Customer Reviews
AUDIO SUPERCEDED BY 2006 "COLLECTED" IMPORT 
2008-07-21
This 1997, 2CD set offered the first remastering of the Cale catalog.
While the mastering on this set is excellent, the 2006 release of the 3CD, 60-track, import Collected one-ups Anthology in both the amount of material and audio departments.
If you're a true Cale fan, you will probably be stunned at the mastering on the Collected set, it's that good.
16 of the 50 Anthology tracks do not appear on Collected, so this set may be worth hanging on to. However, owning Collected is an absolute must.
Laid back genius 
2008-04-20
JJ Cale is an artists' artist. Admired and loved by other performers but whose own songs are less well known than the covers of his songs that these artists performed. I mean, Mark Knopfler took on Cale's sound on Dire Straits' first album to the extreme. Clapton covered "Cocaine", "I'll Make Love To You Anytime", "After Midnight" and Lynyrd Skynyrd covered his "Call Me the Breeze" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" respectively. Listen to Clapton's guitar tone on his own "Lay Down Sally" and you'll get a good idea of how Cale sounds.
Cale's bluesy, southern laid back approach was never geared toward commercial success anyway but that doesn't make this music any less important or vital. There are plenty of should-be hits here and this collection turned me into a fan, admirer and avid listener of this man's music. This set does him justice!
Anyway The Wind Blows: The Anthology by J.J. Cale 2007-01-09
Great compilation of the JJ Cale songs over the years. Most or all of the hits included with a vast array of the deep cuts you will learn to love. If you don't know JJ Cale's music this is a great album to have and if you know his music, but don't own it all, this covers it well.
Buy "Okie" instead 
2006-12-06
First off let's dispense with the packaging. The writing is inane, the photos look like a bad tv ad from the 90s. (an abandoned gas station, all rust and tumbleweed, Cale posed as ever-so-"americana" scruff. Please.) Cale IS a terrific musician, and an essential listen, but you'll be better served by "Okie" or any of his albums. This anthology misses Cale's genius entirely, choosing an endless series of same tempo shuffles. A listen to Okie reveals a very varied set of songs that flow easily and present an entire world of textures and rythmns. Cale is a studio wizard, related more to Brian Eno than to the lesser talents (like Clapton) who imitate his innovations. He arranges his recordings very carefully, as engineers are wont to do, and it is all about the sequencing and layering of sounds and meaning. Taken out of context, Cale's songs can seem slight and repetitious. So skip this ill-advised collection and buy any of the albums instead.
A MUST-HAVE FOR YOUR MUSICAL LIBRARY 2006-11-10
A great reminder of where it all started.
Any Way The Wind Blowes 2006-02-24
A most excellent album. Finally J.J. Cale is presented to the main stream! Love It !
RR
Distilled Spirit 2004-05-15
While I'm a big fan of JJ Cale, I've long bemoaned the poor to mediocre sound on his recordings, and the less than first rate tunes (I hesitate to use the word "filler" with JJ) that populate all but his first couple of albums. What a consumate joy to get to hear all the instruments in the (remastered) mix instead of sonic mush. And the tracks are very well selected to give you most of the best of his work. I do miss "Clyde" and "River Runs Deep" from the first album, but minor carps for a masterpiece. Might be the best record ever made by a white musician. A serious mile melter on the road. Be sure to get the DVD too.
This is the source. Start here. 
2004-03-17
This is the man that makes it look easy. You could do a lot worse than to cover a J.J. Cale song. Clapton has.
Mark Knopfler learned every lick, every trick of phrase he knows from Mr. Cale.
Here's the real deal, where it all comes from. If you're just starting, this is the set to get.
It's a "must have" cd 2003-12-26
A friend asked me if I had any J.J.Cale. I didn't. So I logged on to amazon.com and bought this album.
I have haunted record shops for more years than I care to remember and I had never heard of this man even tho he's been recording since the early 70's.
This album hooked me immediately...I'm currently in the process of acquiring every cd he's ever made. But, I can tell you, the Anthology gives you a great cross section of his work, and if you buy nothing else of his this is the one to buy.
Words fail me. 2003-11-11
JJ Cale has produced the most amazing collection of music I have heard from anyone in a very long time!
I have not been able to stop listening from the minute these discs went into my player. ( NOT that I wanted to!!)
The uniqueness is refreshing; it is hypnotic and soothing. What an absolute all encompassing experience!!!!!!!!
You will never regret owning this two disc experience!!!
