Jim Croce-Classic Hits Full Album Zip
Evie Reisdorf
Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released on September 26, 1974, by ABC Records. The album was Croce's second posthumous release following his 1973 death in an airplane crash.
The inner photo jacket includes a tributatory essay on one side and a photo of Jim's son Adrian James (A.J.) on the other. The title track originally appeared on the You Don't Mess Around with Jim LP as well as the B-side of the album title track single in 1972. The album has since been reissued on Vinyl in 2020 by BMG.
In a 1974 review in Billboard magazine, the editors wrote, "It is hard to believe one man poured out a fountain of excellent work in barely two years, but this LP offers proof of the greatness of Croce's career and is, in all respects, truly a greatest hits album. They're all worthwhile and this magnificent collection makes one realize just how greatly this man will be missed. The beauty of music, however, is that he will always be heard."[4]
On September 20, 1973, at the height of his popularity and the day before the lead single to his fifth album I Got a Name was released, Croce and five others died in a plane crash. His music continued to chart throughout the 1970s following his death. Croce's wife and early songwriting partner, Ingrid, continued to write and record after his death, and their son, A. J. Croce, became a singer-songwriter in the 1990s.
Croce released his first album, Facets, in 1966, with 500 copies pressed. The album had been financed with a $500 ($4,510 in 2022 dollars[12]) wedding gift from Croce's parents, who set a condition that the money must be spent to make an album. They hoped that Croce would give up music after the album failed and use his college education to pursue a "respectable" profession.[13] However, the album proved to be a success, with every copy sold.
In 1968, the Croces were encouraged by record producer Tommy West to move to New York City. The couple spent time in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx and recorded their first album with Capitol Records. Over the next two years, they drove more than 300,000 miles (480,000 kilometres),[17] playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit promoting their album Jim & Ingrid Croce.
In 1972, Croce signed a three-record contract with ABC Records, releasing two albums, You Don't Mess Around with Jim and Life and Times. The singles "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)", and "Time in a Bottle" all received airplay. That same year, the Croce family moved to San Diego, California. Croce began appearing on television, including his national debut on American Bandstand[19] on August 12, The Tonight Show[20] on August 14, and The Dick Cavett Show on September 20 and 21.
From July 16 through August 4, Croce and Muehleisen returned to London and performed on The Old Grey Whistle Test, where they sang "Lover's Cross" and "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues" from their upcoming album I Got a Name. Croce finished recording the album just a week before his death. While on tour, Croce grew increasingly homesick and decided to take a break from music and settle with Ingrid and A. J. when his Life and Times tour ended.[21][22] In a letter to Ingrid which arrived after his death, Croce told her that he decided to quit music and wanted to write short stories and movie scripts as a career and withdraw from public life.[5][23]
The album I Got a Name was released on December 1, 1973.[30] The posthumous release included three hits: "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues", "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", and the title song, which had been used as the theme to the film The Last American Hero, which was released two months prior to his death. The album reached No. 2, and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" reached No. 9 on the singles chart.
While ABC had not originally released the song "Time in a Bottle" as a single, Croce's untimely death gave its lyrics, dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time, an additional resonance. The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track, and demand for a single release built. When it was eventually issued as a 7", it became his second and final No. 1 hit.[31] After the single had finished its two-week run at the top in early January 1974, the album You Don't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks.[32]
A greatest hits album entitled Photographs & Memories was released in 1974. Later posthumous releases have included Home Recordings: Americana, The Faces I've Been, Jim Croce: Classic Hits, Down the Highway, and DVD and CD releases of Croce's television performances, Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live. In 1990, Croce was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[33]
Time in a Bottle: Jim Croce's Greatest Love Songs is a greatest hits album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce. It was released after his 1973 death and features sentimental songs compiled from his studio albums. The album peaked at No. 170 on the Billboard 200 during 1977. Since its original release, it has also been reissued on cassette and compact disc.
Jim Croce was an American singer-songwriter with five studio albums and 12 singles to his credit. His posthumously-released fifth studio album was completed just prior to his 1973 death, and seven singles were also posthumously issued, one of which was "Time in a Bottle" from a previous album You Don't Mess Around with Jim. His popularity continued long after his death with the release of numerous compilation albums and "new" material (from the vaults) being portioned out sporadically over the years. Three live albums, as well as a live DVD, have also been published.
Croce's first two studio albums Facets and Croce (aka Jim & Ingrid Croce) did not chart, but his third, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following his death. This album featured three singles, "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)", and "Time in a Bottle." His fourth album Life and Times peaked at No. 2 in the United States but reached No. 1 in Canada in late December 1973. It featured the singles "One Less Set of Footsteps", "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", and "It Doesn't Have to Be That Way".
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" achieved great success, reaching the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. "Time in a Bottle" went from a relatively unknown album cut to a posthumous No. 1 after the boost it received from being featured in the ABC TV-movie She Lives. His fifth album, I Got a Name, was released in December 1973 and reached the No. 2 position in both the United States and Canada. This album would feature the title song "I Got a Name", "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", and "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues". The song, "I Got a Name" had been released as a single during Croce's lifetime, but "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" became a posthumous number one release when it reached the top position on Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles in 1974.
Several compilation albums such as Down the Highway and The Faces I've Been were released in the mid 1970s, the latter containing unissued and demo recordings from an unreleased album. Two songs from "The Faces I've Been" were released as singles, "Chain Gang Medley" and "Mississippi Lady". They would be his final singles released. Another compilation album, Photographs & Memories became a successful release by reaching No. 1 on the Canadian charts and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. It also achieved a platinum certification in the United States, and a Gold certification in Hong Kong.
Even after his death, his popularity continued and a demand for unreleased material caused a live album to be released, Jim Croce Live: The Final Tour. It was recorded during the summer of 1973. More demo recordings were released in 2003 on the album Home Recordings: Americana. A DVD featuring live concert footage was also released in 2003, Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live which later spawned a CD featuring the audio from the concert footage.
This 1974 compilation album, released a year after Croce's death in an airplane crash, features his #1 Hits Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Time In A Bottle, plus Top 10 Hits I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song, You Don't Mess Around With Jim and many more. CD & 180g Black Vinyl reissue of the 1974 Hits Release. Album reached #2 and is certified PLATINUM
In summer 1963 Croce headed to Greenwich Village to perform as a soloist. After graduation, he and Ingrid formed a duo and played regional folk clubs. When the couple married in 1966, Croce's parents gave him $500 to produce an album. Mixing a few originals with recognizable folk standards, he produced his first album, 'Facets,' pressing 500 copies to sell at club dates.
West sold Capitol Records on the Croces' potential. The duo moved to New York in January 1969 and began preparing for their late April sessions at the Record Plant. When the album was released, the label did little to promote it. Then an opportunity to host a Boston children's television show failed to materialize. Broke and disheartened, the couple moved to Lyndell, Pennsylvania, in October 1970. Jim worked at various day jobs and occasionally accompanied another struggling Capitol artist, Maury Muehleisen.
The sessions for Croce's first official solo album went smoothly. West offered the tapes to ABC Records, which signed Croce to a multi-album contract. His first release, 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim' stayed atop 'Billboard's' pop album charts for five weeks; the title track became a No. 8 hit single.
Croce recorded his third album, 'I Got A Name,' in June 1973. Now a headline act, Croce hired two additional musicians to support him and Muehleisen, plus a comedian to open the show. In advance of the album's December 1973 release, ABC issued a single of the title song, written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox.
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