Thursday, time for digging up a cool cover. This time we have a true classic that gets some distorted riffs with a whiskey soar vocal.
“Cocaine” is a epic classic by JJ Cale, the song was written and recorded in 1976. The song was popularized by Eric Clapton after his cover version was released on the 1977 album "Slowhand".
Today's cover is a modern rocker with the Norwegian fuzzed-out intergalactic stoner rock band KAL-EL, their music is a step-child of hard rock and heavy metal, you know, a bass-heavy groove, detuned guitars, and fuzz-pedals set max, often with hints of pyschedelic and blues rock as well as doom metal.
Today's tune "Cocaine", here is a clip with Erik Torp, Live at Corner Pub & Diskotek 30.11.2018, enjoy!
"Call Me the Breeze" is a rock song by JJ Cale. It first appeared on his 1972 debut album, Naturally, as the opening track. The song consists of a 12-bar blues guitar shuffle and features the early use of a drum machine.
Like many Cale songs, "Call Me the Breeze" has been covered numerous times by an assortment of musicians, most notably LYNYRD SKYNYRD on their albums "Second Helping" (1974) and the live album "One More from the Road" (1976), Mason Proffit on their 1972 album "Rockfish Crossing", Bobby Bare on his album "Bobby Bare - The Country Store Collection" (1988), Johnny Cash on his album "Water from the Wells of Home" (1988) with his son John Carter Cash, John Mayer on his 2013 album "Paradise Valley", and UK singer Alan Price on his 1977 album "Two of a Kind" with Rob Hoeke. Many of the cover versions available have been performed as tributes to LYNYRD SKYNYRD. For example, Les Claypool covers it on his album "Under The Influence", A Jam Band Tribute to LYNYRD SKYNYRD.
JJ Cale performed the song along with his longtime friend Eric Clapton, at Clapton's 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival. The version, featuring an extended guitar solo by Clapton, is included on the official Crossroads DVD released in late 2004. Later, when Clapton got the news that Cale had died, he performed various tunes composed by JJ Cale for his 2013 Baloise Session concert, dedicating his performance to Cale. For his 2014 tribute-album to JJ Cale, titled "The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale", Clapton covered the song with the original drum machine sound at the beginning, saying it's not possible to really cover Cale's work: "You can hear the drum machine and JJ rambling at the beginning there". His take on the song was released under the title "They Call Me the Breeze" as a promotional single on June 30, 2014 for Surfdog and Polydor Records, accessible via digital music download.
On June 6, 2014, Clapton's management published the official lyric video with licence to Warner Bros. Records on his YouTube channel, before the album's release. Twenty days later the official music video was released. It features original photographic and videographic material of both Cale, and Clapton with Cale. The video opens with Clapton, hitchhiking with his guitar case in a rural location, holding a sign for Escondido, mimicking the cover art of the duo's album, The Road to Escondido. He is picked up by a car. The car footage is interspersed with Clapton who is seen singing and playing the song on a guitar given to him by Cale in 2006. The video shows Cale enjoying the classic American lifestyle. While driving around, Clapton chats to the driver, portrayed by English actor and director Dexter Fletcher about Cale, explaining that he wants to visit Escondido because an "old mate used to live there". Clapton pays tribute to Cale saying "he was a fantastic guy and a great musician ... he was my hero." The video ends with a shot of Clapton congratulating Cale after their performance at the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas.
Eric Clapton has often stated that JJ Cale is one of the single most important figures in rock history, a sentiment echoed by many of his fellow musicians. Cale's influence on Clapton and many of today's artists cannot be overstated. To honor JJ's legacy, a year after his passing, Clapton, along with a group of like-minded friends and musicians, is releasing Eric Clapton & Friends: The Breeze, An Appreciation of JJ Cale. With performances by Clapton, Mark Knopfler, John Mayer, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, Derek Trucks, Don White and others, the album features 16 beloved JJ Cale Songs and is named for the 1972 single "Call Me The Breeze."
The tune is taken from Eric Clapton & Friends' "The Breeze An Appreciation of JJ Cale".
Here is a clip from "Crossroads Guitar Festival" with JJ Cale and Eric Clapton.
Thursday, time for a cover. As we did J.J. Cale last Sunday, lets play Eric Clapton's version.
"After Midnight" is a rock song by J.J. Cale, first released in 1966. Eric Clapton later covered it for his eponymous album, released in 1970. Clapton's rendition became a success, prompting Cale to re-record the song for Cale's 1972 album Naturally. In 1988, Clapton later re-recorded the song for a Michelob beer commercial and then released the re-recording as a single. "After Midnight" is considered one of Clapton's signature songs throughout his career. Other artists cover the song in later years.
The tune can be found on "Eric Clapton" is the debut solo album from British rock musician Eric Clapton, released in August 1970 under Atco and Polydor Records.
After being successful with bands including THE YARDBIRDS, JOHN MAYALL & THE BLUESBREAKERS, CREAM and BLIND FAITH, Clapton recorded an album under his own name in late 1969 and early 1970. The album cover shows Clapton sitting in a room which is going to be decorated and in which a ladder, a chair and some carpets are placed. Clapton holds a cigarette in his right hand and has his Fender Stratocaster Brownie electric guitar with him.
Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler performing live during Claptons 25th Anniversary Tour in Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, San Francisco, USA - 21st September 1988.
Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood - After Midnight (Live from Madison Square Garden 2008)
"After Midnight" is a rock song by J.J.Cale, first released in 1966. Eric Clapton later covered it for his eponymous album, released in 1970. Clapton's rendition became a success, prompting Cale to re-record the song for Cale's 1972 album Naturally. In 1988, Clapton later re-recorded the song for a Michelob beer commercial and then released the re-recording as a single. "After Midnight" is considered one of Clapton's signature songs throughout his career. Other artists cover the song in later years.
Cale wrote "After Midnight" at a "much slower tempo" in contrast to Clapton's later fast-paced rendition. He recorded the song and then release it in 1966 as a single with its flipside track "Slow Motion". When Eric Clapton was working with Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Delaney Bramlett introduced Clapton to the music of J.J. Cale. "After Midnight" was the first of several Cale cover songs released by Clapton and appeared on his self-titled debut album. The performers on this version were Clapton on vocals and guitar, Bobby Whitlock on organ and vocals, Jim Gordon on drums, Delaney Bramlett on rhythm guitar, Carl Radle on bass, Leon Russell on piano, Jim Price on trumpet, and Bobby Keys on saxophone. It also appears on Just One Night, a live album recorded in Japan in 1979.
In 1988, Clapton re-recorded the song mainly for a Michelob beer commercial. The 1988 re-recording was released as a single with different B-side tracks: "I Can't Stand It" for the seven-inch vinyl, "Whatcha Gonna Do" for the twelve-inch vinyl and the CD, and live recording "Sunshine of Your Love" as the CD's one of three tracks. Another live version was released on Live from Madison Square Garden with Steve Winwood on organ.
Clapton said in his 2014 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune:
The construction of "After Midnight" was great and it had everything. The thing that summed up J.J. for me is it had a little country, a little blues, it was rock and there was this guitar part that was baffling. That has always been the fascinating part; I still don’t think we got it right [on my version]. I’ve always been in awe of J.J.’s technique... He was a rhythm guitar player and a great lead guitar player, too. But when he played rhythm, it was very difficult to get it and know what he was doing.
When we recorded it, me and Delaney both did the guitar part it at same time, and it was a really difficult claw-hammer (picking) thing. I thought: "This is too hard," so we made a meal out of it. What got me is that it appeared to be a very complex track and I was just intrigued, and thought: "I've got to try and get this right." Cale was coming from this very soulful white music. It was at Delaney's insistence that I did "After Midnight", and that was probably one of the first songs we decided to record. And that began my association with J.J., really. Cale was unaware of Clapton's recording of the song until it became a radio hit in 1970. He recalled to Mojo magazine that when he heard Clapton's version playing on his radio, "I was dirt poor, not making enough to eat and I wasn’t a young man. I was in my thirties, so I was very happy. It was nice to make some money."Cale's friend and producer Audie Ashworth then encouraged him to capitalize on the song's success by recording a full album, Naturally, released in 1972. Cale issued the re-recorded version as a single that same year with its B-side track, "Crying Eyes." The 1972 re-recorded version reached #42 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Cale told The San Diego Union-Tribune in his 1990 interview about Clapton's version:
I thought: 'Well, that won't go anywhere'. A year later, they started playing it on every radio station, including in my hometown. The first time I heard it on my car radio I just drove off to the side of the road. Because I'd never heard anything of my own on the radio before...
All record companies want big-selling records, and my music is a little too raw for commercial success. People are familiar with my songs, especially through Eric Clapton. But I have a hard time drawing a crowd, because I have been a songwriter. I've never sold a lot of records; my music's gotten much more famous than me.
Cale released a live version on the album Live in 2001.
John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though he deliberately avoided the limelight (being temperamentally averse to celebrity) his influence as a musical artist has been widely acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, and Eric Clapton, who described him as "one of the most important artists in the history of rock". He is considered to be one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz.
Many songs written by Cale have been recorded by other artists, including "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton; "Call Me the Breeze" by LYNYRD SKYNYRD, John Mayer, Johnny Cash, and Bobby Bare; "Clyde" by Waylon Jennings and Dr. Hook; "I Got The Same Old Blues" by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, LYNYRD SKYNYRD, Freddie King, and Bryan Ferry; and "Magnolia" by Poco, Beck, Lucinda Williams, IRON AND WINE, José Feliciano, Ben Bridwell, and John Mayer with Eric Clapton.
In 2008 he, along with Clapton, received a Grammy Award for their album, The Road to Escondido.
Today's tune is recorded live in Dutch studio 1994.
