From hpjett@earthlink.net Wed May 28 20:59:56 1997 Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 10:30:55 -0500 From: "Helen H. Pierce" <hpjett@earthlink.net> To: office@dirtylinen.com Cc: c643480@showme.missouri.edu Subject: JJCale"Guitar Man"review To:Dirty Linen Editors Though I seldom get worked up enough while reading record reviews to respond, I must make an exception here. I find most of your reviewer's opinions so far off the mark that it seems obvious he/she understands little regarding the depth of an artist like Mr. Cale. "Infrequent" is the word used to imply Cale's recording career is lacking in the number of albums produced. (This is what I think the writer wishes to express. The sentence is so poorly written that I'm not sure.) How many artists could this reviewer name who have a track record like Mr. Cale's? Thirteen albums over a 26-year period. 90% of the material written by the artist. The artist produced or coproduced each project. The artist assisted or managed the technical recording process. The artist played most of the instruments. The artist sang most of the vocal parts. The artist arranged most of the music. The reviewer acknowleges Mark Knoffler was influenced by Cale; however, he/she states that Cale "often sounds a lot like Mark Knoffler". Whew!!! All credibility is lost when the reviewer credits Mr. Cale with having penned "Tulsa Time". Has he ever heard of Danny Flowers? Mr. Cale's list of original songs is among the best of contemporary music. I leave it to this reviewer to investigate what they are since he clearly isn't familiar with them. One of the many facets of the music of JJCale is that he has always featured traditional (acoustic, if you will) originals along with some of the best electric original music created by one artist for more than two decades. He clearly admires more than one genre of music. Unlike many artists, he has the ability to express himself comfortably across the spectrum of genre. "Guitar Man" demonstrates this talent. Many of your readers may be unaware of this exceptional artist's command of the many aspects of "making a record". For this reason, this review is a disservice to them and to Mr. Cale. Best regards, jim jett