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.
The Woman That Got Away
J.J. Cale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The street since yesterday
Been looking for
The woman that got away
A long-legged thing
With a red dress on
The kind of woman
You can't leave alone
Listen, if you see her,
Send her my way
Looking for the woman
That got away
The last time I seen her
She was looking good
I had a feeling
That she understood
She slipped through my fingers
In the middle of the night
I've gotta find my woman
And treat her right
Listen, if you see her,
Send her my way
Looking for the woman
That got away
If I ever get my hands
On that woman again
I'm gonna lock my door
And keep her in
She won't do no travelling,
Won't follow me 'round
I'm gonna keep my woman
And leave town
In J.J. Cale's song "The Woman That Got Away," the singer is searching for a woman he let slip away. He has been on the streets since yesterday and is desperately trying to find her. He describes her as a long-legged thing with a red dress on, the kind of woman that you can't leave alone. He had seen her the last time looking good and he had a feeling that she understood him. However, she slipped through his fingers in the middle of the night, and now, he wants to find her and treat her right.
The singer's desperation to find the woman that got away is palpable in the lyrics. He wants her back in his life and if he ever gets his hands on her again, he is going to lock his door and keep her in. He won't let her do any travelling or follow him around. He is going to keep his woman and leave town. The lyrics express the longing and regret that comes with losing someone you love, and the lengths you would go to get them back.
Overall, "The Woman That Got Away" is a classic blues song about love and loss. It is an emotional journey that expresses the singer's deep desire to find the woman he let go. The lyrics are simple, but they convey powerful emotions that many people can relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I've been out on
The street since yesterday
I have been wandering the streets aimlessly since yesterday
Been looking for
The woman that got away
I have been searching for the woman who left me
A long-legged thing
With a red dress on
She was an attractive woman wearing a striking red dress that stood out
The kind of woman
You can't leave alone
She was the kind of woman who was impossible to resist and impossible to forget
Listen, if you see her,
Send her my way
If you come across her, please let her know that I am looking for her
Looking for the woman
That got away
I am searching for the woman who I lost
The last time I seen her
She was looking good
The last time I saw her, she looked great
I had a feeling
That she understood
I felt like she understood me
She slipped through my fingers
In the middle of the night
She left me unexpectedly and suddenly in the middle of the night
I've gotta find my woman
And treat her right
I need to locate her and make things right between us
If I ever get my hands
On that woman again
If I ever find her again
I'm gonna lock my door
And keep her in
I will keep her close to me and not let her leave
She won't do no travelling,
Won't follow me 'round
I will not let her leave my side or go anywhere without me
I'm gonna keep my woman
And leave town
I will keep her with me and leave this town to start anew
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: J. J. CALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind