Claim: J. J. Cale was a jazz singer.

John Weldon `` J. J. '' Cale -LRB- December 5 , 1938 -- July 26 , 2013 -RRB- was an American guitarist , singer , and songwriter . Though he deliberately avoided the limelight -LRB- being temperamentally averse to celebrity -RRB- his influence as a musical artist has been widely acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knopfler , Neil Young , and Eric Clapton , who described him as `` one of the most important artists in the history of rock '' . He is considered to be one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound , a loose genre drawing on blues , rockabilly , country , and jazz .   Many songs written by Cale have been recorded by other artists , including `` After Midnight '' and `` Cocaine '' by Eric Clapton ; `` Call Me the Breeze '' by Lynyrd Skynyrd , John Mayer , Johnny Cash , and Bobby Bare ; `` Clyde '' by Waylon Jennings and Dr. Hook ; `` I Got The Same Old Blues '' by Captain Beefheart , Lynyrd Skynyrd , and Freddie King ; and `` Magnolia '' by Poco , Beck , Lucinda Williams , Iron and Wine , José Feliciano , Ben Bridwell , and John Mayer with Eric Clapton .   In 2008 he , along with Clapton , received a Grammy Award for their album , The Road to Escondido .