Okie

About

Following the patchwork, sometimes-glossy productions of <i>Really</i>, J.J. Cale returned to an organic sound on <i>Okie</i>. Recorded in and around Cale’s house in Nashville, his third album borrows its warmth from the comforts of a cozy home. Listening to these songs is like wearing an old sweater, or breathing the air of a muggy night, or feeling a hand on your waist during a slow dance. As simple as his compositions could be, Cale and producer Audie Ashworth fine-tuned their technique to the point where every song became an exemplar of precision, shading, and microscopic detail. If the average rock’n’roll production is a highway billboard, then the songs on <i>Okie</i> are deeply-rendered pencil drawings. Observe the haunting separation between the tapping of a drum, a distant pedal steel, and Cale’s own Oklahoma murmur on “The Old Man and Me.' Take a whiff of blues songs turned to blood pulses on “Anyway the Wind Blows” and “I Got the Same Old Blues.” “Rock & Roll Records” and “I’d Like to Love You Baby” gradually reveal layers and layers of guitar detail under their deceptively simple structures. Like a great orator or magician, Cale casts spells over his audience while convincing them that he’s doing nothing much at all.

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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