His songs have been performed by a number of other musicians including "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton,"Cajun Moon" by Randy Crawford, "Clyde" and "Louisiana Women" by Waylon Jennings, "Magnolia" by Jai, "Bringing It Back" by Kansas, "Call Me the Breeze" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "I'd Like to Love You, Baby" by Tom Petty, "Travelin' Light" and "Ride Me High" by Widespread Panic, "Tijuana" by Harry Manx, "Sensitive Kind" by Carlos Santana, "Cajun Moon" by Herbie Mann with Cissy Houston, and "Same Old Blues" by Captain Beefheart.
Cale was born on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was raised in Tulsa and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1956. Along with a number of other young Tulsa musicians, Cale moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he first worked as a studio engineer.
The Leathercoated Minds was a 1966-67 psychedelic studio-based band masterminded largely by Snuff Garrett and J J Cale. The band produced one album, A Trip down the Sunset Strip, co-produced by Cale and Garrett
Finding little success as a recording artist, he later returned to Tulsa and was considering giving up the music business until Clapton recorded "After Midnight" in 1970. His first album, Naturally, established his style, described by Los Angeles Times writer Richard Cromelin as a "unique hybrid of blues, folk and jazz, marked by relaxed grooves and Cale's fluid guitar and laconic vocals. His early use of drum machines and his unconventional mixes lend a distinctive and timeless quality to his work and set him apart from the pack of Americana roots-music purists."
Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean-Jacques Cale". In the 2006 documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale, Cale talks about Elmer Valentine, co-owner of the Sunset Strip nightclub Whisky à GoGo, who employed him in the mid-1960s, being the one that came up with the "JJ" moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale. Rocky Frisco tells the same version of the story mentioning the other John Cale but without further detail.
His biggest U.S. hit single, Crazy Mama, peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. During the 2006 documentary film To Tulsa and Back Cale recounts the story of being offered the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand to promote the song, which would have moved the song higher on the charts. Cale declined when told he could not bring his band to the taping and would be required to lip-sync the words to the song.
Cale died on Friday, July 26, 2013, at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, California, after suffering a heart attack.
Call Me The Breeze
J.J. Cale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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 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
The song "Call Me The Breeze" by J.J. Cale speaks about a wanderer who is always on the move. The singer of the song is essentially saying that he is like the breeze - always on the go, with no one to tie him down. He has no responsibilities, no commitments, and he is free to go wherever the wind takes him. He is a lone traveler, not afraid of anything or anyone. The weather might change, but he remains unchanged. He is on the move and will keep moving, coast to coast, looking for new things to discover.
The song has a sense of freedom and adventure that speaks to the heart of many people. It's about living life without regrets and taking every opportunity that comes your way. The lyrics are simple and repetitive, but they deliver a powerful message. The steady beat of the music and the unchanging rhythm mirrors the singer's steadfast determination to keep moving on.
Line by Line Meaning
They call me the breeze,
People refer to me as the wind,
I keep blowing down the road
I keep moving forward without any hindrance
I ain't got me nobody,
I am alone and not in a relationship with anyone
I ain't carrying me no load
I am living an unburdened life without any responsibilities or worries
Ain't no change in the weather,
The climate remains the same and unaffected by my actions
Ain't no change in me
I remain the same, unaltered by my surroundings
I ain't hidin' from nobody,
I am not avoiding anyone or anything
Ain't nobody hidin' from me
Nobody is afraid of me or avoiding me
I got that green light, babe,
I have the approval to keep moving forward
I got to keep moving on
I must continue to progress and move forward
I might go out to California,
I am considering going to California
Might go down to Georgia,
I am considering going to Georgia
Might stay home
Alternatively, I might choose to stay where I am currently
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John J. Cale
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@DanieltheWolf76
J.J. Cale is the musician for all the lost souls. Absolutly underrated........but a home for many
@thomasd9237
👍👍
@diment0857
JJ's guitar playing, his phrasing, his sense of economy and rhythm, his use of dynamics are world class, a true virtuoso. He managed to say so much with so little, a true genius. RIP JJ, you won't be forgotten.
@michaelnaretto3409
Take your Cardi B and get lost. This is real music....
@jukkatuhkanen4359
I like Cardi Be also but this music is, like you said "real music" and very near to extinction.
@moukafaslouka4796
I had just lost my dad in a stupid desert war in Morocco in January of 1976. My uncle invites me to the deep desert in south Morocco. He lived in a sleepy small town of maybe 20000 people. They had a small club there where they had a HiFi player. They had a decent vinyl records collection. I was grieving sad and bored. The manager somehow was nice enough to let me browse through their vinyl collection. For some unknown reason JJ Cale's album caught my eyes. It was the one with the Raccoon with the hat. I didn't speak a word of English back then. I decided to play it for the gallery. Needless to say how it all ended up. I bought every album in tape, vinyl and CD. I did not understand the lyrics. However the music spoke to me in that universal language: art. JJ Cale will always remain one of the most underrated musicians ever.
I came to the US in the mid 1990. My one regret is that I never made enough money to go see him in person.
@kanyeistrash9802
Mouka Faslouka ❤️
@olegariomartinez6807
❤❤❤❤❤❤
@adityaprakash109
The Most candid confession I've read about music.. More power to you, brother
@zefidio
Thank you, Mouka, for your words.