Following the patchwork, sometimes-glossy productions of Really, J.J. Cale returned to an organic sound on Okie. Recorded in and around Cale’s house in Nashville, his third album borrows its warmth from the comforts of a cozy home. Listening to these songs is like wearing an old sweater, or breathing the air of a muggy night, or feeling a hand on your waist during a slow dance. As simple as his compositions could be, Cale and producer Audie Ashworth fine-tuned their technique to the point where every song became an exemplar of precision, shading, and microscopic detail. If the average rock’n’roll production is a highway billboard, then the songs on Okie are deeply-rendered pencil drawings. Observe the haunting separation between the tapping of a drum, a distant pedal steel, and Cale’s own Oklahoma murmur on “The Old Man and Me.' Take a whiff of blues songs turned to blood pulses on “Anyway the Wind Blows” and “I Got the Same Old Blues.” “Rock & Roll Records” and “I’d Like to Love You Baby” gradually reveal layers and layers of guitar detail under their deceptively simple structures. Like a great orator or magician, Cale casts spells over his audience while convincing them that he’s doing nothing much at all.