Eric Clapton must surely be JJ Cale's biggest fan. For his very first solo album he recorded a cover of then completely unknown Cale's "After Midnight". He then had a big hit with another Cale song, "Cocaine", while he recently recorded a whole album with him ("The Road to Escondido"). This fascination isn't all that apparent if you compare their playing styles: Cale's is fluid and relaxed, while Clapton's can be loud and fiery. Anyway, Cale's unfortunate passing last year led Clapton to curate a tribute album to him, with himself playing guitar and singing on some songs while various "friends" provide vocals & second guitar. These include Tom Petty, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Don White and country legend Willie Nelson. Other guest guitarists include Albert Lee, David Lindley, and Derek Trucks while Cale's widow Christine Lakeland helps with backing vocals. All artists approach their source material with respect (perhaps too much respect), resulting in beautiful and understated performances and an album that is quite homogenic and manages to exude the same feeling as Cale's own. "Same Old Blues" is probably the only song where Clapton's style is readily identifiable, as he mostly prefers to play close to the original rather than rock it out like he did with "Cocaine". Knopfler on the other hand makes "someday" sound like Dire Straits without straying too far since his style was always closer to that of Cale's. Opener "Call Me the Breeze" is indicative of the album, rolling along nicely with fantastic guitar work, although it still isn't as good as Lynyrd Skynyrd's version. "Rock and Roll Records" featuring Tom Petty is another winner. Not being familiar with the original versions of this or "Someday", I was much more pleased with these than e.g. "Lies", a great performance of this hit that is nevertheless so close to the original it's like listening to karaoke. John Mayer was known to me by name only but his singing here and on "Magnolia" convinced me to search for more. "Sensitive Kind" features fellow Okie Don White on vocals and is a delicate ballad that reminds me of Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight". Once more, although flawless, not my favorite cover of this song-that would be John Mayall's. "Cajun Moon" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" are two bluesy numbers by Clapton while "Songbird" and "Starbound" feature country legend Willie Nelson on vocals. He makes no effort to imitate JJ's singing and he songs are the better for it. "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" is a fast country number while "The Old Man and Me" sports a hypnotic bossa/blues rhythm. "Don't Wait" and “Train to Nowhere” are a couple of very successful collaborations between Clapton and, respectively, Mayer and Knopfler. Overall, the album manages to convey Cale's spirit and provide an enjoyable listening experience with some virtuosic but restrained guitar playing. Nevertheless I, for one, would like to hear such good musicians give their own version of the songs and preferably expand them beyond the 3-minute mark. Faithful as it is though, it makes for a good introduction to JJ Cale's music and should convince newcomers to dig deeper. If you're one, I'd suggest to get any of his first 5 albums, although you can't go wrong with anything bearing his name (As his critics like to point out, they all sound more or less the same).
**** for Call Me the Breeze, Rock and Roll Records, Someday, Cajun Moon, Don't Wait
*** for Lies, Sensitive Kind, Magnolia, I Got the Same Old Blues, Songbird, The Old Man and Me, Train to Nowhere, Starbound
** for Since You Said Goodbye, I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me), Crying Eyes
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