What is it with these old guys? Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling
Stones… Didn’t they get the memo that you can’t make good
music after 40? That popular music acts and artists need to retire or just play
Vegas after they reach a certain age? JJ Cale, the songsmith who wrote “Cocaine,”
After Midnight” and “Call Me The Breeze,” is 70 and apparently
missed the memo. And his CD Roll On, his first since 2004,
might just be the best group of 12 songs you’ll hear all year. Let’s
hear it for the old guys.
Opening with a swing 50s feeling “Who Knew,” we’re in the
wry soundscape of this multi-instrumentalist master. Though the drums might
be mixed a little too upfront (at least for my tastes), this first track is
a fun boppin’ opener. The chugging, prog-like keys and drums of “Where
The Sun Don’t Shine” had me from the get-go. The refrain: “you
can put it right where the sun don’t shine” makes me laugh every
time.
It becomes apparent early on that Roll On is one of those
‘albums’ (and I do mean albums) where the tunes are sequenced in
such a way that the music opens up as you probe deeper. By the time we are going
“Down to Memphis,” things have settled in — guitar, drums,
keys, the vocals — and the whole groovin’ amalgamation is like a
pastoral painting. As Cale played most of the instruments here, it’s no
wonder it all congeals the more you get into it.
There’s a fumbly piano all over “Former Me,” wacky cat-wailing
pedal steel on “Strange Days,” a close approximation to Ruben Blades
at his best on “Cherry Street,” and the absolutely perfect “Fonda-Lina.”
Cale has this way of mixing every instrument — guitar, drums, piano, all
of it — so not only do you hear everything perfectly, but they make the
most impact. And just when you think you’re hearing a little too much
of a Dire Straits-vibe (ironic as Mark Knopfler sites Cale as one of his influences),
Cale dips things with some inspired flipped instrumentation midway through.
Listen to “Fonda-Lina” if you want a master course in songcraft
and arrangement.
How anybody can make such a wry case for his demise, I don’t know, but
if you get through “Leaving In The Morning” without laughing and
crying at the same time, you’re not human. It’s rare, especially
these days, for me to hear the guitar where the economy of the notes chills
me as much as much as the dexterity of Cale’s fret. “Oh Mary”
is a fun little number, maybe not one of the best tunes, but it does feature
some great, way-back-in-the-mix Walt Richmond piano. “Roll On,”
which features cohort Eric Clapton (Cale and Clapton collaborated on the 2006
album The Road To Escondido), is a little too commercial for
my tastes, and while it may get all the play and press, it might be the weakest
tune here.
The CD ends with “Bring Down The Curtain.” With deceptive drumming
that actually seems to be a half a beat behind the guitars, Cale’s voice
— not the most perfect of instruments even at his best — is
perfect here. It not only does this track close Roll On, it could easily end
Cale’s career…or restart a new one. And what better beginning than
Roll On — a CD of subtle, tightly constructed songs,
great playing, and a wry humble could-be-this, might-be that outlook from a
man who might be into his seventh decade but is just as viable as ever.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
