Watch J. J. Cale: To Tulsa And Back (On Tour with J. J. Cale) For Free

Critics,are you kidding us

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I've always been a fan of John Cale, as I believe many people are, but don't know it. His music has been an inspiration to many other well known artists such as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Eric Clapton offers a frank and honest respect to John throughout this documentary, including a funny part where he admits he was jamming with John on stage for three+ minutes before he realized they were playing the Cale song he made famous- "Cocaine". The film documents John's early life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, told in old photos and present day on site interviews. Much of the film is done from the tour bus as they roll from venue to venue, and you get a taste of what life as a traveling musician must be like. There is also some beautiful scenery as the tour bus rolls through Colorado, as well. Many other reviews here are on the money for their descriptions, and should be read, but they all say that the length is wrong- only 90 minutes instead of the 167 minutes listed by IMDb. I believe they were all wrong, and IMDb is correct, because they turned off the film when the credits roll. The film continues on, showing full length performances by JJ doing all the songs he plays during the film, and more. Don't it off at the credits! Enjoy these performances of a late, great artist. John Cale, you were one of the best. Thank you for all the music. You wrote the soundtrack to many of my favorite memories. Rest in Peace.

I still remember stories about J.J. Cale coming on stage, tuning his guitar and starting to play while the audience didn't realize he was on already, or that he took off time to stay away from the world (I'm not sure if they meant the entertainment world, or the world altogether) and his music is always nice to hear. 'Laid-back' is a good word for it, if not perfect, but I must admit I've never bought one of his albums. 'Cocaine' is a classic.This documentary must be great to watch for his fans, me - I just liked it. I didn't see the 167 minutes cut (does that exist?), nor did I see 90 minutes cut, no, Dutch television deemed it just fine to kill it after about 55 minutes... thanks but no thanks.Anyway, it was a bit of everything; Cale on tour, Cale at his birth house, Cale's history (mostly his time in California), Cale talking about his sound and of course, Clapton talking about his (Cale's) sound. And some live footage, which was nice again.All in all... yes, pretty nice. A laid-back 7 out of 10.

Just watched this DVD, having got it for Christmas, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was expecting a basic concert film with maybe a couple of backstage scenes - you know the sort of thing - but this is far more than that. It's a proper documentary, running through Cale's career, including old photos and film and anecdotes, as well as visits to old haunts in Tulsa and interviews with his entourage and his long-serving tour band. Eric Clapton also makes regular affectionate contributions throughout.All through the film J J Cale comes across as the cool and relaxed guy one would expect from his legend, but he's also got a constant twinkle in his eye and a smile and a handshake for everyone.There's actually only a handful of live songs with the full band, which surprised me, but there's music playing all the way through and there's plenty of footage of just Cale and a guitar, which is plenty satisfying for me.Definitely recommended to any fan, past, present or future.

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.