Quotes from J. J. Cale

If a guy came up and said 'we got a polka band and we're going to play polkas next Saturday night' I'd play polkas.

If I was strictly an artist, I'd have to learn to dance and get a shiny suit and stuff.

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

So, my records really didn't sell, but musicians started picking up on my sound and my songs and cutting my songs and that turned into a gold mine.

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

I've always tried to come up with something that would catch your ear.

What's really nice is when you get a check in the mail.

When they say, 'Well, you gotta do some interviews on TV,' I went, 'Oh, I like to watch TV, but I don't wanna be on it.'

I rarely have any contact with the artists who cover my songs.

Yes, I've been down the pike and back. And through the years, I've heard different songs with scatting in it, and it was - always cracked me up as kind of a funny style of music, you know? When I did it, it kind of cracked me up as a comedy kind of routine.

I'd say writing songs is, for me, as much playing the tape recorder as it is playing guitar or writing words.

Music is a kind of magical thing, and you can't make magic every time, but you try. Every once in a while it has that magic, and the audience knows that. I probably miss it more than I hit it, but I think that's what all musicians try for.

I wanted to be able to play music, and then when I went out in my private life, my personal life, I didn't want to be famous.

Nobody really produces my albums.

Widespread Panic discovered a couple of my songs and started doin' 'em on the gigs. They'd take a song and expand it and everybody plays a long time and people really like that. But I made my living as a songwriter so I try to get to singin' and get it over with.

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

I'd like to have the fortune, but I don't care too much about the fame.

I would never ever sing at all if I could get away with it. I had pitch problems, no range. So what I did was manipulate the sound... that way you couldn't tell that I wasn't very good.

There's a couple of songs of my own I wished I'd have never put out, that, you know, I'd like to burn. But with the advent of digital and computer, nothing goes away any more, you know.

We used to say when we were 20 years old, that when you reach 30, you gotta hang up your guitar and get a real job.

I'm a great believer in freedom of speech.

I was an engineer for a long time. I was a sideman guitar player.

I've always enjoyed being a Gypsy.

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