J.j. Cale Roll On

Sinuous rhythms, conversational singing, and, most of all, intricate, bluesy guitar playing characterize Cale's performances of his own songs. This compilation, covering 11 years of recording, includes the songs Eric Clapton, who borrowed heavily from Cale's style in his 1970s solo work, made famous: "After Midnight" and "Cocaine".

J.J. Cale's debut album, Naturally, was recorded after Eric Clapton made "After Midnight" a huge success. Instead of following Slowhand's cue and constructing a slick blues-rock album, Cale recruited a number of his Oklahoma friends and made a laid-back country-rock record that firmly established his distinctive, relaxed style. Cale included a new version of "After Midnight" on the album, but the true meat of the record lay in songs like "Crazy Mama," which became a hit single, and "Call Me the Breeze," which Lynyrd Skynyrd later covered. On these songs and many others on Naturally, Cale effortlessly captured a lazy, rolling boogie that contradicted all the commercial styles of boogie, blues, and country-rock at the time. Where his contemporaries concentrated on solos, Cale worked the song and its rhythm, and the result was a pleasant, engaging album that was in no danger of raising anybody's temperature.

5 is the fifth album by J. J. Cale. Released in 1979, it was his first album in three years. Most of the tracks were recorded and mixed at The Lakehouse, Old Hickory, Tennessee. When the album was re-issued on CD, "Katy Kool Lady" was replaced by a new song listed as "Out of Style," though it was still listed as the former on the CD. "Out of Style" is also included on the 2007 album Rewind: The Unreleased Recordings". There is still no U.S. domestic release of the song "Katy Kool Lady" on CD. 5 marks the first appearance of Christine Lakeland on a J.J. Cale album, a singer and musician who would play a significant role in Cale's music in the years ahead.

Okie is the third studio album by J. J. Cale, released in 1974. Several songs from the album were later covered by other artists, including "I Got the Same Old Blues", by Eric Clapton, Captain Beefheart, Bobby Bland, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Bryan Ferry; "Anyway the Wind Blows", by Brother Phelps in 1995 and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings in 1999; and "Cajun Moon", by Herbie Mann on his 1976 album Surprises with vocals by Cissy Houston, by Poco on their album Cowboys & Englishmen, and by Randy Crawford in Naked and True (1995). "I'd Like to Love You, Baby" was covered by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in 2003, appearing on their 2009 album, The Live Anthology.

Although it is a little too extensive for casual fans, the double-disc, 50-track Anyway the Wind Blows: The Anthology is a definitive retrospective of J.J. Cale's career, featuring all the highlights over the years. Cale's albums often sound similar, but they are remarkably uneven in terms of quality, which is what makes Anyway the Wind Blows essential for both neophytes and collectors. Not only is it a perfect introduction, containing of such essentials as "Cocaine," "Call Me the Breeze," and "After Midnight," but it is one of his most consistently listenable and enjoyable discs.

J.J. Cale's guitar work manages to be both understated and intense here. The same is true of his seemingly offhand singing, which finds him drawling lines like "You get your gun, I'll get mine" with disarming casualness. But he has trouble coming up with original material as strong as that on his debut, and for some, his approach will be too casual; there are many times, when the band is percolating along and Cale is muttering into the microphone, that the music seems to be all background and no foreground. You may find yourself waiting for a payoff that never comes.

Since 2003, Danish guitarist, singer, and songwriter Thorbjørn Risager has been delivering his own mutant brand of blues. His Black Tornado band is comprised of two guitars, bass, drums, a pair of saxophones, trumpet, and keyboards. Come on In is their fourth album for Germany's Ruf label and 12th overall. Risager's rich, resonant, gravelly baritone singing voice is equal parts Ray Charles, Billy Gibbons, J.J. Cale, and Leon Redbone. Black Tornado are like no other band. They are capable of simmering, brooding, noir-ish jazz, swampy rock, sultry R&B, uptown funk, and house-rocking blues derived from the entwined lineages of Chicago, Texas, and the Delta.