J. J. Cale

I just play my guitar and push my songs and I'd like to keep it quiet.

— J. J. Cale

Ask any guitar player - it's hard to feed yourself when you're picking for a living.

— J. J. Cale

I wanted to be able to play music, and then when I went out in my private life, my personal life, I…

— J. J. Cale

I cut all my early records in Nashville, so I guess that makes me country. I call it country pop, but my…

— J. J. Cale

I'm an electronic manipulator. Most people think J.J. Cale, he's organic. There ain't nothing organic about me.

— J. J. Cale

That's kinda what happened to me: I listened to jazz, country, R&B, rock 'n' roll. And when I sat down to write…

— J. J. Cale

Clapton was just picking up ideas. He picked up some of mine like I picked up some from the people before me.

— J. J. Cale

If you write songs long enough, you run out of material that's original to yourself.

— J. J. Cale

My performing and my singing leave much to be desired, but having other people record my songs is the most flattering thing…

— J. J. Cale

There are entertainers and there are musicians, and I never was an entertainer.

— J. J. Cale

What my whole object was is not to really sell records. I was trying to sell songs.

— J. J. Cale

I'm always doing something that ain't happening, and I'm always happening when there ain't nothing going on.

— J. J. Cale

I sing and play guitar, but songwriting is how I pay my rent. And so I didn't really need a lot of…

— J. J. Cale

As the years went by and technology came in, I used a lot of technology.

— J. J. Cale

I didn't really get any success till I was 30 years old. I played music when I was young fella, but I…

— J. J. Cale

On the 'Escondido' album, I think it took us a month to make that album.

— J. J. Cale

All my music sounds the same to me.

— J. J. Cale

I played a lot of nightclubs in and around Tulsa till I was about 22, 24 years old, then I started travellin' around.

— J. J. Cale

Music is a kind of magical thing, and you can't make magic every time, but you try. Every once in a while…

— J. J. Cale

You don't really need a lot of hype and to be famous to sell songs.

— J. J. Cale

I'm a recording studio guy, an engineer, a songwriter and a guitar player, in that order.

— J. J. Cale

I'm a great believer in freedom of speech.

— J. J. Cale

I was a studio engineer out in L.A. for about six or seven years, and I played sideman for different people, and…

— J. J. Cale

I consider myself a songwriter... I guess the business end is my songs and the fun part is playing the guitar.

— J. J. Cale

All record companies want big-selling records, and my music is a little too raw for commercial success.

— J. J. Cale