the Top 40 single “Crazy Mama,” a fresh take on “After Midnight” that nearly reached the Top 40, and “Call Me the Breeze,” later covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Still in 1972 he followed with Really, which yielded the minor hit “Lies.”

Thereafter Cale adopted a measured pace, issuing an album roughly every other year. Okie, his third effort, appeared in 1974. Two years later Troubadour arrived, generating “Hey Baby,” his final minor chart entry, and the first recording of “Cocaine,” subsequently covered by Clapton. By then Cale had settled into a reliable cult-artist niche and seldom pursued mainstream exposure. Shelter released one more album, 5, in 1979; Cale then signed with MCA in 1981 for Shades, moved to Mercury the following year for Grasshopper, and issued his eighth album, 8, in 1983—the first of his releases not to chart. After departing Mercury he entered an extended hiatus, resurfacing late in 1990 with Travel Log on the British independent Silvertone; the album reached American stores the next year. 10 followed in 1992, failed to chart, yet reaffirmed his standing among devoted listeners. He joined Virgin in 1994, releasing Close to You that year and Guitar Man in 1996.

Cale resumed activity in 2003, issuing To Tulsa and Back on Sanctuary in 2004 and the Clapton collaboration The Road to Escondido on Reprise in 2006. Roll On appeared on Rounder in 2009. A CD/DVD set drawn from 1979 sessions with Leon Russell on keyboards, In Session at the Paradise Studios, surfaced early in 2013. That July Cale suffered a fatal heart attack in a La Jolla hospital in San Diego, California; he was 74.

Clapton assembled an all-star lineup for The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale that included John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Derek Trucks, Mark Knopfler, and others. In 2019 Cale’s widow, Christine Lakeland, curated and released Stay Around, a collection of previously unheard tracks. Known for recording far more material than any single album required, Cale routinely retained songs for B-sides or later projects; the set featured contributions from Bobby Emmons, Jim Keltner, Reggie Young, David Briggs, and additional musicians.