JJ was a troubadour, the way musicians are supposed to be. Play for people to sing, dance, have a good time. I remember from a live recording I have, that he urged the people to sit up, sing and dance. He sounded quite surprised that people just sat there and watched him play. His whole philosophy could be summed up:" I make rock'n' roll records, I sell them for a dime, I make my living..." He was living for the music and music made a living for him. No fancy living though. Maybe we think we know many details of his life, but I can hardly remember finding many photos, interviews etc for most of the time I was aware of his music. And it was fantastic. Most of the musicians build a reputation, make noise around their name, create a hype, thousands of interviews, details of their personal life leaked from managers in order to affect sales, but J.J. Cale avoided all these. I guess he knew his time was near and allowed some kind of documentaries to be filmed, but you have to be into him and his style to like them. They are not building a hype, they are not made to attract a new audience. They are more like an artefact for friends, a secret yet valuable reward.
He was the only one on my list to see him play live. Unfortunately I never had the chance to go to the US. But I am sure I will see him some eternity.
