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.
You Got Something
J.J. Cale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you don't feel quite the same
You don't touch quite like my woman
But you got something
I can't explain
[Chorus: x2]
The way you wear your clothes drives me crazy
I can't stand it, what you're doing
You got something
I can't live without
In J.J. Cale's song, "You Got Something," the singer describes being drawn to someone who does not resemble his usual type. He notes that their appearance and touch do not match those of his typical romantic interest, however, there is something about this person that he can't quite put his finger on. He is driven crazy by the way they wear their clothes, and how they just seem to hang around, yet he cannot live without them.
The song is essentially about being drawn to someone for intangible reasons, despite that person not fitting the stereotypical mold of a romantic partner. The singer notes that there is a connection between them that he cannot quite understand, but which he is drawn to nonetheless. It's a reminder that love can come in many forms and from unexpected sources.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't look like my baby
You don't resemble the person who I consider my significant other
And you don't feel quite the same
Your demeanor differs from my usual companion's persona
You don't touch quite like my woman
The way you interact physically does not match my lover's touch
But you got something
Although you possess none of the qualities of my usual partner, there is still something about you that intrigues me
The way you wear your clothes drives me crazy
Your clothing choices elicit an emotional response within me
The way you walk around, just hanging 'round
The way you move about aimlessly catches my attention
I can't stand it, what you're doing
Your actions are causing me discomfort, frustration or annoyance
You got something
Despite your negative impact on me, there is still something that keeps me coming back to you
I can't live without
You have something that I yearn for and cannot live without
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: J. J. CALE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind