Guitar Man (J. J. Cale album) explained

Guitar Man
Type:album
Artist:J. J. Cale
Cover:Guitar Man cover.jpg
Released:June 25, 1996
Genre:Blues, Americana, Tulsa Sound
Length:38:13
Label:– CD: Delabel (promo edition: DE 3687)/Virgin (7243 8 41480 2 7) (1996) / Virgin (CDVIR 48) (2011);[1] – Digital Download: Virgin / Parlophone (#0724384148058)[2]
Prev Title:Closer to You
Prev Year:1994
Next Title:To Tulsa and Back
Next Year:2004

Guitar Man is the 12th studio album by J. J. Cale, released in 1996.

Recording

After taking a six-year break from the music business, Cale recorded four albums in the same amount of time in the early 90s. Ironically, in an era of grunge and the MTV Unplugged trends, Cale became immersed in electronics and synthesizers. “I did the unplugged, live kind of thing in the ‘70’s and the ‘80’s,” he told one interviewer. “I’ve gone to the other direction now that all that’s become popular. Been there done that! They didn’t call it unplugged in those days but that is what it was…There is a fascination about electronics…It is an art form in itself.”[3]

Recording

Produced by Cale, Guitar Man differs from the albums he made in the seventies and early eighties in that while those records featured numerous top-shelf session players, Cale provided the instrumentation on Guitar Man himself, augmented by wife Christine Lakeland on guitar and background vocals and drummer James Cruce on the opener “Death in the Wilderness.” In his AllMusic review of the LP, Thom Owens writes, “Although he has recorded Guitar Man as a one-man band effort, it sounds remarkably relaxed and laid-back, like it was made with a seasoned bar band.” In assessing the album, rock writer Brian Wise of Rhythm Magazine commented, “‘Lowdown’ is typical Cale shuffle, ‘Days Go By’ gives a jazzy feel to a song about smoking a certain substance while the traditional ‘Old Blue’ reprises a song that many might first have heard with The Byrds version during the Gram Parsons era.”[4] The traditional song “Old Blue” long fascinated Cale, who reflected, “I have heard that song all my life, it’s an old folk song. I didn’t get quite the way the original went. I’ve changed some of the lyrics to fit my style. I like the song. I’m a big dog lover and animal lover. I have heard the song off and on in my subconscious for years.”[5] On the ecologically minded “Wilderness,” Cale deems the planet “a hopeless case, I guess,” and surmises “We'll mow it down, we'll rape the ground 'til there's nothing left to abuse.”

After Guitar Man, Cale would not release another album for eight years.

Reception

AllMusic: “There's a handful of very good songs, but there's nothing on the level of his previous classics. It's just another pleasant J.J. Cale album, nothing more but nothing less, either.”

Track listing

All songs written by J. J. Cale, except where indicated.

  1. "Death in the Wilderness" 4:58
  2. "It's Hard to Tell" 2:40
  3. "Days Go By" 3:27
  4. "Low Down" 2:48
  5. "This Town" 2:54
  6. "Guitar Man" 4:02
  7. "If I Had a Rocket" 3:02
  8. "Perfect Woman" 2:10
  9. "Old Blue" - Traditional 2:42
  10. "Doctor Told Me" 3:12
  11. "Miss Ol' St Louie" 2:33
  12. "Nobody Knows" 3:51

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: J.J. Cale – Guitar Man . April 2018 . discogs.com . 29 April 2018.
  2. Web site: J.J. Cale – Guitar Man . April 2018 . allmusic.com . 29 April 2018.
  3. Web site: Tribute – J.J. Cale in 1996. Wise. Brian. July 28, 2013. Addicted to Noise. June 30, 2019.
  4. Web site: Tribute – J.J. Cale in 1996. Wise. Brian. July 28, 2013. Addicted to Noise. June 30, 2019.
  5. Web site: Tribute – J.J. Cale in 1996. Wise. Brian. July 28, 2013. Addicted to Noise. June 30, 2019.