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.
Crying Eyes
J.J. Cale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
These crying eyes of mine
It ain't easy drying
These crying eyes of mine
I get so lonely, lonely, lonely
It ain't easy drying
These crying eyes of mine
What can you do when
Those tears make you blind
What can you do when
Those tears make you blind
I get so lonely, lonely, lonely
What can you do with
These crying eyes of mine
The lyrics of "Crying Eyes" by J.J. Cale express the pain and difficulty of trying to stop crying, specifically when lonely. The singer expresses that it isn't easy to stop shedding tears and dry their eyes. They feel a deep sense of loneliness that doesn't seem to go away, and the tears that pour down uncontrollably obscure their vision. The lyrics are a message of hopelessness and emotional distress, allowing the audience to connect with the singer's emotions and the difficulties of coping with loneliness.
The song's chorus is the most heartbreaking part of the lyrics. The singer's desperate calls of "What can you do?" highlights how powerless they feel in this particular situation. It's not like they're actively trying to cry, but the loneliness they're experiencing is causing them to do so involuntarily. The pain of loneliness is pushing them to the brink of emotional despair, and they can't seem to find a way to alleviate it.
One can easily sympathize with the singer of "Crying Eyes" if they have ever experienced loneliness themselves. It's a feeling that can be the most difficult to cope with because there's often no specific cause, making it difficult to fix. The words of this song capture this sense of loneliness and helplessness beautifully.
Line by Line Meaning
It ain't easy drying
These crying eyes of mine
It is difficult to stop crying and recover from emotional pain
It ain't easy drying
These crying eyes of mine
The emotional burden is causing tears which are hard to stop
I get so lonely, lonely, lonely
The deep sadness and isolation are causing depression
What can you do when
Those tears make you blind
The tears are causing emotional blindness and disorientation
What can you do when
Those tears make you blind
Feeling powerless when dealing with overwhelming emotional pain
I get so lonely, lonely, lonely
Continued feelings of isolation and sadness
What can you do with
These crying eyes of mine
Looking for a solution to the constant crying and emotional pain
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN J CALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
PAT MORRISON
This is a really good song. I agree with Eric Clapton that he should have been in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
May your soul be at peace
Jonathan Horwitz
You mean he isn't????? Disgrace on Hall Of Fame!
TheAccelerated
the best album of a great era
Rev Eddro
The legend, J J.
Count Blue
This is the most difficult song from him to interpret. Its only one chord almost the whole song through. ;-)
Phillip Brunke
He belongs a 100% percent into da hall of fame
Sean Geraghty
One of the best debut albums of all time
Giulio Cosani
I can listen to this one endlessly.
Barbara southworth
And me.
Sean Geraghty
I was introduced to this age 14 in 78, have listened to it ever since, never gets tired, 2020, so that's 42 years later. A great album