Track Listing

1. After Midnight
2. Old Man
3. Call Me The Breeze
4. Sensitive Kind
5. Cocaine
6. Money Talks
7. River Boat Song
8. Living Here Too
9. Mama Don't
10. People Lie
11. Humdinger
12. Thirteen Days
13. Magnolia
14. Ride Me High

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20812 in Music
• Released on: 2001-06-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Leave it to J.J. Cale to press 30 years into his recording career before getting around to releasing his first onstage recording. Cale, after all, has his own pace for doing things and it ain't exactly breakneck. Unsurprisingly, the taciturn Oklahoman's approach to the stage and studio are pretty much the same: in any setting, Cale is one laid-back hombre. Here he ambles through 14 tracks without breaking a sweat, whipping off bluesy solos with offhanded aplomb and delivering his simple but spot-on lyrics with that unmistakable mumble. His infrequent hits resurface here ("After Midnight," "Cocaine," "Call Me the Breeze"), sounding fresher than they have any right to be. And, in truth, there really isn't much of a gap in quality between Cale's best and worst efforts; it's all good. In a world where entire careers are made around making the simple seem to be difficult, Cale has an all-too-rare gift for making the simple seem simple. Bless him for that. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

I was there!
I saw two of the concerts from which came the songs on this album. I still remember JJ playing After Midnight accustically and then the band joining him one by one, and then, at the end, leaving the stage one by one during Mama Don't. Perhaps for this sentiments I love this album. The sound is less perfect than the studio records (except of the first 4 tracks) and Cocaine is a bit funny. But JJ has an amazing instinct to make all of his music sound exceptional, and - as the rest of his work - this album is highly recommended.

Humdinger
Questions arise when considering that this is the first live album issued by one of rock's most brilliant guitarists. One wonders what we might have heard had he released a live album in his prime, after the release of 1976's "Troubadour." But, like plenty other squandered opportunities at greatness in Cale's notoriously complacent career, it just happens that, three decades into it, he issues his first live album. However, this live set demonstrates that Cale has aged very well, as the album contains a handful of the most brilliant live performances in rock history.

Like Richard Thompson, every time JJ Cale delivers the kind of performance that critics and fans are always promising, some people, such as myself, are left wondering "well, why can't he do more of that?" JJ Cale's absolutely riveting solo performance of After Midnight on this live CD is just such a circumstance. It is one of the most memorable live performances by a formidable artist in rock history. Perhaps I am one of those insatiably selfish hardcore fans, but after hearing that performance, I could not help but entertain fantasies of a solo JJ Cale tour. When he is joined by a bass player on Old Man, the result is just as powerfully raw, and when he is joined by the band on Call Me The Breeze and Sensitive Kind, it seems as though this is one of the most fantastic live rock albums ever.

However, the live rendition of Cocaine is unfortunately uninspired and adds nothing to the studio version. Money Talks, River Boat Song, Mama Don't and Humdinger are cluttered with background noise, the audience just never stops screaming. While this is to be expected of a live album, the crowd's boisterous antics is a stark contrast to the powerfully clean sound delivered on the first four songs, and when it endures for nearly the rest of the album, it becomes exasperating.

Nonetheless, the bursts of brilliance that punch through the album's quieter moments are well-worth the price, and if this CD contained nothing but the first four songs, it would still be worth the price, as they are four of the most memorable live rock performances ever. Another potential mishap here is that these live sets were recorded upon the release of Cale's most recent albums, 1994's Closer To You and 1996's Guitar Man. Not one song form either album appears on this live CD. So, as always with JJ Cale, fans must take the good with the what-might-have-been, and thankfully, that has always proved to be a rewarding exchange.

Fine, fine, fine!!!
yeah, this is a live album; yeah, crowd noise... but it is an exceptionally well-engineered and mastered live album. Ignore the 'zon reviews which complain about irrationally exuberant bass and drums... if you have good equipment, speakers, and cables, and you are a JJ person, you'll like this album... no ifs, ands, or buts!

*****