Jim Croce led the early ’70s with approximately a year and a few months of best-selling singles that included “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”, “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)”, “I Got A Name”, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, “I Have to Say I Love You In A Song”, and “Time In A Bottle”. By the time his next album arrived – I Got A Name (1973), Jim Croce had been dead for a few month due to a tragic plane crash. He was at the height of his popularity.
On November 25, You Don’t Mess Around With Jim celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a Limited Edition set of releases that will include CD, DD, CS, and vinyl LP (gold color vinyl pressing). The cover of the album will feature a gold-trimmed border. Only the original tracks are found on these releases, however, it is said that in 2023, the Croce estate will celebrate the singer’s 80th birthday. What that means in terms of new releases or special editions remains to be seen. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim yielded three hits, one as a posthumous issue (“Time In A Bottle”).
Keep your fingers crossed!
(For Brenda Crews, who loved Jim Croce!)
I wonder if they still have the quadraphonic masters for this ABC Command release….
We can hope that the stuff expected for last year to commemorate Jim Croce will be expanded to contain much of the stuff that is available…and stuff that is not.