J. J. Cale Quotes

I came to L.A. in 1970, and my desire and my training was to be a studio musician, which I had read about in my senior year in high school.

I am a muso, and I love doing it. I assumed that would be my career for a long time. I always wanted to be a writer, but I didn't think that anyone could actually be that full-time, so I always go back to conducting and arranging and playing. If you scratch me, I'm a musician.

I want to write songs and play them for people - live.

I became a professional musician and played all kinds of music. I played bluegrass, I played classical music, and for many years, I played jazz.

I began both auditioning with Pearl Jam and recording for Eleven. In the fall of 1994, I joined Pearl Jam.

It's much easier to work on other people's music and play in other people's bands as a guitar player instead of being the main songwriter and singer. That's a really big job to do that.

As a musician and a guitar player, I can noodle as well as anybody. But from my background as a session musician, I always try to play what is called for by the lyric and listening to the song. As a writer, that's what I do, too.

I'm a bass player from way back and Paul is a guitar player and we've been in many bands.

I actually played violin on 'E.T.' I used to be a violinist.

Basically, I'm just a guitar player that figured out I wasn't ever gonna be able to buy dinner with my guitar playing. So I got into songwriting, which is a little more profitable business.

I'm a guitar player. Actually, I think of myself as a songwriter/rhythm-guitar player.

A lot of times, I played bass on songs. Gene plays guitar on some songs.

I'm an old guitar player who has fallen into television and is so happy he did.

I have a buddy of mine who's a musician, and I play guitar and sing quite a bit with him.

Whoever hired me might've just heard 'Refugee.' Well, I'm not the secret to 'Refugee.' The secret to 'Refugee' is the song. But if somebody really good calls me up to play on something because they like the way I played on 'Refugee,' then I wind up playing on another really good song.

If I'm working as an engineer for another band, the responsibility for brilliance pretty much rests on their shoulders. I think I'm pretty good, but I'm not good enough to turn a trout into a sausage, or the other way around.

I was a hired drummer for 3 Doors; there wasn't an opportunity for me to write.

I got my first trumpet when I was six years old, from Al Hirt. My father was playing in Al Hirt's band at that time.

I've actually been playing music ever since I was a young a kid. I got my first guitar when I was about 7 or 8 years old, so I've always been doing music.

I've been around two years shy of 50 years doing what I do. I am a musician.

I was a drummer, and I did a little singing too.

I wouldn't just have other people write songs and me go out and sing it. I would sit down with a guitar and write 11 or 12 good songs for an album and that is gonna take a long time.

I've been into music for a long time. I started playing drums when I was 8 and piano when I was 10, then bass and guitar when I was 18.

I played guitar when I was young and never really considered it as a way to make a living.

I had the opportunity to do a movie with Roger Daltrey of The Who. In the movie, I played a guitar student. Since I had to learn how to play somewhat for the movie, I was introduced to the guitar.