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.

This Town
J.J. Cale Lyrics

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This town I live in ain't fit for man or beast
This town I live in ain't fit for man or beast
There's a man down here, a man down there
They all want to rob you or take you somewhere
This town I live in ain't fit for man or beast
I'm going down to the store, boy
And get myself a dog
I'm going down to the store, boy

And get myself a dog
I'm going to chain, chain, chain him
Up to my fence
Make him bark, bark, bark
Understand my French
I'm going down to the store, boy
And get myself a dog
If I had a hundred dollars
I'd buy myself a gun
If I had a hundred dollars
I'd buy myself a gun
I'd stick it out the door
And wait for an attack
I'll need somebody just to cover my back
If I had a hundred dollars
I'd buy myself a gun
The moral of the story
You better watch where you go
The moral of the story, boy
You better watch out where you go
They'll get you in the morning
They'll get you at night
Some, then want to rob you
But most, they want to fight
This town I live in, I got to go

This town I live in
This town I live in, I got to go

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of J.J. Cale's song "This Town" paint a bleak picture of the town that the singer is living in. The repeated phrase "This town I live in ain't fit for man or beast" sets the ominous tone for the rest of the song. The singer highlights the danger he faces in his community with lines such as "There's a man down here, a man down there, they all want to rob you or take you somewhere." He expresses his frustration and vulnerability, suggesting that even going to the store warrants getting himself a dog for protection. The singer's need for a dog is not just for protection, but also to communicate with it in a foreign language, exemplifying the level of disconnection they feel in their own town. And if they had enough money, they would resort to buying a gun for the same reasons.

The final lines of the song, "The moral of the story, boy, you better watch out where you go. They'll get you in the morning, they'll get you at night. Some, then want to rob you but most, they want to fight... This town I live in, I got to go," show that the singer has had enough of the town they live in and wants to leave. The song's lyrics may be about the singer's personal experiences or it may capture the broader societal problems of that time period. The lyrics can also be interpreted to have a universal message, warning people to be cautious in their surroundings.

Line by Line Meaning

This town I live in ain't fit for man or beast
My town is dangerous and not suitable for anyone or anything to live in

There's a man down here, a man down there
There are many dangerous people lurking around town

They all want to rob you or take you somewhere
The people in town are mostly thieves and kidnappers

I'm going down to the store, boy And get myself a dog
I'm going to get a dog for protection while I run errands in this unsafe town

I'm going to chain, chain, chain him Up to my fence Make him bark, bark, bark Understand my French
I'll chain my dog up and train him to bark at anyone who comes near, so they know to stay away

If I had a hundred dollars I'd buy myself a gun
If I had enough money, I would buy a gun for additional protection

I'd stick it out the door And wait for an attack I'll need somebody just to cover my back
I would keep my gun close by and have someone else watch my back to prepare for an anticipated attack

The moral of the story You better watch where you go
The lesson to be learned is to stay vigilant and cautious in this dangerous town

They'll get you in the morning They'll get you at night Some, then want to rob you But most, they want to fight
The people in town are out to harm you, whether it be theft or violence

This town I live in, I got to go
I need to leave this unsafe town and find a better, safer place to live

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: J. J. CALE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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