one of the first posts i ever wrote on this blog was about j.j. cale, and i am real happy to have an opportunity to write another. cale was a musician’s musician, and one of the unsung forces in the american blues scene. he is probably most widely known as the original writer of two songs made famous by eric clapton, ‘after midnight’ and ‘cocaine’. but more importantly, he is considered to be one of the originators, along with leon russell, of what came to be known as the ‘tulsa sound’. if you are a fan of early dire straits and mid seventies clapton, then this will sound very familiar to you. clapton wrote in his autobiography that cale is ‘one of the most important artists in the history of rock’. neil young said ‘his guitar playing was a huge influence on me, his touch is unspeakable’.

we lost j.j. to a heart attack about 5 years ago, but his widow and his longtime manager got together after finding some old studio work that he had done but never included on a record. we have 15 songs here that likely span a lot of years, but they are all drenched in that classic laid back funky blues.

it’s getting to be that time of year to sit on the back deck after work and cook a little bbq and sip on a cool beverage. i can heartily recommend putting this on the next time you are out there watching the late spring roll in. this is a great introduction to his work and career, and hopefully more people will get to know who he was and just how influential he was on the american music scene.