A while back I had figured J.J. Cale for a Southern natural, a living embodiment of the region's range of styles, an effortless synthesizer of country and blues. He has now resurfaced on Okie and is still a synthesizer, but of a different type. Where he before brought all the strands of his music into single performances, he now sings a blues, then some country, then some rock. He recorded the new album over a long period of time, with many different musicians, at different studios — all of which may partially explain why the LP sounds merely random instead of eclectic. But it doesn't account for such unusual and pointless touches as cuts simply fading out halfway before he's done performing them.

Cale has taken to sounding like a country Dr. John. He imparts a bayou feeling to every type of material, offering only slight variations in vocal approach — even when handling such disparate material as the straight blues "The Old Man and Me" and the straight country gospel "Precious Memories."

This generally boring and lifeless album ends with three good performances: the aforementioned "Precious Memories," a good (but too short) instrumental, "Okie," and a driving Leon Russell-style "I Got the Same Old Blues." J.J. Cale isn't ready to provide the kind of direction in rock and country of which he once seemed capable. (RS 165)

JON LANDAU