What I'm listening to...

I listen to a variety of music while I work, because I find it more in tune [Ha! See what I did there? In tune. Music. I slay me!] with my work than having the tv on in the background. Here's something from my playlist.

 JJ Cale

[source]

My mom's a music fanatic enthusiast, and each time she drives down for a visit she packs up a box of cds to listen to on the way. On a recent visit she brought the box in so I could look through it and suggested I give JJ Cale's Very Best of JJ Cale a listen.

It's been in the rotation ever since! It's bluesy, jazzy and old school rock 'n roll. Maybe even a little country. I instantly recognized After Midnight and upon reading his bio online I discovered that while Clapton made it famous, Cale actually cut it first, in the mid 60's. Clapton also recorded Cale's Cocaine, Travelin' Light and I'll Make Love To You Anytime. He's been covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Santana, The Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash and Widespread Panic too. 

I suppose I tend to think that the band who records the song is the band that wrote the song, which is grievously inaccurate. It's so interesting to learn of these in some ways behind the scenes artists, who often aren't known to the average listener.

One of my faves off the Very Best of JJ Cale album is Hey Baby. 

Any song about how awesome and good looking I am is aces as far as I'm concerned.

['Baby' is an ambiguous term of endearment, which to me means the song could be about any one of us. Or at least any one of us that is awesome and good looking. Ha!]

I really like Mama Don't for it's guitar parts. I'll Make Love to You Anytime rocks. Crazy Mama rolls along in a country highway kind of way. The whole album just relaxes me. Like nothing can possibly be difficult or stressful or problematic because I'm hanging out with this 70 something year old guy who like, jams man. He makes me want to learn the harmonica so I can play it in his band. [I'm no groupie, yo.]

Am I going on and on here? I'll reel it back in. Get your hands on some JJ Cale. Go.