''Shades'' is the sixth studio album by J. J. Cale, released in February

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Background

After years of living and recording in

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, Cale relocated to California in 1980 and lived in an Anaheim trailer park but still worked with longtime producer Audie Ashworth. ''Shades'', which continued Cale’s tradition of giving his albums one word titles, was recorded in various studios in Nashville and Los Angeles. It boasts an impressive list of top shelf session musicians, including Hal Blaine and

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began play ...

of the Wrecking Crew, James Burton, Jim Keltner,

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Ken Buttrey Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history". Buttrey was born in Nashville, Tennessee, became a ...

, and

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

, among many others. As AllMusic states in its retroactive review of the LP, “His songs and his overall approach to music are all-encompassing; the seductive and laid-back grooves his rhythm sections empower are written into the very fabric of the songs. ‘Carry On,’ ‘Pack My Jack’ - these are songs of simple, sturdy strengths, succinctly written and concisely rendered. There are never any stray notes or decorative filigrees.” Despite the coterie of musicians used on the sessions, ''Shades'' has a remarkably cohesive sound that is immediately recognizable as J.J. Cale. Nine of the ten songs are original compositions, the exception being “Mama Don’t,” which would become Cale’s show opener. As can be seen in the 2005 documentary ''To Tulsa and Back'', Cale would take the stage himself and introduce the band members one by one following along to the words of the song (“Mama don’t allow no bass in this place…”) The album opens with “Carry On,” an optimistic call for perseverance in the face of adversity, followed by the chugging prison song “Deep Dark Dungeon.” The relationship songs have a sour tone, as is evident in “Runaround” and the bitter “What Do You Expect” (“What do you expect, caviar and candlelight? Champagne every night?") "Love Has Been Gone” is also despairing, with Cale repeating the line “There’s nothing new…” Even the straight love song “Wish I Had Not Said That” has an inherent ambivalence in the title, despite the tenderness found in the lyrics. “Pack My Jack” recalls earlier Cale songs like “Travelin’ Light” and “I’m a Gypsy Man” and speaks to the freedom of the highway and how “a ramblin’ man keeps ramblin’ on.” The album’s closing track, “Cloudy Day” is an instrumental that clocks in at nearly five-and-a-half minutes, making it the longest song to appear on one of Cale’s albums. ''Shades cover features a silhouette of a guitar player, presumably Cale, inspired by the design of French cigarettes brand Gitanes. The notoriously media-shy singer would not use his own image on an LP cover until his 1983 album #8.

Reception

AllMusic: “Friendly and inviting, ''Shades'' sounds good in any season and at any time of day (and may be some of the best hangover cure music around)."

Track listing

All songs written by J. J. Cale. # "Carry On" - 2:20 # "Deep Dark Dungeon" - 2:10 # "Wish I Had Not Said That" - 3:23 # "Pack My Jack" - 5:13 # "If You Leave Her" - 2:42 # "Mama Don't" ( Cow Cow Davenport; arranged by J. J. Cale) – 3:50 # "Runaround" - 2:42 # "What Do You Expect" - 3:23 # "Love Has Been Gone" - 2:13 # "Cloudy Day" - 5:25

Personnel

* J. J. Cale - gut-string guitar (tr.3), vocals, rhythm guitar( tr. 1, 2, 6, 10) electric guitar (tr. 1 - 5, 7 - 10), drums, arranger, piano (tr. 5), bass (tr. 3), el. guitar solo (second) (tr. 6) * Christine Lakeland - Moog synthesizer (tr. 3), piano (tr. 3), organ (tr. 1), percussion (tr. 3), vocals, rhythm guitar

gut-string guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of ...

(tr. 3), rhythm guitar (tr. 7, 8) * Tommy Tedesco - rhythm guitar (tr. 1) * Gordon Shryock - electric guitar (tr. 8) *

- guitar solo (1&3) (tr.6) * James Burton - electric guitar (tr. 4) * Bill Boatman - electric rhythm guitar (tr. 5) * Johnny Christopher - rhythm guitar (tr. 2, 6) * Tommy Cogbill - bass (tr. 2, 6, 9) * Nick Rather - bass (tr. 5, 8, 10) *

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- bass (tr. 4, 7) *

- bass (tr. 1) * Michael Rhodes - bass * Jim Keltner - drums (tr. 4) * Jimmy Karstein drums (tr. 5) * Gary Allen - drums (tr. 8, 10) * Hal Blaine - drums (tr. 7) * Hayward Bishop - drums (tr. 3) *

Kenneth A. Buttrey Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history". Buttrey was born in Nashville, Tennessee, became a ...

- drums (tr. 2, 6) * Karl Himmel - drums (tr. 9) * Russ Kunkel - drums (tr. 1) * Larry Bell - electric piano (tr. 5) * David Briggs - keyboards, piano (tr. 2), electric piano (tr. 6) *

- Electric piano (tr. 8) *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...

- piano (tr.7) * Glen Hardin - piano (tr.4) *

Bobby Emmons Bobby Gene Emmons (February 19, 1943 – February 23, 2015) was an American keyboard player and songwriter. He was an active session musician in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the keyboardist of The Memphis Boys, playing keyboards on tracks by E ...

- organ, piano (tr. 6) * Dennis Solee - saxophone (tr. 10) ;Technical * Vigon Nahas Vigon - art direction, design * Helmut Werd - photography * Chad Hailey - engineer * Les Ladd - engineer * Audie Ashworth - engineer, producer * Ron Reynolds - engineer, mixing * Hugh Davies - engineer, mixing * Steve Ripley - engineer * Joe Mills - engineer, mixing

Miscellaneous

The album cover, showing a gypsy guitarist behind cigarette smoke, was the pastiche of a box of Gitanes French cigarettes.

References

{{Authority control J. J. Cale albums 1981 albums Albums produced by Audie Ashworth