The Breeze (An Appreciation of JJ Cale)(Deluxe Edition 2CD Box Set)

I have about every CD/LP that JJ released so I thought why do I need another or maybe why would I want another that has a lot of the songs that I already have. But this one has people like Clapton, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Tom Petty, Willie Nelson and Derek Trucks on it all appreciating the songs that JJ has written and that were performed by Clapton, Santana, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I was glad I bought this version of his songs. It is kind of like a greatest hits done by band honoring his work with an excellent recording. And who doesn't like Sensitive Kind, Cajun Moon, Lies, I got the same old blues and Call me the Breeze. JJ Cale was a great song writer and singer. His music style is not Folk or Country, it was just an easy going medley filled with great lyrics. If you don't have any of his work, then get this. If you have all of his music, go out and get this like I did. It is a great way to remember one of the best song writers out of the 60's and 70's who never stopped writing.

Over the last few years tributes have become quite common in the Roots music world. Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Little Walter and Son House have all been honored recently with a salute to Muddy Waters due for release in August. These tributes generally fall into two categories: the artist who was influenced by someone past and never got the chance to perform with (Maria Muldaur's take on Memphis Minnie; Rory Block's "The Lady and Mr. Johnson") or a musician will honor someone they played with who helped to develop their style (John Mooney's recent salute to his mentor Son House; David Newman's tribute to Ray Charles "I Remember Brother Ray"). Eric Clapton's tribute to his friend and favorite songwriter, the late JJ Cale falls into the latter category and is aptly titled- this is truly an APPRECIATION.Clapton was first motivated for this project during the flight from England to attend Cale's funeral July of 2013. He met Don White at the funeral; White was one of the first band leaders to ever hire Cale. When White agreed to the tribute, Clapton moved ahead and hired bassist Nathan East and drummer Jim Keltner for the rhythm section (Keltner, one of the greatest drummers in history is an Okie like Cale contributing to the famous Tulsa sound).Clapton's choice of guests on this project speaks to his strength as a band leader. Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty and Don White are all gifted, all very different performers yet the common thread of creating a groove unites them in this very successful undertaking. Cale was quoted in a Blues Review interview ten years ago "They needed a marketing term for me, so they picked two- "laid-back" and "recluse". True enough. But Cale's contribution of the quiet groove should be remembered as much as the "marketing terms".Clapton plays on all sixteen tracks, and the songs where he is featured work the best. His phrasing is so similar to Cale's you could swear they were in the booth together, just like their 2006 collaboration "The Road To Escondido". Clapton long ago realized he had nothing left to prove as a virtuoso, so he allows the songs to breathe, where groove and nuance are more important than flash. Mark Knopfler is a kindred spirit, and his featured cuts "Someday" and "Train to Nowhere" would make JJ proud. On "Train", Clapton and White trade lead vocal verses with Knopfler and the two guitar phenoms engage in a bit of call and response, but in a low-key manner- no one-upmanship needed here.Tom Petty duets with Clapton on "I Got The Same Old Blues", but his true shining moment is "The Old Man and Me". Petty sings this track from the album "Okie" in a low, hushed whisper. You have to really lean in and listen, which I'm sure is the point (one on-line reviewer says Petty "really steals the show" with this performance. This Florida native son has the Tulsa/Red Dirt thing down cold.Fellow Okies contribute to several tracks. Drummer Jamie Oldaker has played with Clapton on and off over the years, beginning with 1974's "461 Ocean Boulevard". Harmonica great Jimmie Markham (better known as Junior Markham) adds tasty diatonic harp to "Train". Markham is considered to be one of the caretakers of the Tulsa sound, and Clapton made a wise decision to bring him on board.The album's closer. "Crying Eyes" is the strongest track on this well sequenced disc Clapton duets with Christine Lakeland, Cale's widow and a fine singer/guitarist in her own right. Derek Trucks' is a highlight here and on the Willie Nelson vehicle "Starbound". Trucks was a featured guest guitarist on "Escondido" (check out his solo on "Missing Person"), so his appearance here is a natural fit.The fact that "Breeze" works on so many levels is a testament not only to JJ Cale's songwriting ability. but to Eric Clapton's genius as a band leader. He succeeded in gathering a disparate collection of musicians, from the thirty-something Trucks to the eighty-something Nelson and share in this tribute- a true appreciation.

This is a great tribute to songwriter JJ Cale that I will play often. The musicianship and singing of all the artists really brings his songs to life. While Cale wasn't known as a performer, his songs are some of the best known in modern rock music.If I have any quibble at all with this CD, it's that the songs are too short! Just when the songs pick up steam at the 2-3 minute mark, the sound man turns down the volume and the song is over, just like the old days of music when fade out was the most common way to end a song. I think these artists should have been left alone to play out the songs to 4-5 minutes if they wanted to. A song should have a natural ending when the music is actually over; don't artificially end it just as the guitars get strumming and the singer is still belting out the lyrics! Other than this quibble, this is a Must Buy.

Great to have an Appreciation of JJ Cale by Eric Clapton and his friends. All artists succeeded very well to approach the JJ style and it's amazing how close they can sound like the real JJ.It's also nice to have the original recordings of JJ Cale as comparison , but its fair to say, these originals sound better then the Eric Clapton recordings. Not sure if the Clapton recordings are recorded analog or digital...It's sounds digital to me which is a pity if you play vinyl, please compare that with the original analog recordings of the 70's...That's the only setback of this great set of Vinyl! Buy it.

Fantastic tribute! About as true to Cale as you can get. I'm sure he'd be happy with the results of this collaboration. It's fantastic for someone my age to be able to pick out the voices and distinctive guitar sounds of performers I've followed for decades, and to also recognize the distinctive work of some of the younger players. John Mayer is superb on Magnolia, and Derek Trucks' slide can be heard throughout. If this were on vinyl, I'd have already worn out the grooves. I always read the 1 star reviews of a product I'm considering buying and did so on this one, too. To all those who are saying Clapton has lost his stuff and sounds slow and dull on this album - THIS ISN'T ABOUT CLAPTON! He put it together and is a player on the album, yes. But this is about JJ Cale and no one else. It's great when artists cover other artists' work and put their own twist on the performance. This isn't the case here, in my opinion. This is a tribute, and I feel it was done totally in the spirit of how JJ originally did the songs. I love the way the songs sound.

One of the greatest artists in populare music history is J J Cale, who so sadly left us a year or so back. A gentle man who gave us a legacy of laid back blues/couhtry/ America brilliance. Eric Clapton has always been a huge admirer to his music, and became a big friend, performing together and producing an award winning album together. Before that of gourse Eric had worldwide hits with Cale songs like 'After Midnight' and 'Cocaine' ( a song he did on most live performances through the years).So who would be a better person to put an album like this one together, play on every track plus invite some well known friends along.These include Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, John Mayer (who did a version of 'Call Me The Breeze' on his most recent solo album, good version too, but on this release he takes on 'Magnolia' playing with EC it has all the hallmarks of the original. The album is an appreciation of Cale's music, his legacy, so there are no dramatic reworkings of the songs, just superbly played and performed covers, sixteen choice ones, mainly from Cale's earlier albums. Don White who played with J J is involved as is Cale's wife Christine Lakeland, not only with her husbands band but some fine solo albums, she joins Clapton on one song and plays guitar on another. This whole project is a labour of love to one great artist, a man who's music deserves to be heard, because once you hear it your hooked on his laid back, his songs never ramble on, and the tracks here are no longer than the original recordings, would have been nice to get some longer Clapton solos in but no this is about J J Cale, to get his name out there.The one thing you have to say the songs done by each artist fits like a glove, Mark Knopfler's version of 'Someday' could have easily been one of his own songs, 'Rock n Roll Records' a duet by Tom Petty and EC is an ideal merge of two great modern musiciand, as is Willie Nelson's 'Starbound' ,again this could be out of the Willie songbook, his style and delivery make this a special track on an album chock full of great songs by equally great performers throughout. It's a first hearing Eric and Tom Petty together, as is the Eg duet with bWillie Nelson and with John Mayer. The booklet has lots of photos of J J Cale plus others in the recoding studio of this wonderful set. I hope this wins awards, gets the music of Cale out there, because this is a set that is just totaslly enjoyable, and youget Clapton' take on 'Call Me The Breeze' totally in the J J style and it fits his voice like a glove, he's been performing thgis song live in recent shows so it's nice he's put his version out, tasty ! So to sum up do yourself a favour go and get this, get a drink and let this wonderful music wash all over you..unmissable for all seasons, will mis you J J but thanks for so much great music !

An outstanding tribute to a legend of electric guitar not often appreciated for the great musician he was. There are plenty of other more erudite reviews here on Amazon so I will keep this short and sweet.I am pleased that Eric did not add "Cocaine" or "After Midnight" to the track list as these numbers have been well covered by his own band - although one glaring omission might be "City Girls" which is a typically laid-back Cale number just as accessible as "Call Me the Breeze". The latter is my favourite Cale song and I was pleased to hear the quirky introduction and drum machine reproduced faithfully on this album. We all know that Lynyrd Skynyrd covered this number although to to be honest my favourite version is by Bernie Marsden. However, I digress...Play this in your car and you will slip into steady cruise mode, perhaps listening for and recognising the particular unique signatures of the Clapton and Knopfler guitar techniques. This will save you fuel and I expect you will recoup its cost in a few weeks!I have to report that the first CD I received had a glaring manufacturing flaw which was clearly visible on the playing surface. It would not play past track 10. The replacement service from Amazon was outstanding and the new CD plays just fine.

This album was a significant disappointment. The selection of invited guests who accompany Eric Clapton on this appreciation of J.J.Cale is formidable, but the result of the compilation falls well short of my expectations from such a gathering.Certainly, the album that J.J.Cale himself recorded with Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido, is far far superior.

I'm really enjoying this album. I've seen some poor reviews from people who know the original versions of the songs, I however am not in that position. Perhaps it helps to listen with a clear mind. I like the arangements, and the fact that you can hear each artists style coming through on their tracks, particularly Mark Knopfler on "Someday". I also think that Willie Nelson (of whom I'm not a big fan) does a great job with the vocals on "Songbird".The songs themselve are quite simple, lyrically anyway. Its very easy listening. Definatley something to chill out and listen to. I'm ashamed to say i havent even played the Vinyl yet, as I've been listening to the MP3 version Amazon provided for download; but I am especially looking forward to sitting down, relaxing and listening to it some evening after work. I bought the Vinly verion on a hunch that it might be good, and i definately feel I've made the right choice.I would reccomend this record if you like Dire Straits, particularly some of their slower tracks, Mark knopfler of course. The other artists i cant really comment on as I am not familiar with them.

I am not familiar with JJ Cale's songs,having only heard heard him on Road to Escondido with Eric Clapton, which I enjoyed. It's very laid back music, performed with the care you would expect from the calibre of the artists involved, and I found it just the ticket when something relaxing is required. I take the point from the Cale fans that they prefer his version of the songs (must listen to them), and Willie's singing might not be as good as in the past (but he is getting on a bit, and it's nice that he wants to [ay tribute), but I am very happy with it.