NEW YORK (Conqueroo press release) - "To Tulsa And Back" is J.J. Cale s first new studio album since 1996 s Guitar Man. But as he says, It doesn t seem that long. You just can t rush the good things in life and that includes Cale, who, for his Sanctuary Records debut, went back to his hometown of Tulsa to record.
Set for a street date of June 8, the album is at once different than albums before it while reassuringly retaining the trademark sound that has made Cale an American music legend for more than 30 years. Cale is best known for his compositions - some of them hits for Eric Clapton and others for himself - including After Midnight, Cocaine, Call Me The Breeze, and Crazy Mama. His songs have been covered by everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, the Allman Brothers Band, Johnny Cash, The Band and Santana to Captain Beefheart and Bryan Ferry. Beyond the songs, his style profoundly influenced Dire Straits, Clapton and many others.
Fittingly, the album will be released right in the eye of Eric Clapton s Crossroads Guitar Festival which will take place June 4-6 in Dallas. Cale will perform at the festival alongside B.B. King, Joe Walsh, Brian May, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Randolph, Steve Vai, Buddy Guy and, of course, Clapton himself.
The initial plan for Cale's next studio CD was to regroup with his old friend and original collaborator, Audie Ashworth, who began producing his albums in 1971. "We were going to do a record in Nashville like we did in the old days, two friends sitting around talking about music and playing songs," he said. When Ashworth passed away several years back, that idea was shelved and Cale dedicated his 2001 Live CD to Ashworth instead. The concept lingered on, though, and Cale revived it after bringing many of his old friends out to join him on tour in 2002.
Cale who lives nowadays in the Southern California desert decided to return to his hometown of Tulsa to tackle the project on his own. Cale loaded his gear into the studio of drummer and friend David Teagarden (Teagarden & Van Winkle) and looked up some of their old friends. "I played with some of these guys 40 years ago," Cale laughs. "I don't think there's anyone on this record who s under 60 years old."
The result is a warm, rhythmic, relaxed record that preserves the down-home flavor that s come to define Cale s sound. His fans like it that way.
Cale began playing Tulsa clubs in the 1950s with his own band, Johnny Cale & the Valentines. He later played with fellow Tulsa émigris Leon Russell and Delaney & Bonnie. Then Eric Clapton recorded After Midnight and the rest is history. Lately, Cale garnered a new generation of fans when Widespread Panic and other jam bands covered some of his songs. Cale says of the jam band experience, "those guys make a three minute song last 15 minutes and everybody does a solo. But they still need songs. How they discovered mine, I don t know. But they did. Then through those songs, a whole new generation discovered me."
Among other changes to be found on the new CD, songs such as "Stone River," which he wrote for the environmental Earthjustice campaign, and the sharply political "The Problem," find him addressing new concerns about the world in which we live.
Another touching commentary on our times is the moving "Homeless."
