To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale

Saw the film last night at the Nashville Film Festival. The documentary follows Cale and his band on a two week trip to Tulsa and back where Cale talks about his life and his approach to his music. It was great to watch in a lot of ways .. the music was great and, as a longtime admirer of the music, I heard a lot of songs in the film that I would like to own if I could figure out their names, the scenery was kind of cool and made me wonder if the German director (who had never met Cale before he made the film) had also never been through the American southwest.

For me, the most poignant parts of the film were with JJ Cale in downtown Tulsa with an acoustic guitar playing his songs -- seeing a musician transforming from a quiet, soft-spoken man into the musical genius that he is in such a mundane setting can be magic.

The film also made me think about the way we age. Cale, who tells that he is 65, obviously looks different than he did years ago and the film's photography seemed to let you catch that young musician's face from the photos it showed in the aging face of the man as he is now.

It's a great film about a man who could be anyone you know with everyday thoughts, a dry wit and a gentle and humble approach to life.

Unlike the main review for this title on this site (from Rocky Frisco himself) I am not part of this film and came to it as just an ordinary viewer. In fact above and beyond that I came to it almost completely cold because all that I knew was that I had quite liked the music that I'd heard on the trailer and also that the film was being screened on BBC4 – which is normally a home for interesting and intelligent documentaries etc. I'm not suggesting that somehow Frisco's comments may have been slightly slanted by being in the film but just to say that I was coming to it from a totally different place.

It is probably also worth mentioning that the film I saw was 90 minutes long and not the 167 minutes that IMDb lists it as – so again maybe others have seen a different version of this and comments may or may not apply. Befitting the music and the man, the documentary is pretty laid back and doesn't overwhelm with any one thing but generally just meanders with enough to hold the interest. Considering he himself seems happy away from any form of limelight, the crew did a good job of getting nice chats out of Cale; nothing too shocking or memorable but just a man being himself and being enjoyable to spend a bit of time with. Likewise with the music; we are given sufficient performances to get a feel for his style and talent but not so much that it serves as a concert film.

Of course for some viewers this will be perhaps annoying because they perhaps wanted more music, more of Cale or more of both. Such as it is though the film was relaxed and slightly interesting. Not one that I would recommend rushing to but if you like the sound of the music and can relax into it then Cale is a laid back guy that is easy to hang with for a time, while the cool tracks play across the background.

When I went to the store and saw this DVD I knew it wouldn't leave my hands anymore. And I must say it's really a great DVD. It's not a rental DVD over here so people will only have the chance to buy it. It's a docu of a great man with LOTS of music. It's a DVD all big stars should have because the man stays with both feet firmly on the ground. It also shows what a great guitar player and performer the man is, so beginning artist or even advanced ones should take a look at this DVD too. The feeling I had after seeing this DVD was that the MAN himself is the style, his music is not a style but a lifestyle. I thought he was great, but he's far greater than I thought. A great opportunity for people like me out of Belgium who will never see the man live to see a man in action where all those other great ones got the juice from. It's worth every penny(Euro) I paid for it.

I'm somewhat prejudiced, since I'm in the film, as the piano player with the Cale Band, but even allowing for that, I still think it's magnificent. If they allowed me to vote even higher than ten, I would. JJ Cale has been an enigma to most of his fans, a mystery, for years. This documentary changes that. The crew from Kick Films really captured the real JJ Cale, not an easy task. I have been playing with Cale off and on since 1957 and the JJ Cale I know is the one you'll see in this film. The DVD has now been released in the USA, on 13 June, 2006 and has been available as a region two DVD in England, Germany and Australia since late 2005. This Documentary is not to be missed!

i got the DVD as a xmas gift from a good friend and man what a gift it is! i always liked his music very much but i knew virtually nothing about the person john cale. this film captures him perfectly. it is slow paced, unobtrusive and just lets the man and his friends speak. and what a sweet man he is. he is a very mature human being, humble, straight, has clear opinions and seems to be a very loving person. very simple and down-to-earth. watching this documentary was a 2-hour celebration. and i'd think not just for die-hard fans of j.j. cale, because it shows - as i said already - a very simple, smart, humble and loving human being. it makes you believe in the human spirit again. great camera work, editing and sound. a REALLY good documentary. 10 out of 10.