JJ Cale - #8 (1983)

JJ Cale is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his distinctively laid-back musical style, and for living a humble and low-key existence on the outskirts of the music business. Many of his songs have been covered successfully by other artists.

#8 was JJ Cale's third album in as many years. So how did this one differ from the seven that came before it? Overall the mood is perhaps a bit grittier than its predecessors, in a moody, brooding sort of way. Songs like "Unemployment" and "Hard Times" deal with quite bleak subject matter, and the sounds throughout are a bit more hard-edged. However, having said that, in the end it is more standard JJ Cale - laid-back and groovy, deceptive in its simplicity.
The backing musicians include keyboard players Spooner Oldham and Glen D. Hardin, guitarists Steve Ripley and Richard Thompson, bassists Tim Drummond and Bob Moore, steel guitarist Weldon Myrick, and drummers Buddy Harmon, Jim Keltner and Karl Himmel. It was the fourth album to feature Christine Lakeland, who co-wrote the opening tune "Money Talks", on which she also shared the lead vocals with Cale.
Also features a great cover of Paul Craft's "Teardrops In My Tequila", the most country-sounding tune Cale has put out to date.

Grasshopper (1982) <|> Travel Log (1990)
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