Candles and Cale: Party Time

His songs have been covered by the likes of Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kansas, Tom Petty, Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash and more. A no-flash, just pick guitarist, he began playing what would be known as the Tulsa Sound...a blending a 1950's to 1960's country, rock, blues and rockabilly. The group of musicians creating that sound also included Leon Russell, Elvin Bishop, David Gates and Dwight Twilley, among others.

Today we focus on the birthday boy, JJ Cale.

Back to the songs. After Clapton recorded two of Cale's songs, "After Midnight" and "Cocaine," Cale finally started getting noticed by people outside the music community. Hell, one of his songs, "Travelin' Light" was even played to wake up the crews of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station before one of their spacewalks. The man has played with everyone, and the list of musicians influenced by his songs grows daily.

Let's taste a few.

"Crazy Mama" ...his biggest single, laid-back and bluesy
"They Call Me the Breeze" ...covered by Skynyrd, taste a little JJ with Clapton sittin' in
"After Midnight" ...a songwriter's pure version
"Cajun Moon" ...sweet sample of Tulsa sound
"Down to Memphis" ...delicious track off his latest CD Roll On

JJ Cale. Blow out the candles and play some blues.

.

Sailing Away Today: Nice & Smooth

Writing, you may have noticed, is my thing. So musically, the lyrics are what catches me first, then I go into the instrumentation. Specifically today, we're talking guitars. Boy this is gonna piss off some people to be sure.

Just like anything else, your favorite rock guitarist is a subjective thing. Yes... Eddie, Jimmy, Jeff...all masters, no argument from me. I can appreciate the depth of their ability and their soul.  Just not what soothes my soul.  My top three: Clapton,Vaughn & Knopfler...with Clapton and Knopfler on top...though no particular order. Disclaimer: No disrespect intended to any guitar players who might read this.  I like smooth, not frenetic...and then Stevie Ray is just Stevie Ray (can you say "Little Wing?")  Having seen all of them play live, well those are memories to savor.

The taste for today is from one of my top three.  The first time I heard "Sultans of Swing" with that guitar solo, it was 'whoa, can I hear that every day for the rest of my life?'  Kinda of how I felt and still feel about the guitar and piano solos of "Layla"...it never gets tired.

On this morning's menu is Mark Knofler doing a little something from one of his solo albums.  The title song from "Sailing to Philadelphia," features James Taylor helping out on the vocals. It's not a knock your socks off guitar piece, just a nice blend of vocals and instrumentation. This entire CD is wonderful, if you have the chance to check it out.

Sail away.

.

Colors Of The Day: Blue On Black

More proof of the great musical talent found in the south.  Louisiana guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been ranked by Guitar World as the number three guitarist, right behind B.B and Clapton.  Nice company to hang with.  While the taste today was indeed a number one hit, it's just so damn good...why not.

This selected video is a bare-bones version of  "Blue on Black" with just Kenny and Noah Hunt playing guitar and Noah as usual singing lead. Pure, simple and perfect.

So smooth, so tasty.