J.J. Cale's Legacy

When J.J. Cale died last month, we lost an important figure in our musical heritage.  He was underappreciated in life--let's hope that in his after life we give him his due.

There are quite a few  music legends whose contributions to American music were not well appreciated in their life times.  Robert Johnson comes immediately to mind.  He was an American blues singer and musician whose landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians.  Johnson came to an untimely death in 1938 at the young age of 27, so it would have been hard for his artistry to have been widely appreciated while he was alive, but he cycles in and out of popularity to this day.  Let's hope that happens here.

J.J. Cale hailed from Oklahoma, and he brought his native musical roots with him when he left.  He was one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound (which is where Cale grew up), a loose genre drawing on blues, country, rockabilly, and jazz influences.  He brought aspects of each of those genres to rock 'n roll and changed it for the better.  Any one who loves Eric Clapton's 'After Midnight', a classic Cale song, can see what he brought to the musical table.  Cale continued to play well into his later years, so we have a substantial body of his work to look back on and learn from. 

May your memory be a blessing.