Songwriter J.J. Cale dies

J.J. Cale, a Tulsa Central High School alum whose songs became hits for other artists and proved to be a huge influence on Eric Clapton, died of a heart attack Friday night. He was 74.

You can read all sorts of obituaries and tributes (including this one by roadie Dave Hoekstra). But one cannot compile a road-trip song list without having this Cale-written tune, a No. 1 hit for Don Williams in 1978.

According to one account, Cale cut his teeth musically at a club on Sheridan and 11th Street (aka Route 66) in Tulsa during the 1950s.

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