Stay Around is the 15thstudio album by songwiter, guitarist and singer J. J. Cale, and his first and only posthumous album, released on April 26, 2019 by Because Music.
Overview
Stay Around is a collection of 15 previously unreleased Cale songs, all mixed and produced by J. J. Cale himself and compiled by those closest to him, Cale's widow Christine Lakeland Cale and his longtime friend and manager Mike Kappus. This is his first release of original material in a decade. In a statement, Lakeland spoke about how she compiled Stay Around, saying, "I wanted to find stuff that was completely unheard to max-out the ‘Cale factor’… using as much that came from John's ears and fingers and his choices as I could, so I stuck to John's mixes. You can make things so sterile that you take the human feel out. But John left a lot of that human feel in. He left so much room for interpretation."
Release
Stay Around was released on multiple formats on April 26, 2019 by Because Music.
Singles
"Chasing You", the first single from the album, was digitally released on January 31, 2019. It came with a music video released via YouTube with footage of Cale touring and performing live taken from the 2005 documentary To Tulsa and back – On Tour with J. J. Cale. The title track, "Stay Around" was digitally released on March 20, 2019 as the second single from the album. It came with a music video released via YouTube. This single was released on vinyl on April 13, 2019 backed with "Worrying Off Your Mind", a digital-only bonus track from J.J. Cale's previous studio album Roll On. "Go Downtown" was digitally released on May 7, 2019. It came with a music video released via YouTube.
About the tracks
"Chasing You" is a simmering blues rocker anchored by Cale's plucky guitar and tender vocals as he sings, "Walking down through the past/We thought it would always last/Things have changed somehow/It's all behind us now/Don't know why I do/I'm still chasing you," according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Track listing
All songs written by J. J. Cale except "My Baby Blues" written by Cale's wife Christine Lakeland, the first song she and Cale recorded in 1977 as part of a four-piece combo.
