John Weldon Cale (5 December 1938 – 26 July 2013), known as JJ Cale or J.… Read Full Bio ↴John Weldon Cale (5 December 1938 – 26 July 2013), known as JJ Cale or J.J. Cale, was a Grammy Award-winning American singer, musician, and songwriter. Cale was one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back".

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.

Don't Wait
J.J. Cale Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Don't wait, don't wait
Don't wait for the good times to come
We got 'em right here, we're on the run
Don't wait, don't wait
Going back, going back
Going way back, back in time
Another place, another mind
Going back, going back

Walk on, walk on
Walk on straight ahead
Don't look around, don't turn your head
Walk on, walk on
Fly away, fly away
Fly away away with me
I never been so flying free
Fly away, fly away
Bye bye, bye bye
Please don't ever say

You're leaving me, you're going away
Bye bye, bye bye

Overall Meaning

J.J. Cale's "Don't Wait" is a song that encourages people to live in the present rather than wait for good times in the future. The lyrics bear a message of seizing the moment and being content with what you have right now. The first verse emphasizes this message by telling listeners that good times are already with them as they run forward. Cale urges listeners to stop looking into the past and go forward by walking straight ahead and not looking back. In the bridge, he urges listeners to fly away with him and experience true freedom. The song ends with a lament for a loved one, asking them not to leave.

Line by Line Meaning

Don't wait, don't wait
Don't delay or hesitate

Don't wait for the good times to come
Don't wait for a better tomorrow, live for today

We got 'em right here, we're on the run
The present moment is a good time, so let's make the most of it

Going back, going back
Reflecting on the past

Going way back, back in time
Thinking about things that happened a long time ago

Another place, another mind
Different mentality and circumstances from the present

Walk on, walk on
Keep moving forward

Walk on straight ahead
Don't let anything distract you from your path

Don't look around, don't turn your head
Focus on the present moment, don't get sidetracked

Fly away, fly away
Escape from present circumstances

Fly away away with me
Let's leave everything behind and start anew