Customer Reviews

50th Anniversary

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This is the one to get, and here's what you get when you get it:

- The _complete_ contents of YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIM, LIFE AND TIMES, and I GOT A NAME. (As far as I know, this is the first time _all_ these songs have been available since I wore needle holes in my original vinyl discs.)

- Three tracks from Jim & Ingrid's LP.

- Some assorted unreleased tracks from the same time period (with bassist John Stockfish all over them).

- A few cuts from 1975's THE FACES I'VE BEEN.

- Liner notes by Ingrid herself, including a complete Jim Croce bio.

- Clean, clear and crisp sound quality throughout, even on the really old stuff. Sounds like it's all been remastered. (Anyone who, like me, remembers twiddling the stereo knobs back and forth to pick out the guitar parts will wish they'd had a recording of this quality a quarter of a century ago.)

There are NO other Jim Croce collections that come even close to this one. If you remember Jim and Maury fondly, you don't need me to sell you on the music; grab this CD at once.

Jim Croce took his place among the great American song writers and performers in the brief span of 2 years before his untimely death in September 1973. In the notes that accompany the CD, Jim's wife Ingrid talks about the countless people who have visited "Croce's", her restaurant in San Diego, to express their love and admiration for his work. Over the years, she has visited with Vietnam veterans, Manhattan attorneys, Montana ranchers, people from all walks of life, of all ages, from all over the world, who made a special effort to stop by and say thanks. If it is true that music gives expression to the soul...then no one can express the soul quite like Jim Croce.

His appeal is universal for he wrote about everyday experiences that are common to us all. He could tell a story, develop a memorable character, and express a profound, but simple truth in the few moments it took to sing one of his songs. He gave voice to the American experience in "Big Wheel" and "Top Hat Bar and Grille." He could laugh with "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," or become introspective with "I Got a Name" and "Photographs and Memories," or bring a tear to the eye and a smile to the heart with "Operator," "Alabama Rain," and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song."

If you are familiar with his works, this is the definitive collection to buy. The quality of each reproduction is impeccable. If you are unfamiliar with Jim Croce, but enjoy someone who casts humor, romance, and pathos into a mosaic of words set to unforgettable melodies, then this CD is for you. His music is ageless...he will forever provoke your mind, yet soothe your soul. Thanks, Jim, wherever you are.....

It's been over twenty-five years now since Jim died, and this music sounds as fresh and evocative now as it did then. As a kid I had all three Jim Croce albums, and I still remember crying when I heard that he had died. There's something about Jim Croce that makes one feel as though they knew him, like he was an uncle's or older brother's friend remembered from childhood. For me, in a sense, I guess he was.

I first bought this collection in 1992, and have worn it out listening ever sense. There is no other Croce collection that even remotely approaches this one (and there seem to be many...I get the feeling that Croce's heirs don't benefit from a lot of them, but I'm sure they do from this one). Every track is a gem; not only the three "big albums" are here, but many other assorted numbers as well. "Spin, Spin, Spin" has become a favorite for a whole new generation...my three kids. Thank you, Jim, for what you gave us...just like you say in your comment at the end of this album, you did what you dug!

The title is a paraphrase of the last line in "The Hard Way Every Time". The reviewer below had stated that this CD includes the entire versions of You Don't Mess Around With Jim (including the tite track, hits "Time in a Bottle" and "Operator"), Life and Times (featuring the hits "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", "One Less Set of Footsteps", and "Roller Derby Queen"), and I Got a Name (Jim's swansong album, with the title track and "I'll Have to Say I Love You In a Song") and a few never before released songs ("Cotton Mouth River" and "Migrant Worker"). This collection is essential for serious Croce fans, since, unfortunately, none of these original records are in print in any other form, nor is the Faces I've Been collection of rarities (which includes "King's Song" and "Chain Gang Medley"), nor the Jim and Ingrid Croce debut of 1969 (featuring the philosophical "Spin, Spin, Spin"- "Life is for living and it isn't a show").

For casual fans, I recommend the Greatest Hits collection which features 14 songs from his bigtime period (1971-73). This collection proves that Jim had a great talent in songwriting, from introspective ballads such as "New York's Not My Home" and "A Long Time Ago" to catchy and clever story songs "Speedball Tucker", "Careful Man", and "5 Short Minutes". Jim Croce is sorely missed (I was only 7 when I heard about Jim's untimely death, and knowledge of his death made the then-current hit "Time In a Bottle" sound pretty spooky).

Thanks to Ingrid Croce for making this collection available! Anybody interested in more about Jim Croce should check out VH1's Behind the Muxic special.

This is as good as it gets. Finding a more comprehensive--and pleasing--compilation will simply never happen. If you are looking for a definitive Jim Croce collection, you will not find one that even remotely approaches this one. Every conceivable base is covered--rarities (both with and without his wife Ingrid), the complete contents of his 3 studio albums, selections from the "Faces I've Been" collection, and some beautiful liner notes from his widow, Ingrid Croce, who I understand had a great deal of input in creating this masterpiece of a retrospective.

I don't need to explain Jim Croce's significance; if you are reading about his CDs, you must have some idea. I only knew of him from VH1's ridiculously addictive "Behind The Music" special. I have since become a huge fan (at 22 years old). From the touching sincerity of "Time In A Bottle," "New York's Not My Home," "Operator," "Lover's Cross," and "The Hard Way Every Time" to the smart, whitty, and intelligent "Which Way Are You Going," "Box #10," "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," "Bad Bad Leroy Brown," and "One Less Set Of Footsteps," Jim Croce said it all, and said it better than anyone. If you really want to hear him in all his intended glory, pick this set up now.

Jim Croce wrote and sang from the heart. He sang so many great songs, and an collection of the 70s shouldn't be without one of his. His songs touched many of us and he was on his rise to the top at the time of his death. I know...I was at his last concert. He had just performed at my college in Louisiana. He sang with so much emphasis that night that I remember saying "He sang 'Time In A Bottle' as if he thought he had little time left". 15 minutes later after the concert, word went through the campus that he had died.
His songs touched many people that night, and they stayed with us at his untimely death. He's one of my all time favorite singers. His music is his legacy, and it still lives on.
Just as many songs were reflective, others were fun & easy to sing to like "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", and "Operator".
If you like Jim or are just getting interested in the music he wrote, buy this album. You won't regret it.

I found disc 2 of this album in a second hand store and grabbed it like found treasure. Now I have to buy it new. Finding songs I had never heard before was like a precious gift. I have Photographs and Memories in my collection as what seemed like a complete survey of Jim's known work. How foolish of me!
What a loss his death and that of his accompanist guitarist pal to the musical pantheon. He had the magic of the lyrical talents of Dylan but with a sweet voice, and a sentimentality that makes one want to dance with a lover now or in the memory of youth. And a humour that was just fun. He was also the folk equivalent of Marty Robbins in rapport with his audience. Oh, that such talents would fly in small planes --- in bad weather or whatever.
This is a beautiful collection with familiar and less known songs, all a pleasure to the ears and to the soul - to make one smile or laugh or go quiet remembering our own moments of love lost or found.

I've been a big fan of Jim Croce ever since I first heard him sing. This collection the 50th Anniversary collection is the best collection on Jim Croce there is. if you are a Jim Croce fan then this is the collection i would buy. If you are new to this artist then this is the collection I would buy. It shows the different styles of this artist.

If you think Jim was just "Time in a Bottle" or "Operator" you will be in for a treat with this two disc collection. Given time any one of these songs could have made it into the top 10 in several venues such as Pop, Country, or Folk. This was a Singer and Performer in the like you see rarely. He and his wife wrote a number of these songs. Some songs on this CD package had not been heard before or to te best of my knowledge since. It is a peek inside at a man who is one of the greatest at what he does. He was to Pop/Folk what Marty Robbins was to Country....The best at what he did. Buy this CD package and have no regrets. Make sure you get the booklet insert that comes with it. It gives a great overview of his all to brief life.

I have been a Jim Croce fan since his first album came out and I have all his albums released in his lifetime and the posthumous "I Got A Name" released after his death in 1973. "The 50th Anniversary Collection" is the most complete collection of Jim Croce's material on CD and it even includes previously unreleased material! If you are a Jim Croce fan who wants to update to CD or if you want an introduction to his music, this is the one to choose! Also, what a treat that the first new Jim Croce album of previously unreleased material in 30 years "Home Recordings:Americana" has been released! I have that album also and have written a review of it! These 2 titles "The 50th Anniversary Collection" and "Home Recordings:Americana" will make your Jim Croce CD Collection as complete as it can be with 2 titles! Jim Croce is a talent whose life was cut too short! At least there is the music!