j.j. cale shades

After years of living and recording in Nashville, Cale relocated to California in 1980 and lived in an Anaheim trailer park but still worked with longtime producer Audie Ashworth. Shades, which continued Cale’s tradition of giving his albums one word titles, was recorded in various studios in Nashville and Los Angeles. It boasts an impressive list of top shelf session musicians, including Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye of the Wrecking Crew, James Burton, Jim Keltner, Reggie Young, Glen D. Hardin, Ken Buttrey, and Leon Russell, among many others. As AllMusic states in its retroactive review of the album, “His songs and his overall approach to music are all-encompassing; the seductive and laid-back grooves his rhythm sections empower are written into the very fabric of the songs. ‘Carry On,’ ‘Pack My Jack’ - these are songs of simple, sturdy strengths, succinctly written and concisely rendered. There are never any stray notes or decorative filigrees.”

Track listing
All tracks are written by J. J. Cale, except where noted.
No.TitleWriter(s)Length

1."Carry On" 2:20
2."Deep Dark Dungeon" 2:10
3."Wish I Had Not Said That" 3:23
4."Pack My Jack" 5:13
5."If You Leave Her" 2:42
6."Mama Don't"(Cow Cow Davenport; arranged by Cale)3:50
7."Runaround" 2:42
8."What Do You Expect" 3:23
9."Love Has Been Gone" 2:131
0."Cloudy Day" 5:25