This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Just call him the breeze.
Some 33 years and 13 albums into his so-called career, laissez-faire bluesman J.J. Cale just keeps blowing down the road, paying no mind to fame, fortune, fads and fashions. As a result, To Tulsa And Back, his first disc in eight years, delivers what you’d expect from the seasoned songwriter of Cocaine and After Midnight: More dusty vocals. More shuffling grooves. More burbling guitars. And more understated blues and roots numbers delivered with lazy, off-the-cuff immediacy. Sure, Cale varies the recipe slightly now and then with punchy horns, jazzy vibes, the odd banjo and even a mambo groove. Essentially, though, To Tulsa And Back finds J.J. following the same path he blazed decades ago — and proving once again that nothing succeeds like not giving a damn.
