July 19, 2024 —– Chart #255
Hello Music Friends,
Hey folks, welcome to another edition of Chart of the Week. Today’s song is a great one, a solid blues rocker. J.J. Cale wrote and recorded this song in 1970. “Call Me the Breeze” 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. Many of you will know a different recording of this song, but let’s give J.J. his credit.
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 disc 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, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist and songwriter Izzy Stradlin’ in 2016, and UK singer Alan Price on his 1977 album Two of a Kind with Rob Hoeke.
On June 6, 2014, Clapton’s management published the official lyric video with license to Warner Bros. Records on his YouTube channel, before the album’s release. Twenty days later the official music video was released and was directed by Joseph Toman. 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.
The official Eric Clapton/J.J. Cale video: https://youtu.be/zsqF3p8ORDE?si=-WxBCBLSYwu59Rlw
Oh, and this is Lynyrd Skynyrd live at CMA Fest with guest guitarist Billy Gibbons: https://youtu.be/k_yOEfl4HRY?si=wgr5F8OdvzFhnfDK
Many times I have cranked this song up in my car and played drums on the dashboard and steering wheel. Bet some of you have too! Keep jamming my friends.
Keep Rockin’,
Stan Bradshaw