Influential Songwriter J.J. Cale Passes Away

While it’s always a sad occurrence to see the death of a musician, the passing of J.J. Cale will leave an enormous gap in the musical world. Passing away due to a heart attack at the age of 73, Cale certainly lived a full life, right up till the end. As a songwriter, Cale rarely received the recognition or respect of a touring act, but this does not mean that his songs went unheard. In fact, Cale’s worked with Eric Clapton to write some of Clapton’s biggest hits, including “Cocaine” and “After Midnight”.

A myriad of influential shredders, including, Cale, Eric Claptom and Derek Trucks playing in San Diego

Of course, his work with Clapton was not Cale’s only contribution to the musical world. The fabulous musician also penned tunes with Lynyrd Skynyrd, including their popular track “Call Me the Breeze”. With hits like these under his belt, it seems as if Cale was simply born a gifted musician. This, however, is not true. His debut album, titled Naturally, was not released until Cale was well into his 30’s. That was in 1971, and after the release of that album, things exploded for J.J. It would not be until the 1970 release of Clapton’s self-titled debut album that Cale claimed he really felt like a songwriter. Reportedly, this moment came while he was in the car, and heard his track “After Midnight” come on the radio. This must have been the first of a number of special moments for Cale, which included several more Clapton covers and culminated in Cale’s Grammy, which was awarded in 2006.

Last night, Friday the 27^th, Cale passed away at the Scripps Hospital in California, where Cale was living at the time. This truly saddening event can only stand to remind us to cherish our artists while they still live.