Final Encore Blues For Mister JJ Cale
July 27, 2013 8:50 AM   Subscribe

Sadly true, at 74. (JJ Cale previously, and Wikipedia.) Otherwise best to just let the man and his guitar speak for themselves via classic albums such as Troubadour, Grasshopper, Naturally, Okie and Shades.
posted by Pouteria (56 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by fishmasta at 8:58 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by Thorzdad at 8:58 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by Artw at 9:00 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by HandfulOfDust at 9:01 AM on July 27, 2013


Naturally

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posted by Mister Bijou at 9:06 AM on July 27, 2013


Oh man, this sucks. I was just listening to my JJ Cale Pandora station last night for hours and thinking about how amazingly talented and influential he was. Legend.

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posted by hapax_legomenon at 9:07 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


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posted by dylanjames at 9:09 AM on July 27, 2013


She don't lie she don't lie she don't lie cocaine.
posted by bukvich at 9:12 AM on July 27, 2013


They called him the breeze. keep rollin' down the road.

RIP, JJ.
posted by jonmc at 9:18 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


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posted by Gelatin at 9:20 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by twidget at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by drezdn at 9:30 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by no relation at 9:33 AM on July 27, 2013


I found his music in high school while digging through the web to learn about Clapton's influences. A couple of years later I bought To Tulsa and Back (which is a really good album) when it came out in 2004 and was surprised to see that he was a white man.
posted by riruro at 9:39 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


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I always liked this one ...
posted by philip-random at 9:44 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


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posted by El Brendano at 9:46 AM on July 27, 2013


So bummed to lose another cool Okie. .
posted by PuppyCat at 9:47 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by davidpriest.ca at 10:00 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by Paris Elk at 10:14 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by cultcargo at 10:15 AM on July 27, 2013


i got that green light babe, i got to keep moving on
posted by pyramid termite at 10:16 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Aww hell. JJ was a major influence on my playing too.

He made it look so easy, but his groove was singular, and will be remembered.

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posted by spitbull at 10:18 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


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posted by j_curiouser at 10:57 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by cmdnc0 at 11:02 AM on July 27, 2013


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posted by Casimir at 11:05 AM on July 27, 2013


JJ Cale. Shit. 'Naturally' led me to "Troubador', then everything else. Met him at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO in ...1987 maybe. How 'bout that tone on 'Super Blue'? Or slide/wah on 'Crazy Mama' in 1972 (!). Yeesh...

Let him do it to you...

hapax - i thought i was the only one w/ a jj cale pandora station. represent.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:10 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


aural wallpaper to my daze, during my restless, reckless days.

All Heart.

respect.
posted by mule98J at 11:11 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Ah no. Dang. .
posted by Lynsey at 11:21 AM on July 27, 2013


Trains don't run forever / fire goes out sometime.

We'll miss you, J.J.

Hard Times
Ride Me High
Travelin' Light
Mama Don't
Cajun Moon
Crazy Mama
Any Way The Wind Blows
After Midnight
posted by SteelyDuran at 11:23 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


aural wallpaper to my daze, during my restless, reckless days.

Same here.


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posted by sgt.serenity at 11:39 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


First time I saw JJ, I thought I was going to see John Cale because of a misprint. Pleasant surprise.

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posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:16 PM on July 27, 2013


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posted by tommasz at 12:17 PM on July 27, 2013


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posted by mirthe at 1:03 PM on July 27, 2013


Someone on my FB wall wrote 'Fare tee well Mr Cale.' And I panicked thinking it was John. JJ is a big big loss and absolutely no disrespect to the man, but when John goes I may have to go on a small bender.
posted by edgeways at 1:08 PM on July 27, 2013


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posted by variella at 1:19 PM on July 27, 2013


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Soulin'
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 1:38 PM on July 27, 2013


I know nearly nothing about or by JJ Cale, except for an album that is probably the one I've listened to most often out of all the music I've ever owned: Wrong Way Up, his collaboration with Brian Eno. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this album that's bewitched me so, but since I rather rarely relisten to Eno albums, it must be some of Cale's specific doing.

So . and: will be hearing you.
posted by progosk at 1:38 PM on July 27, 2013


He is travelin' light.

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posted by grimjeer at 2:11 PM on July 27, 2013



posted by Smart Dalek at 2:18 PM on July 27, 2013


Wrong Way Up, his collaboration with Brian Eno

that's john cale, not jj cale
posted by pyramid termite at 2:20 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Thirteen days with life to go


posted by jabo at 2:34 PM on July 27, 2013


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posted by daniel9223 at 4:04 PM on July 27, 2013


He was the soundtrack to my beer drinking on the front porch for many a summer. RIP.
posted by rocket88 at 4:51 PM on July 27, 2013


My wife's really really ill and loves JJ Cale, (and Iain Banks, and James Gandolfini). And my best friend's in a hospice. Could reality just fuckin' take it down a couple of notches please?

Ah, JJ. I'll roll the windows down. Dammit.
posted by aesop at 7:30 PM on July 27, 2013


Wrong Way Up, his collaboration with Brian Eno

that's john cale, not jj cale

*slinks quietly off, not entirely convinced despite the clear evidence, brain stubbornly preferring to tribute said JJ, as it always mistakenly had, in a refusal to compute John as a pop song writer/maker.*

posted by progosk at 8:00 PM on July 27, 2013


JJ Cale was the first artist I can remember really discovering on my own, coming across Troubadour while flipping through some LPs in a closet. I didn't stick with him, but he's always going to be an important milestone in my life. I'm glad he had as long a life as he did. The 1960s generation of pop musicians has started dying of old age, and it's making me more sad than I expected.
posted by Kattullus at 9:14 PM on July 27, 2013


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posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:16 PM on July 27, 2013


‘We’ve come to the end of the line.’

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posted by misteraitch at 11:32 PM on July 27, 2013


The wiki suggests that his "J.J." moniker was specifically adopted to differentiate him from the other John Cale.
posted by bonefish at 11:39 PM on July 27, 2013


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Troubador is an album I still have on cassette somewhere, unless they disappeared in my recent burglary. Loved every single song on it. Had a harder time getting into his other stuff, but that one hit my sweet spot.
posted by dhartung at 2:57 AM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


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Any way the wind blows....
posted by bjgeiger at 6:12 AM on July 28, 2013


Got to see him live once in the 1980s, opening for Bonnie Raitt. As an onstage presence, he definitely was as laid-back as his records would have led you to expect, but his guitar playing and singing both were very good. And of course, the man knew how to craft a memorable tune.

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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 7:50 AM on July 28, 2013


JJ you sweet thing, you're the best we ever had.
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posted by Fibognocchi at 8:07 AM on July 28, 2013


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posted by Ber at 8:57 PM on July 28, 2013


dhartung

Troubador is an album I still have on cassette somewhere, unless they disappeared in my recent burglary. Loved every single song on it. Had a harder time getting into his other stuff, but that one hit my sweet spot.

For some reason the original sweet ending to 'Hold On' got faded out on later issues of the album. Here is the full original version (with 'Hey Baby' played first, 'Hold On' starts around 3:12.)
posted by Pouteria at 1:42 AM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


The thing that bothered me about JJ was he never jammed. I loved his music but his longest song never went more than 3:11. I always hoped he would open up and let rip but he never did. Maybe he did so in concert. Anyone? Maybe he was a saving his jams for the afterlife.
posted by Xurando at 8:17 AM on July 29, 2013


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