J.J. Cale Naturally (1971)

From jonjeffblogs.wordpress.com

The next album in my series is Naturally by J.J. Cale. Cale is most commonly known as a contemporary of Eric Clapton, having written a number of songs that turned into hits for Clapton in the ‘70s, like “Cocaine” and “After Midnight.”

This album definitely surprised me. After one quick listen, I had all but written it off as a slightly redneck ode to Americana roots rock. But Cale defies expectations a lot here. It was only on my tenth listen that I noticed how the entire album starts and this all came into focus for me.

Cale is talking over the introductory beat into “Call Me The Breeze.” Talking isn’t even a fair term, he is mumbling. After listening to the first six seconds of the song over and over, all I can make out is “Here’s one of your ol’ rock ‘n’ roll favorites, craynin’ (?!?), shuffle on down to Broadway…” All I can imagine is Cale, beard gray and haggard, sitting on a rocking chair on the deck leading into a small town general store in rural Oklahoma, a fat ol’ dip in his lip, muttering to himself.

He sounds like a crazy redneck. This intro leads into a fantastic 12-bar blues, as relaxed and rapid as the title implies. However, the weirdest part of this whole set up is the fact that the beat over which Cale’s spoken intro is made from a drum machine. It’s not an actual human behind a drum kit, but it’s very clearly a drum programming.

When I first realized it was a drum machine, I furrowed my brow in confusion. This album was recorded in ’70-’71. Drum machines were played with by musicians like Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, not good ol’ boys like J.J. Cale. But that’s the beauty of the album. I was expecting the whole thing to be a “good ol’ boys” type of affair. Cale has created an album that sounds like it was built entirely on gravel roads, but loaded with a lot of little surprises that takes it past that as well.

The spoken intro on the opening number is a perfect example of this. You think with his old man ramblin’s that you’re getting one thing, but the whole thing is just slightly skewed from what you’re expecting.

He veers into a surprising number of styles as well. Present on the album: backwoods country, the Tulsa sound, New Orleans brass band, swamp rock, pre-yacht rock. I hear echoes of Bread, Rodriguez, Eagles, and Dr. John. It’s kind of a stew of weirdness.

But the album is a fun listen. I’d recommend it, especially if you’re a guitar player who wants something new to practice lead. Particularly great songs to solo over: “Call Me The Breeze,” “Crazy Mama, ” and “Magnolia.”

Finally, I absolutely love the part in “Clyde” where he sings “…a tambourine tied to his tail…” and the tambourine comes in right after that. I had nowhere to put this in the rest of the review, but I love it so damn much that I really wanted to include it.

J.J. Cale Naturally (1971)

From sputnikmusic.com

Well this sure seems like a serious record as the songs are getting dang longer! ‘You Got Something’ runs on for FOUR minutes, goshdarnit! And this, mind you, at a time when the punk conscience was emerging on the scene! And only ONE song runs on less than two minutes! And this, mind you, at a time when the prog dinosaur was being

Uniquely, JJ Cale’s claim to fame is not through his music alone but other artists’ interpretation of it. Cocaine and After Midnight by Eric Clapton and Call Me the Breeze by Lynyrd Skynyrd were huge hits while many other bands including Beck, Dire Straits, and even Spiritualized would incorporate Cale’s music into their own.

This makes sense when you consider JJ usually used very sparse arrangements that left a lot of room for expansion. You could compare a Cale song to the storyboards of a film, the framing of a house, painting a picture with only primary colors, or even shadows on a wall i.e. Allegory of the Cave. Its up to the listener to decide whether they prefer the less is more approach of Cale or the more intense audio assault of his peers.

Naturally was the first solo album Cale recorded and it featured what would become his calling card, minimalistic guitar/vocal interplay and a laid back vibe. This is a short, 12 song record that brings to mind desert settings and low key affairs. It also features his one hit song, Crazy Mama, his only song to ever chart which is surprising to me since at least half these songs are more melodious and engaging.

While the meat of this album is Cale’s singing and fretwork he is able to avoid creating tedious music often associated with the sing/songwriter stereotype. He accomplishes this by expanding the instrumentation. Besides guitar, bass, and drums he often includes piano, saxophone, harmonica, violin, a horn section, and tambourines. Combining these instruments adds some spice to the music which helps make up for Cale’s vocal range which is notoriously limited but at least somewhat emotive.

The songwriting, while adequate and fitting, is more about creating rhythms that the instruments can then build upon. When done correctly now you have solid grooves that Cale will then often highlight by subtle guitar runs full of syncopation throughout. Neil Young’s earlier quote on JJ is not declaring that Cale is a guitar master who shreds better than the rest but rather that he is able to get as much expression out of his instrument as even the great ones, regardless of speed or volume.

For a man who was known for his shyness and humble disposition Cale really did enjoy a long successful career, playing and touring almost until his death. This record is usually considered his best but in typical Cale fashion nothing immediately jumps out at you. Even the last track fades away unassumingly leaving the listener as chill as the album just experienced and in my opinion the ability to enjoy said album is not necessarily about appreciating the songwriting or even the music but the mood that it lends to you with association.