Sunday 5 June 2011

Rock and Roll Records

Rock and Roll Records - J.J. Cale

I make rock 'n' roll records
I sell 'em for a dime
I make my living and feed my children
All in good time
The blues they go for a quarter
Guaranteed to satisfy
It's a real funky deal
Don't let it pass you by
If your evening sun don't shine, my friend
Tell you what I'm gonna do I'm gonna hammer out this rhythm
Till I get right next to you 

 J.J. Cale is best known for his song Cocaine, which was covered by Eric Clapton and is probably one of the best love songs to a class A drug ever written. Sadly much of the rest of J.J. Cale's catalog is rather ignored. I happen to believe that Okie, the album Rock and Roll records was taken from is his finest. This song just about sums up how I feel about Rock and Roll music and it's place in my life. I have a terrible singing voice, if I could have the voice of anyone, I'd choose J.J. Cale. His voice just sums up rock and roll. It's not smooth, it's a lived in voice which conveys the feel of a rock and roll lifestyle. Unlike most of songs we are subjected to these days, Cale's songs are honest and raw. They are not written to shock, just to convey how he feels about life. Songs like "The old man and me" are about sitting on the river bank, talking to an old guy fishing. You can shut your eyes and almost be on the banks of the Missisipi river, beer in hand, waiting for the fish to bite.  If you want to know how us rock and rollers feel about life, click the play button on the youtube video below. Enjoy your Sunday


1 comment:

Jaybird said...

Thanks for this - happy memories of seeing him live once