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.
End of the Line
J.J. Cale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fire goes out sometime
Gotta tell you, baby
We've come to the end of the line
Pages of yesterday
Fill this book of mine
Gotta tell you, baby
It is the end of the line
They are from a different time
I gotta tell you, baby
We've come to the end of the line
The lyrics of J.J. Cale's song "End of the Line" strongly imply a feeling of finality and inevitability as they address the passage of time and the end of relationships or life itself. The opening lines about trains and fires seemingly act as symbols for the transient nature of existence, indicating that all things have a beginning and an end. The following lines suggest that the singer has reached a point of closure, where memories of the past must be put aside in order to move forward. The repeated line "We've come to the end of the line" serves as a powerful refrain, emphasizing the sense of finality and acceptance.
The lyrics also possess a bittersweet quality, with hints of nostalgia and melancholy. The reference to "good old days" implies a longing for a simpler time that has now passed, and the mention of a "book of mine" suggests that the singer is reflecting on their own journey through life. Cale's understated vocal style and blues-inflected guitar playing further accentuate the emotional weight of these lyrics, creating a sense of resignation and quiet contemplation.
Line by Line Meaning
Trains don't run forever
Everything has an end, even things we perceive as eternal, like trains running on tracks.
Fire goes out sometime
Energy fades away, even something as powerful as fire eventually diminishes.
Gotta tell you, baby
The singer is addressing someone specifically, maybe a lover or a friend.
We've come to the end of the line
Implies that something, possibly a relationship or opportunity, has reached its conclusion.
Pages of yesterday
The memories of days gone by are like a book, fixed and unchangable.
Fill this book of mine
Each experience adds to the collection of life stories, that when viewed as a whole, make up someone's history.
It is the end of the line
Repetition confirms the finality of the situation, that there is no going back or continuing forward.
I can't remember those good old days
Nostalgia can be tricky, sometimes memories become hazy or biased by time, making it difficult to reminisce about positive experiences.
They are from a different time
The past is over and gone, and can never be experienced again in the present.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: J J CALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind