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.

Wish I Had Me A Dollar
J.J. Cale Lyrics

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(J.J. Cale)

Wish I had me a dollar
To buy me a drink of wine
I don't want no trouble
Holding up my time

I need a relief

For all this pain and this grief
A fool I'll be tomorrow
Drowning in my sorrow

Wish I had me a dollar
For every time time I see it
Another cheating woman
Just come down on my head

I need a relief
For all this pain and this grief
A fool I'll be tomorrow
Drowning in my sorrow

Wish I had me a dollar

Wish I had me a dollar
And a straight shot to go
It's been against my wishes
Love on a way too slow

I need a relief
For all this pain and this grief
A fool I'll be tomorrow
Drowning in my sorrow

Wish I had me a dollar
Wish I had me a dollar

Wish I had me a dollar
Wish I had me a dollar

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to J.J. Cale's song "Wish I Had Me A Dollar" describe a man who is down on his luck and wishes he had some money to buy himself a drink. The drink is not just for pleasure, but also to relieve the pain and grief he is feeling. The man is aware that he might be making a mistake by drowning his sorrows in alcohol, but he still wishes he had the means to do so.

The song also touches on the theme of love and betrayal. The singer has had his fair share of cheating women, and he laments their effect on his life. He wishes he had a dollar for every time he's been let down by someone he loved.

Wish I Had Me A DollarJ.J. Cale Lyrics

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Wish I Had Me A Dollar
J.J. Cale Lyrics