Op het internet zijn allerwegen necrologieën te lezen van de vorige week vrijdag overleden JJ Cale. Ook wij deden een min of meer persoonlijke duit in het zakje.

Diverse muzikanten voelden zich daartoe ook geroepen, onder wie Mike Campbell, toetsenist van Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. Opvallend geoeg laat Eric Clapton het op zijn site bij een uitvoerig, maar neutraal feitenrelaas.

Ben Bridwell van The Band of Horses schrijft duidelijk vanuit een andere invalshoek. Hij stuurde een e-mail naar de leden van de nieuwsbrief van zijn band.

Die is te mooi om eruit te citeren:

‘JJ Cale is my hero. John Weldon Cale was still making great music well into his 70’s, which makes it even sadder to hear of his passing. To lose a dude as cool as Cale is not only a loss for fans of great music, but a loss for those who rail against egoism and pompousness. The fact that he was still creating incredible albums in his 70’s that rival any of his earlier work adds an extra sting for his many devoted fans. I beg you to check out his 2009 album Roll On.

Just the other day, I was wondering when we might get a new batch of J.J. Cale songs. Sadly, that is no longer possible, but the great news is that we are left with a trove of incredible records to carry on with.

If you are new to J.J. Cale’s music or want to educate yourself further, I’ve added this playlist of some of my favorite J.J. Cale music. This is my personal mix tape that I made for myself a couple years ago: https://play.spotify.com/user/bandofhorsesspotify/playlist/1OLytr1Rvpf5DGCn2lW7pj?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

Some of the tracks weren’t available, and I skipped some of the obvious big songs for my own enjoyment. If this gets people riled up enough to whine, “Where’s ‘Cocaine’?” then that’s just funny as hell.

I once interviewed Mr. Cale for FILTER Magazine. That was the most nervous I hope I’ll ever be. He was so incredibly cool, smart, and sweet about doing it. Let his answers resonate in your soul:

http://filtermagazine.com/index.php/exclusives/entry/sometimes_we_make_money_sometimes_i_dont_know_jj_cale_meets_band_of_horses

Also here’s a couple J.J. covers our band has done. If anybody has us covering “Don’t Go To Strangers” from Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa in 2012, please post it!

“Thirteen Days”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwV-UPaEAbk”

Leaving in the Morning”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txUZKtTc-gQ

I’m forever indebted to Sam Beam for turning me on to J.J.’s songs.

Roll On J.J. Cale,

Ben’