for those too young to remember, Jim Croce was an acoustic guitar guy, solo songwriter in the early 70's - which was a popular genre at the time with other artists like Carol King, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Gordon Lightfoot... Jim Croce wrote and recorded songs like ""I've Got A Name", "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", "Time In A Bottle", and others. He died in a plane crash in 1973.
His son A.J. has recorded a new album of his own works, with A List players like Vince Gill and Steve Cropper playing on it. He also made a decision early on to record and mix the album in mono, his reason being that he feels that the majority of music buyers listen on their phones. (Inserting my personal opinion here for a moment, I don't believe that artists should cater to a lower common denominator when approaching mixes, but that's just me. )
Here's the song that his dad had started shortly before he died.. it existed only in rough demo form, and A.J. decided to finish it.
Comments
He's definitely channeled his dad's vibe - at least for this one
He's definitely channeled his dad's vibe - at least for this one. I haven't listened to the rest of the album (yet), so maybe this is the only track that has the Jim Croce vibe, or maybe the album is full of it.
I've often wondered what would have happened to Croce had he not been killed. It's difficult to say; on one hand it was on the cusp of the Disco era,. But on the other, James Taylor, Carol King, Harry Chapin, John Denver, and Gordon Lightfoot continued to have hits throughout the 70's decade...
Here's one from Jim Croce for those here who may be too young to remember...
The thing is, I didn't "love" him at the time. I didn't hate him
The thing is, I didn't "love" him at the time. I didn't hate him or anything, I felt he was a good writer and acoustic guitar player, but those years I was sort of entering into my prog phase. I gained a greater appreciation and respect for him as I got older and my tastes changed. I think Operator is a great song, well written, wonderfully performed. I love the ending of the last verse where he doesn't finish the phrase as you'd expect, and just leaves the listener hanging with the sad finality of "you can keep the dime..." as if there's simply nothing more to say.
I wish the best for his son.
FWIW
-d
DonnyThompson, post: 453132, member: 46114 wrote: The thing is,
DonnyThompson, post: 453132, member: 46114 wrote: The thing is, I didn't "love" him at the time. I didn't hate him or anything, I felt he was a good writer and acoustic guitar player, but those years I was sort of entering into my prog phase. I gained a greater appreciation and respect for him as I got older and my tastes changed. I think Operator is a great song, well written, wonderfully performed. I love the ending of the last verse where he doesn't finish the phrase as you'd expect, and just leaves the listener hanging with the sad finality of "you can keep the dime..." as if there's simply nothing more to say.
I wish the best for his son.
FWIW
-d
Operator is a profoundly moving song for me -- It haunted me as a young boy and when I revisited it years later after suffering a blow not too unlike the narrator of the song I was blown away by the lyrics --- This stanza:
So I can call just to tell 'em I'm fine and to show
I've overcome the blow, I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real, but that's not the way it feels
Man -Oh -man --- did I ever want to do that --- to show them that I overcame the blow when in reality I hadn't yet. It's like you are willing yourself into healing but finding out that you are still broken.... that you are alive but the blow is real and you are barely holding on. Pathos, Hope, Loss, Grief, Shame --- it's all there -- and that voice on the phone through which you can briefly touch humanity and console yourself.... Just love it -- the phrasing as well.
fun track! Thanks for sharing that. :)
fun track! Thanks for sharing that. :)