Album Review - J.J. Cale - Really

Another entry in the ongoing series of album reviews.  See here for index.

Artist:  J.J. Cale
Album:  Really
Relaesed: 1972

I discovered J.J. Cale sometime around mid-1976, when his original version of "Cocaine" got some radio play in Pittsburgh.  I knew the name, because Lynyrd Skynyrd had previously covered his songs "Call Me The Breeze" and "Same Old Blues" [aside:  Skynyrd only did 2 covers on their first 4 albums, and both were J.J. Cale songs].  I bough the album, but remember being a little disappointed that most of it did NOT sound like the hard rocking "Cocaine".   Then, in early 1977, he appeared on the cover of "Guitar Player" magazine, with a fawning article, I dug into Troubadour some more and was soon hooked.  It wasn't long before I had his previous 3 albums.

I continued to be a J.J. Cale fan, and still am.  I have almost all of his albums.  He's my favorite "obscure" artist, although he's really not that obscure to music geeks...

Anyway, I decided it was time to do a J.J. Cale review, which lead to to the question of which one?  My first thought was Troubadour, since that was the one I discovered first.  But I decided on Really.  Maybe because I made a silk-screened t-shirt of this album cover back in late high school.  Heck, that's as good a reason as any.

Really has a wonderful, laid back feeling, which really shouldn't be a surprise to anybody who knows J.J. Cale.  A steady shuffle over solid grooves, deceptively good playing, and vocals back in the mix....   But Really also has a distinct Mose Allison vibe.  The album features a dozen songs, 10 by Cale and 2 by others.  All are typically concise, running between 1:45 and 3:16.  An interesting observation, The album was recorded in 7 sessions.  The first 5 were between in the first week of April 1972, followed by one in late June and one in early July.  But it was also recorded in 5 different studios, and 2 different states!  With a different engineer and musicians for each studio.  You would think this would result in a fragmented album, but it really doesn't.

Studios:

• Bradley's Barn, Mt. Julliet, TN (4 songs, 2 dates)
• Quadrophonic Studio, Nashville, TN (3 songs, 2 dates)
• Quinvy Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL (3 songs, 2 dates)
• Moss Rose Studio, Nashville, TN (2 songs, 1 date)
• Muscle Shoals Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL (1 song, 1 date)

Wow, Tuesday and Thursday in Nashville area, Friday and Saturday in Muscle Shoals, back in Nashville on Monday.  Yikes.  I'm sure there was some logical reason.

My favorite songs?  5 Star rated:  Lies,  Soulin'.  4 Star Rated:  Everything Will Be Alright,  Changes, Right Down Here, Louisiana Women.  Everything else is 3 Star.

Back cover:

Check out my other reviews HERE.