The musical gumbo that is the Tulsa sound would not be the same without the efforts of JJ Cale, who passed away at the age of 74 in a Californian hospital over the weekend. The way he managed to meld together elements of blues, jazz and folk styles was enviable to say the least and his dedication to not just playing music, but doing it on his own terms, was to be admired.
Cale released 14 studio records in his career, but arguably made his biggest impression as a songwriter for other artists, perhaps artists more willing to “play the game” when it came to promotion and publicity of potential hits (Cale famously refused to play on American Bandstand out of principle).
In Australia, it was the 1977 single Cocaine that was his most popular song; not just a big hit at the time, it has remained popular since its release.
Fans were given a unique look into the life of this great artist with his 2006 documentary To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale, which saw interviews with Cale as well as his family, friends and colleagues to paint a clearer picture of a man that many supporters never really knew all that much about.
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His influence on a wide variety of acts has been immense over the years. The most obvious of these are the songs that would go onto be recorded by Eric Clapton – After Midnight and Cocaine – but that's merely scratching the surface.
Here are a couple of other examples of Cale's huge influence.
Clyde was a hit for Waylon Jennings in 1980. Dr Hook also covered it a couple of years earlier.
Canadian bluesman Harry Manx takes on Cale's Tijuana.
Spiritualized's Run is pretty much just a cover of JJ Cale's Call Me The Breeze.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band released Same Old Blues on their 1974 LP Bluejeans & Moonbeams.
