FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2004
TULSA DECLARES J.J. CALE DAY
DOCUMENTARY NOW FILMING
RARE J.J. CALE TOUR WINDS DOWN
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED SET WITH ERIC CLAPTON
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – On the heels of his acclaimed new album To Tulsa And Back, J.J. Cale has just wrapped a rare tour of the United States (only his second tour since 1996) that played to sold out crowds across the country. In the course of the tour, Cale was accompanied by Eric Clapton, commemorated by his hometown of Tulsa, and began filming of a forthcoming documentary, details of which will be announced shortly.
One of Cale’s inspirations for hitting the road in the first place was an invitation from Eric Clapton to participate in his Crossroads Festival in Dallas. That led to warmup dates on the West Coast which then headed east to Dallas. Clapton joined Cale for his entire set in Dallas which included such Cale originals as "Cocaine," "After Midnight" and "Travelin Light," all of which reached a wider audience via Clapton's versions of the songs. Clapton recently told Vanity Fair that J.J. Cale was the one living person he most admired.
With his new CD, To Tulsa And Back in stores just three days after Clapton's festival, Cale continued across the country in support of the new release as well as playing Toronto and Montreal (Montreal Jazz Festival).
Cale’s return to Tulsa's historic Cain's Ballroom for only his second performance in the city in the past two decades, in addition to the civic pride inspired by the title of the new CD, prompted Mayor Bill LaFortune to proclaim July 5 as “J.J. Cale Day” in Tulsa.
Kick Films, an award winning documentary film production company from Germany, also joined Cale in Tulsa. The crew followed Cale to his boyhood home, as well as a parking lot where Cale was filmed performing solo with his former high school as backdrop. They also filmed Cale revisiting the former Shelter Records studio where he had tracked his early albums, among various other local haunts. The crew covered the Tulsa show, which featured plenty of old friends joining Cale on stage at the sold out show and then became part of the entourage for the balance of the tour.
Cale has not played in Europe for ten years but the continent could be the next stop on the tour following a break at home for Cale.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2004
J.J. CALE COMPLETES FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN EIGHT YEARS,
TO TULSA AND BACK, HIS SANCTUARY DEBUT, OUT JUNE 8
NEW YORK, N.Y. – ‘To Tulsa And Back’ is J.J. Cale’s first new studio album since 1996’s ‘Guitar Man.’ But as he says, "It doesn’t seem that long." You shouldn’t rush the good things in life and that includes Cale, who, for his Sanctuary Records debut, went back to his hometown of Tulsa to record.
Set for a street date of June 8, the album delivers a fresh take on the hand-tooled, trademark sound that has made Cale an American musical legend for more than 30 years. Cale is best known for his compositions -- some of them hits for Eric Clapton and others for himself -- including "After Midnight," "Cocaine," "Call Me The Breeze," and "Crazy Mama." His songs have been covered by everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, the Allman Brothers Band, Johnny Cash, The Band and Santana to Captain Beefheart and Bryan Ferry. Beyond the songs, his style has also profoundly influenced Dire Straits, Clapton and many others.
Fittingly, the album will be released immediately after Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival which will take place June 4-6 in Dallas. Cale will perform at the festival alongside B.B. King, Joe Walsh, Brian May, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Robert Randolph, Steve Vai, Buddy Guy and, of course, Clapton himself.
The initial plan for Cale’s next studio CD was to regroup with his old friend and original collaborator, Audie Ashworth, who began producing his albums in 1971. "We were going to do a record in Nashville like we did in the old days, two friends sitting around talking about music and playing songs," he said. When Ashworth passed away several years back, that idea was shelved and Cale dedicated his 2001 Live CD to Ashworth instead. The concept lingered on, though, and Cale revived it after bringing many of his old friends out to join him on tour in 2002.
Cale – who lives nowadays in the Southern California desert – decided to return to his hometown of Tulsa to tackle the project on his own. Cale loaded his gear into the studio of drummer and friend David Teagarden (Teagarden & Van Winkle) and looked up some of their old friends. "I played with some of these guys 40 years ago," Cale laughs. "I don’t think there’s anyone on this record who’s under 60 years old."
The result is a warm, rhythmic, relaxed record that maintains the down-home flavor of Cale’s sound while adding new elements that keep it contemporary, real, and relevant.
Cale began playing Tulsa clubs in the 1950s with his own band, Johnny Cale & the Valentines. He later played with fellow Tulsa émigrés Leon Russell and Delaney & Bonnie. Then Eric Clapton recorded "After Midnight" and the rest is history. Cale garnered a new generation of fans recently when Widespread Panic and other jam bands covered some of his songs. Cale says of the jam bands, "Those guys make a three minute song last 15 minutes and everybody does a solo. But they still need songs. How they discovered mine, I don’t know. But they did. Then through those songs, a whole new generation discovered me."
Among other changes to be found on the new CD, songs such as "Stone River" (which he wrote for Earthjustice’s environmental benefit CD), and the sharply political, "The Problem," find him addressing new concerns about the world in which we live. Another touching commentary on our times is the moving song, "Homeless."
Almost as rare as a new Cale studio CD is the chance to enjoy him live. Thankfully, the new CD is being accompanied by a full-scale US tour. For current tour dates see: www.rosebudus.com/tourdates/cale.html
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