J. J. CALE - CALL ME THE BREEZE

CALL ME THE BREEZE

J. J. CALE

SONGWRITER: JOHN J. CALE

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: NATURALLY

LABEL: SHELTER RECORDFS

GENRE: BOOGIE ROCK

YEAR: 1971

 

          John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and sound engineer. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been widely acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knopfler, Neil Young and Eric Clapton, who described him as "one of the most important artists in the history of rock". He is considered to be one of the originators of the Tulsa sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz.

         In 2008, Cale and Clapton received a Grammy Award for their album The Road to Escondido.

Naturally is the debut studio album by J. J. Cale released on October 25, 1971.

           Cale, who was raised in Oklahoma, first tasted success in 1964 when singer Mel McDaniel scored a regional hit with Cale's composition "Lazy Me". From there Cale moved to California and worked at Leon Russell's home studio as a chief engineer and began performing at places like the Whisky a Go Go. With Johnny Rivers already performing there regularly, club co-owner Elmer Valentine rechristened Cale as J.J. Cale to avoid confusion with the John Cale in the Velvet Underground. In 1966, Cale cut an unsuccessful single for Liberty Records called "Slow Motion", but it was the B-side, "After Midnight", that would have long-term ramifications for Cale's career when Eric Clapton recorded the song and had a Top 20 hit. Cale, who was languishing in obscurity at the time, had no knowledge of Clapton's recording of "After Midnight" until it became a radio hit in 1970. Cale recalled to Mojo magazine that when he heard Clapton's version playing on his radio, "I was dirt poor, not making enough to eat and I wasn't a young man. I was in my thirties, so I was very happy. It was nice to make some money." Cale's friend and producer, Audie Ashworth, encouraged Cale to record a full album in order to capitalize on the success of his song.

They call me the breeze,

I keep blowing down the road

They call me the breeze,

I keep blowing down the road

I ain't got me nobody,

I ain't carrying me no load

 

Ain't no change in the weather,

Ain't no change in me

Ain't no change in the weather,

Ain't no change in me

 

I ain't hidin' from nobody,

Ain't nobody hidin' from me

I got that green light, babe,

I got to keep moving on

I got that green light, babe,

I got to keep moving on

I might go out to California,

Might go down to Georgia,

Might stay home.