The Tulsa Sound Makes Its Presence Felt in 1974

Eric Clapton’s 1974 album, “461 Ocean Boulevard,” marked a turning point in the career of the legendary blues man. It was a resurgence as well as a departure from the Cream-era Clapton, finding laid back grooves to replace the more aggressive guitar leads that put him on the map in the 1960s. It’s also an excellent example of the far-reaching impact of the Tulsa Sound.
Conventional thinking tells us that the two pillars of the Tulsa Sound are J.J. Cale and Leon Russell. I’m not going to argue against that claim. However, for the sake of spirited discussion, I will make the case that neither Tulsa icon made as significant an impact on the music industry, or on pop culture, as the other two heads on the Tulsa Sound Mt. Rushmore: bassist Carl Radle and drummer/percussionist Jamie Oldaker.
Okay, a few things to unpack there. Yes, I just casually stated as fact my personal response to the bar-room-debate-starter classic, “Who’s your Mt. Rushmore…” (If you’re more of a Chris Rock/High Fidelity top-five person, I respect that variation.) And although I feel it would be foolish for you to debate me on my Mt. Rushmore, if you want to make a case for Elvin Bishop or Flash Terry, we can have that conversation.

But the conversation I want to have now is regarding my more outlandish claim that Radle and Oldaker had a more significant impact on music and pop culture than Russell and Cale. That’s a more difficult claim to defend, but, hey, it’s my job. So lets gets back to “461 Ocean Boulevard.”
In 1973, Oldaker, a Tulsa native and Edison High School graduate, had just finished recording the album, “Back in 72” with Bob Seger. It was that album, featuring the hit “Turn the Page,” that gave the 22-year-old Oldaker his first significant experience in the studio. He returned to Tulsa and was hired by Leon Russell to be a session musician at the legendary (and nearly renovated) Church Studio.
Around the same time, fellow Tulsan Carl Radle returned to Tulsa after a stint with Eric Clapton’s side project, Derek and the Dominoes, and began to play and record with Oldaker and Russell. The Tulsa Sound was flourishing.
Conversely, Clapton’s career was not flourishing. It was stagnating, possibly circling the drain as he spent the better part of three years in the early 1970s struggling with addiction; reclusive and rarely picking up a guitar, much less recording or touring.
Many of Clapton’s friends and fellow musicians, including Radle, made efforts to get him back in the studio and get his life and career back on track. As part of this effort, Radle sent Clapton a tape that featured Oldaker on drums. More than a year later, Clapton called Radle to tell him he was ready to record a new album. “Bring Jamie and the other kids from Tulsa with you,” he said.
This presented a tough decision to Oldaker, who felt loyalty to Russell and didn’t want to leave his band. He ultimately made the decision, with Russell’s blessing, to join Clapton and record “461 Ocean Boulevard.”
Critics, for the most part, praised the album, making note of the departure from Clapton’s earlier recordings. In one review, critic Robert Christgau used the phrase, “laid-back-with-Leon music,” to describe the album. Today, we call that the Tulsa Sound, but I have to admit, laid back with Leon has a nice ring to it.
Rolling Stone originally criticized Clapton for not being more prominent on the album and taking a back seat to his band. In 2012, however, the magazine included “461 Ocean Boulevard” on it’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, touting its “…melo, springy grooves minus guitar histrionics.”
“461 Ocean Boulevard” featured Clapton’s biggest hit, Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sherriff,” Clapton’s only single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Regae music and Bob Marley were virtually unknown at the time, but it was Oldaker who heard the song from Marley’s album, “Burning,” and persuaded Clapton and the band to take a shot at cutting it for their album.
Clapton was reportedly less than thrilled with the track, feeling they had come short of doing Marley’s original version justice. The record company disagreed, and Bob Marley was soon a household name.
Radle remained Clapton’s bassist until shortly before his death in 1980 from a kidney infection. Oldaker recorded 11 albums with Clapton during the 1970s and 80s before joining forces with another Tulsa legend, Steve Ripley, to form the Tractors. The 67-year-old Oldaker is still going strong. In 2016, Oldaker and his wife, Mary, started MOJO Fest, an annual fundraiser for the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, held in the East Village downtown. Lately, he’s been working with the Oklahoma Historical Society to help get tulsa’s OKPOP Museum up and running.
So, credit Radle and Oldaker with getting Clapton back in the game, helping him reinvent his sound, and ushering Ragae into the main stream. Does that move the needle more than “After Midnight?” Does that add more thread to the cultural fabric than “Mad Dogs & Englishmen?” Discuss among yourselves. And if you enjoy such a discussion, you might also enjoy…

Leon Russell: A Life in Music
The Woody Guthrie Center is hosting a five-week course on Leon Russell’s development as a musician, his place in rock and roll and his legacy. Led by music historians Randy Cale and John Cooper with several special guests, classes are held weekly starting March 5 and wrap up in mid April. The class is $100, or $75 for Woody Guthrie Center members. The fee for attending a single class is $25. Go to woodyguthriecenter.org to reserve your spot.
The class will cover Russell’s early years in Tulsa, his influence on music in Los Angeles, bringing Tulsa to the world with Mad Dogs & Englishmen, his solo years and his resurgence in the 2000s. The class will also feature guest speakers who worked alongside Russell and those in Tulsa who are working to preserve his legacy.
As for the Mt. Rushmore debate, perhaps we can pick that up between sets at one of our local music venues in the near future. I’m not sure where or when, but it’ll happen. We’re bound to cross paths as long as we keep searching, keep listening.