ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) -- For years, Eric Clapton and J.J.
Cale have enjoyed a musical mutual admiration society.
Now they're finally teaming up on a new CD, The Road to Escondido.
For Clapton, who had success with Cale's After Midnight and Cocaine and still features those crowd-pleasing songs at his concerts, it was a chance to work with his hero.
He's been a source of inspiration for me, musically and personally, for a long, long time, says Clapton, who was introduced to Cale's music by guitarist Delaney Bramlett.
Bramlett had a single of After Midnight -- which I still have, Clapton says -- from back in 1968. Clapton recorded the song, which was a hit single from his 1970 solo debut produced by Bramlett.
Clapton, 61, says he admires Cale's work ethic and anonymity.
The more I learned about J.J.
the more I developed an admiration for him and tried, in some ways, maybe to follow his direction. I just think he's got the ideal approach to life and music and everything, Clapton said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Clapton says he's also been a longtime admirer of Cale's slinky, laid-back style.
Just from a musical point of view, anyway, I can listen to any one of his songs, from any period of his career, and it sounds like it was made today, in my opinion, Clapton says.
It's always vital, it's never dated, it just sounds like cutting-edge stuff.
Clapton also has covered Cale's I'll Make Love to You Anytime and Travelin' Light.
All of his things are really easy for me to approach. There's just something about the style of his writing that I find easy to step into, Clapton says.
Clapton captured the feel of Cale's style with his 1977 album Slowhand, which leads off with Cocaine, and its hit single, Lay Down Sally.
The album was cut with musicians from Cale's hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Clapton says he suggested the title Lay Down Sally and its groove to the song's writer, Marcy Levy.
And she went ahead and wrote the song.
And we just kicked it into play. And I think it was hinged on the fact that all of those musicians were really of the like mind of J.J.
They all came from that same musical source, Clapton says.
Cale, whose songs also have been covered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Santana and Bryan Ferry, acknowledges his debt to Clapton.
I'd probably be selling shoes today if it wasn't for Eric, Cale, 67, told the AP in a telephone interview from southern California, where he lives near San Diego.
Clapton asked Cale to play at his Crossroads Guitar Benefit in Dallas in 2004. Cale says Clapton told him he was thinking of making a J.J.
Cale-style record.
Clapton says he originally asked Cale to produce the album. Because I didn't just want to do a duet record.
I really wanted that sound that he gets. His approach to recording, you know, is unique. And he said, 'OK.
' And that was it, Clapton says.
Cale says once they got into the studio last year, The Road to Escondido, due November 7, evolved from a Clapton record to a Clapton-Cale record.
In a month the pair recorded 17 songs, which were whittled to 14 for the disc -- 11 written by Cale, with Clapton contributing a sweet Three Little Girls, about his young daughters; singer-songwriter John Mayer adding Hard to Thrill, and Clapton and Cale combining on a mellow, smoky-voiced cover of Sporting Life Blues.
Clapton brought in his band's hot guitarists, Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks. The Road to Escondido also features one of the last major recordings of keyboardist Billy Preston, who died last June after battling chronic kidney failure.
Clapton, currently on a world tour, says he'd like Cale to come on the road with him next year in the U.
S. for some guest spots. Cale, who did a seven-week North American tour in 2004, says he just might.
Despite his reputation for reclusiveness, Cale says, I'm just a regular guy.
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