The Very Best Of J.J. Cale, (a,k.a. The Definitive Colleciton)

J.J. Cale

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 9, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000007ODL
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,680 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
As best-of collections go, this one is uncommonly understated. Which is probably appropriate given that the singer/songwriter it celebrates is one of the most taciturn rock & rollers to ever saunter down a dusty road. Decades into a career that has produced more commercial success than one might suppose, Cale's Very Best consists of one disc; outtakes and rarities padding a second disc don't fit Cale's less-is-more aesthetic. There's no essay elevating the Oklahoman as a great blues-rock pathfinder, though Eric Clapton and Dire Straits are among the platinum performers who owe him a debt; just musician credits and a modest dedication from Cale adorn the booklet. (Hey, at least the camera-shy Cale sat still for a photo shoot!) As for the music, this 20-song CD consists of a representative selection of hits for himself ("Crazy Mama" and "Lies" charted early in his career) and his partisans (Clapton scored with "Cocaine" and "After Midnight," while Lynyrd Skynyrd made "Call Me the Breeze" a concert staple). The case could easily be made that Cale deserves something a bit more ambitious than this unambiguous overview, but who's going to make the case for the man? Not low-profile J.J., that's for sure. --Steven Stolder

Product Description
2007 compilation from the American rootsy Blues legend featuring the songs that have made him a favorite amongst fans as well as fellow musicians. 20 tracks including 'Cocaine', 'After Midnight', 'Magnolia', 'Cajun Moon' and many others. Universal. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Choice!, December 28, 1999

By	PC Fields (Santa Cruz, USA) - See all my reviews

For those musing into J.J. Cale for the first time, this is the first CD to purchase. A concise overview, "Special Edition," is available at a lesser price, but the sound suffers. The most comprehensive compilation, "Anyway The Wind Blows," is also available, as are standard versions of Cale's entire catalog. All said and done, "Very Best" is the recommended starting point with J.J. Cale.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Artist, May 8, 2005

By	Edward McShane - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In my 45+ years of collecting and listening to popular music, J.J. Cale stands out as being truly unique. How so?

The easiest way to explain this is to talk about my iPod song list of some 1700 selections. What I've done to create this song list is to choose only my favorite tracks on any particular album to be ripped onto the iPod.

Some albums are represented by one selection; others two or three. And for the very select few, perhaps the whole album gets included in my 'pod.

J.J. Cale is the prime example of this kind of personal special and favorite musician. Why? Well, as we all know, there is no accounting for taste. Each of us has our own musical preferences, tastes, and favorite genre.

For me it is blues based music, whether it be the hard blues rock of Jimi Hendrix, the early Elvis of the "Sun Sessions," or the mellow country blues of J.J. Cale, I love the blues.

Here is what I experience with J.J.: deeply felt, genuine, and totally organic blues expressions. The instrumentation is always tight, together, and in the groove. Each musician, each track within a song, each overdub blends perfectly with the whole.

And, J.J.'s lyrics, melodies, vocals, and guitar work are the essential and masterly glue that makes it all happen. What this means, for me, is that his music has a timeless quality. It doesn't get out of date, it doesn't get "old," and I don't get tired of listening to it.

This is why when I ripped a J.J. album onto my iPod, I almost always did the WHOLE album. I have 123 J.J. cuts on the 'Pod, but I won't buy "The Very Best of J.J. Cale." I have no need to because I already have all these cuts.

However, if I could only own one J.J. album, it would be the double set "Anyway the Wind Blows." Without checking it cut by cut, I'm fairly certain "Blows" will have all the best of "The Very Best." But, with "Blows" you get at least twice as much J.J.

This is a very good thing, but if aren't convinced by my opinion, at least try out "The Very Best of J.J. Cale." If you're able to appreciate good music in any genre, you just gotta dig J.J.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relaxing in the groove! A fine introduction to J.J. Cale, June 4, 2005

By	Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

No ordinary pop singer, John Not-Associated-With-The-Velvet-Undeground Cale of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is something of an acquired taste. He has maintained a solid cult following for forty years, but most people probably associate "After Midnight", "I'll Make Love To You Anytime" and "Cocaine" with Eric Clapton, "They Call Me The Breeze" with Lynyrd Skynyrd or Johnny Cash, and "Cajun Moon" with Randy Crawford, rather than with Cale.

Here they are, though, played and sung by Cale himself in his (very!) laid-back style which emphasises the songs and their rhythm over fancy solos.
J.J. Cale is an idiosyncratic vocalist, and some people may be turned off by his singing voice, or lack thereof, but Cale's loping sense of rhythm and shuffling boogie patterns became a blueprint for the adult-oriented roots-rock of men like Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler, and if you are into that kind of music you really owe it to yourself to at least give Cale a chance. You might come away preferring Clapton's covers over Cale's originals, but then again you might not.
Me? I'll take Cale's "Cocaine" and "I'll Make Love To You Anytime" and Clapton's "After Midnight". But one thing is for sure: J.J. Cale grows on you.