To Tulsa and Back is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter J. J. Cale, released on June 8, 2004.
Between 1996 and 2003, Cale released no new music but admiration for his work and musicianship only grew among his fans and admirers. In the 2002 memoir Shakey, Neil Young told biographer Jimmy McDonugh that Cale was one of his favourite guitarists of all time, comparing him to Jimi Hendrix. Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton were also effusive in their praise for the Oklahoma troubadour, but CaleâÂÂs early 90s output left him at odds with the music industry and, to an extent, his own fans, which he acknowledged in an interview with Vintage Guitar:
Always accustomed to doing things his own way, Cale handled nearly all the instrumentation on his previous album Guitar Man, recording in his home studio, but for To Tulsa and Back he opted to change his approach by regrouping with long-time producer Audie Ashworth, as he recalled to Dan Forte:
The album returns to the style and sound Cale became famous for â a mix of laid-back shuffles, jazzy chords, and bluesy rock and roll with layered vocals â but it also embraces technology, resulting in a cleaner sound than on CaleâÂÂs earlier albums. In his AllMusic review of To Tulsa and Back, Thom Jurek writes, âÂÂCale steeps himself in technology and evokes the moods and frameworks of music that intersect with the blues or stand in opposition to them. The keyboards, drum loops, and horns on this record are as pervasive as the guitarsâ¦It's just that the sheeny beats and clean synth lines feel odd when juxtaposed against the murky lyrics and Cale's wispy, smoke-weathered voice.â The horns on the album came from synthesizers, with Cale later saying, âÂÂ[Keyboardist] Walt Richmond did the [synth] horns on âÂÂMy Gal,â and they almost sound like real horns. I did them on everything else â either on keyboard or MIDIâÂÂed out of my Casio [PG-380] guitar. You can plug the MIDI from the guitar into any synthesizer that has MIDI.âÂÂ
Lyrically, Cale makes a rare foray into political songwriting with âÂÂThe Problem,â an indictment of then-President George W. Bush with lines like, âÂÂThe man in charge, he don't know what he's doing, he don't know the world has changed.â âÂÂStone Riverâ is an understated protest song about the water crisis in the West. (Cale expressed similar ecological concerns on âÂÂDeath in the Wildernessâ from his previous LP Guitar Man.) The blue collar âÂÂOne Stepâ examines the struggles of the working class, while âÂÂRioâ recalls several of the songs on 1990âÂÂs Travel-Log, such as âÂÂTijuanaâ and âÂÂNew Orleans,â and pays tribute to the Brazilian city. Cale expresses his love for the blues on âÂÂThese Bluesâ and displays his banjo skills on âÂÂAnother Song,â although he was unimpressed by his skills on the instrument, later telling Derek Haley, "I have not learned how to play it, and IâÂÂm embarrassed about that cut. IâÂÂm a shade tree banjo player. IâÂÂve always noodled on the banjo, but never in public or in front of anybody. ItâÂÂs something I like to do. I wrote that song here in the kitchen, man. I had my DAT recorder on and my mic set up, and everybody at the record company liked the song so I let them go ahead and put it out. But, the banjo playing is pretty bad, so I donâÂÂt want to talk about no banjo playing.â Women and romance are the subjects of several songs, such as âÂÂFancy Dancer,â the funky âÂÂNew Lover," and "My Gal." Cale said of "My Gal," "That particular song I wrote in Nashville many years ago. When I got ready to make the album, I didnâÂÂt re-write it, but I just used the words from it. The original demo sounds nothing like that. And we did it in that kind of rhythm and blues kind of bag, you know?"
In 2005 a documentary called To Tulsa and Back:On Tour with J.J. Cale was released. It featured interviews with Cale, wife Christine Lakeland, Eric Clapton, and other family and band members as well as behind the scenes tour footage.
AllMusic gives the album four out of five stars, with Thom Jurek singling out the closing track for praise: "The album closes with Cale playing a lone banjo on âÂÂAnother Song,â a mournful Appalachian ballad that feels like it comes from out of the heart of the Dust Bowl, it's full of ghosts and shadows and aches with the weight and displacement of longing as history."
All songs written by J. J. Cale.