JJ Cale the Silent Master a Dreamlike Ride Through The
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About this English translation: The book was written in German; my mother tongue, it is the only language I know as a writer, with all nuances. My story about J.J. Cale's music and his artistic career would of course have deserved a professional English translation - but unfortunately, as an independent musician and author, I really lack the necessary money for this. That's why I translated the book here for you with deepl.com - it is currently the best online translator worldwide. I have additionally enhanced the Deepl-translation, but my English is limited - the subtleties of my mother tongue are lost, partly also the humor, and there will be some mistakes in presentation (f.e. with some "-characters) and maybe also grammar errors here and there. So if you have the feeling that certain phrases don't make sense or sound strange - just think "the computer is inferior to humans" - or for my sake "they're crazy, these Swiss guys!" :-) I'm sure you as a J.J. Cale fan will understand and enjoy the story anyway, and maybe here and there you'll learn hitherto unknown details about the wonderful J.J. Cale and his immortal music. Sincerely: Richard Koechli Remember, this is a gift, a free supplement to the CD and the Vinyl-Double-LP "The Real Chill, Remembering J.J. Cale" ... Table of contents Prologue 6 Chapter 1 - Tim's crazy idea 10 Chapter 2 - The Strange at Home 20 Chapter 3 – Tulsa 36 Chapter 4 - Los Angeles 91 Chapter 5 - The happy pill 151 Chapter 6 – Nashville 156 Naturally (1971) 168 Really (1972 223 Okie (1974) 242 Troubadour (1976) 283 Five (1979) 290 In Session At The Paradise Studios (1979) 303 Chapter 7 – The ride goes on 305 Shades (1981) 317 Grasshopper (1982) 317 #8 (1983) 319 Travel-Log (1990) 326 Number 10 (1992) Closer To You (1994) Guitar Man (1996) J.J. Cale live (2001) 335 To Tulsa And Back (2004) 336 The Road To Escondido (2006) 339 Rewind (2007) 341 Roll On (2009) 342 Epilogue 344 J.J. Cale the silent master A dreamlike ride through the history of laid-back music by Richard Koechli Prologue John Weldon Cale (December 5, 1938 - July 26, 2013), called J.J. Cale. With his cool mix of blues, rockabilly, country and jazz, he made an invaluable contribution to music history. His records enjoy cult status, his songs have been covered by famous artists such as Eric Clapton, his guitar style was a steep pass for Mark Knopfler, his aesthetics of quiet singing remain unrivaled, his laconic lyrics are impressionistic works of art, his recording milestones in the history of recording studios. All achieved - and yet hardly anyone outside the fan zone seems to know him. Cale was not made for the big hype. For half a lifetime the loner has worked to remain unknown; for a long time, especially here in Europe, hardly anyone knew what face was behind this ominous songwriter, because he didn't want to be depicted on his albums. Music, nothing but music was his concern. His own person seemed unimportant to him; he wanted to have his privacy. Not that he was cold or dismissive, quite the contrary. John was naturally modest, humorous, self- ironic. He knew what he could do, sought his luck, but never took off, never came too close to the sun. Success yes, but please only as much as necessary to live and work in a relaxed way. He wanted to be normal. Nothing is more inspiring than writing about normal people. And his music - a never ending source of joy! His laid-back sound is groundbreaking, timeless; his role in music history is grossly underrated. Cale's famous students are all long since in the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame or in any list of the best guitarists of all time - he himself is not. There is this wonderful documentary "To Tulsa And Back" by Jörg Bundschuh. No substitute for a book, though; the two media are too different. My story here is not meant to be a documentary anyway, not a biography in the conventional sense, and certainly not an authorized one. Only someone from his private environment could write something like this; his widow Christine Lakeland Cale, for example, or his longtime manager Mike Kappus. We all hope that this will happen soon - which is why, by the way, this publication here is deliberately not appearing in bookstores in order not to provoke unnecessary competition. I do not want to profit from J.J. Cale's legacy. For my book I have chosen the concept of the non-fiction novel. A very personal view of Cale's life's work. The novel form makes it possible to improvise, to embellish, to interpret; as a blues musician and therefore also as an author I cannot exist without this scope. I think it suits J.J. - when you hear how freely he dealt with his songs on stage, you know that he was a player too. So how much of this is fact and how much of the novel? The story with Alvin, the young music journalist, and with Brian, the old man and Cale fan from the first hour - that's fiction. Alvin and Brian talk for a week about J.J. Cale's music and the course of his career, and of course I tried to research as precisely as possible. The data, factual content and original locations are based on information that is publicly available. In many cases they are secured, but as always there are some question marks and contradictions, even with official information - and that's why you hear Brian and Alvin sometimes saying "I don't know", "probably", "possibly" or something like that. Another topic is the rumors, the strange myths that surround Cale. Some of them have been debunked and refuted, others may not. Perhaps some of them even belong to the game of hide-and-seek that Cale used to distract from his private life. It makes him all the more exciting. The music is clearly the focus of this book. But I am also fascinated by the story around it, the music-historical context. No artist in the world grows up alone; there were a lot of exciting people involved in Cale's career, famous and not so famous. Those who shaped him, accompanied him, or otherwise supported him in some way. Those who inspired him, were inspired by him, or were simply on the road at the same time. Although not everything is directly connected to J.J. Cale - I am interested in such details. If we understand the history of style better, we can feel the songs even deeper and maybe even discover other artists. When Alvin and Brian discuss J.J. Cale, many of their statements refer to statements Cale made in interviews. I would find it rather boring to take them literally. That's why I generally refrain from original quotes and use the content only in the sense of its meaning. In dialogue, these statements are sometimes spun further in a playful way. In my opinion, constant references would stand in the way of liveliness and reading pleasure - it's like when you keep on shouting while improvising, "I heard this lick at Muddy Waters, this one at Elmore James, and this one at Chet Atkins". That's not going to work out, so I'll take the liberty of thanking the esteemed journalists and media who enabled me to acquire the basic knowledge, only in the epilogue. In certain moments, for example when they discuss show business or the philosophy of laid-back music, this has nothing to do with J.J. Cale. They are either subjective views of two fans, hypotheses or parts of my own thoughts. Well, if a few private insights from my thirty years of involvement with music get lost in the story here, then indirectly it has something to do with J.J. Cale again - because he accompanied and inspired me all these years. You can turn it any way you want, the story here has only one purpose: to arouse and deepen interest in J.J. Cale and his unique music. It works best in a double pack - the book in one hand, the audio player in the other. On the Internet, practically without exception, every song mentioned in the book can be listened to legally, and even closer to the secret of his music is who gets his albums! Enjoy this dreamlike ride through the history of laid-back music! I am giving this book as a free supplement to my album The Real Chill, Remembering J.J. Cale; so it's probably the most comprehensive CD booklet in the world. If you want to thank me for this, you can support an animal welfare organization - J.J. Cale's explicit wish. If you want to support me as a musician and book author in these difficult pandemic times, you can buy more Koechli products (they are all listed on the website richardkoechli.ch/en) or throw something into my paypal hat (www.paypal.me/RichardKoechli). Thanks! September 2020 Richard Koechli Chapter 1 - Tim's crazy idea Alvin drives slowly, takes his time, is overtaken left and right. I hear there are countries that only allow left-handed overtaking. That's an odd idea. It works perfectly here. Best on one of the two middle lanes, there's no stress with stressed out people. Highways are for everyone.