Box Set
March 16, 2015

Description
Edsel Records is delighted to present this box set spanning the entire career of Jim Croce and featuring all the studio recorded albums as well as a bonus disc of demo recordings. Singer-songwriter Jim Croce’s untimely death in an aeroplane crash (in September 1973, aged just 30) came at a point in his career when he seemed set for a lengthy and rewarding career. This box is the first time all the studio albums have ever been brought together in a single package, from the self-released debut ‘Facets’, recorded and released for just $500 – a wedding gift from Jim’s parents – to ‘I Got A Name’ which was released posthumously after his death whilst on tour promoting the previous album. Discs two and three are collaborations with his wife Ingrid, and discs four, five and six were are recorded for and released by ABC Records. The final bonus disc of this set features demo recordings including those which when presented to ABC Records secured the deal for the albums that followed. The booklet includes the lyrics and comprehensive 5000 word note by Alan Robinson.

[tracklisting]CD1:
1. Steel Rail Blues
2. Coal Tattoo
3. Texas Rodeo
4. Charley Green, Play That Slide Trombone
5. The Ballad Of Gunga Din
6. Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp From Savannah)
7. Sun Come Up
8. The Blizzard
9. Running Maggie
10. Until It's Time For Me To Go
11. Big Fat Woman

CD2:
1. Child Of Midnight
2. Marianne
3. Railroads And Riverboats
4. Hard Times Are Over
5. The Railroad Song
6. Maybe Tomorrow
7. Pa (Song For A Grandfather)

CD3:
1. Age
2. Spin, Spin, Spin
3. I Am Who I Am
4. What Do People Do
5. Another Day, Another Town
6. Vespers
7. Big Wheel
8. Just Another Day
9. The Next Man That I Marry
10. What The Hell
11. The Man That Is Me

CD4:
1. You Don't Mess Around With Jim
2. Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Brighter Day
3. New York's Not My Home
4. Hard Time Losin' Man
5. Photographs And Memories
6. Walkin' Back To Georgia
7. Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)
8. Time in A Bottle
9. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)
10. Box # 10
11. A Long Time Ago
12. Hey Tomorrow

CD5:
1. One Less Set Of Footsteps
2. Roller Derby Queen
3. Dreamin' Again
4. Careful Man
5. Alabama Rain
6. A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No
7. Next Time, This Time
8. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
9. These Dreams
10. Speedball Tucker
11. It Doesn't Have To Be That Way

CD6:
1. I Got A Name
2. Lover's Cross
3. Five Short Minutes
4. Age
5. Workin' At The Carwash Blues
6. I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song
7. Salon And Saloon
8. Thursday
9. Top Hat Bar And Grille
10. Recently
11. The Hard Way Every Time

CD7:
1. You Don't Mess Around With Jim
2. New York's Not My Home
3. Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Brighter Day
4. Walkin' Back To Georgia
5. Hard Time Losin' Man
6. Operator
7. Time In A Bottle
8. Seems Like Such A Long Time Ago
9. Mississippi Lady
10. These Dreams
11. A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business (Singin' The Blues)
12. Lover's Cross[/tracklisting]

Amazon USA
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M1LVNM0/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00M1LVNM0/?tag=imwan-21

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Individual Albums (Deluxe Editions)
March 9, 2015

   

You Don't Mess Around With Jim
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J5C4WTO/?tag=imwan-20
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00J5C4WTO/?tag=imwan-21

Life And Times
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SK0ZOT4/?tag=imwan-20
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SK0ZOT4/?tag=imwan-21

I Got A Name
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SK0ZNTK/?tag=imwan-20
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SK0ZNTK/?tag=imwan-21

It will be interesting to see exactly what is included in this 8 CD box set. Croce only released 5 studio albums during his short lifetime, all of which would fit quite comfortably on three CDs. And while his estate (i.e., his widow Ingrid) has subsequently released a slew of live recordings, including the recent (and recommended) "Lost Time in a Bottle," the title of this box set would lead one to believe that these will not be included. Perhaps we might see the first ever CD release of "The Faces I've Been" (he said, fingers crossed)?

Bump: Added product image to the first post. No track listing yet, but Edsel's solicitation describes it as "All the studio recorded albums plus a bonus disc of early demo recordings".

Picture shows (1) Facets and (2, 3) the two Jim & Ingrid Croce albums, plus (4) The Lost Recordings, (5) I Got A Name, (6) Life And Times and (7) You Don't Mess With Jim.

I love Jim Croce. With the DCC golds and other releases I already own, I don't imagine this is going to have better sound, so wouldn't buy it absent something unreleased, so it'll be interesting to see what is on that "lost recordings" disc.

I wonder if any of his stuff was ever released as a Quad album to justify a multichannel release? Otherwise, I could see Audio Fidelity doing an SACD release of one or more of his albums, given that Hoffman seems to be a big fan as well.

Agreed, Todd. And there is already this The Lost Recordings disc available:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9DOLI6/?tag=imwan-20

Yes. All three of Croce's studio albums on ABC were released in the label's "Command Quadraphonic" series.

The three "deluxe editions" of the ABC-era studio albums also show a release date of March 2, 2015 the same as the box set. The listing doesn't give any additional information other than they are all single discs. I assume there will be bonus tracks (otherwise I wouldn't consider it a "deluxe edition"). I wonder if the box set will include these editions or just the original album track listing. Hopefully we will get some more information. Huge Jim Croce fan here and am happy rebuying stuff I already have if there is at least some value-added material like extensive new liner notes or deluxe packaging.

Thanks for that. I will never own an LP quad decoder so here's hoping someone (you reading this, Audio Fidelity?) elects to put out quad versions of these Croce albums at some point this millennium.

The quads are freely available on DVD-A if you look, a fan reproduces his quad collection to DVD-A
They don't sound that great actually.

Bump: Pushed back another week, to March 9th.

Anyone secure a track listing yet ?

Cover art for "Life & Times" and "I Got A Name" are up on Amazon UK. (Sorry, I don't know how to post images here.)
Item description says they are 2 CD digi-packs with new liner notes by Alan Robinson.

According to the stickers on the front:

"Life & Times" includes full concert recording "Live at Harper College"
1. Intro to Concert
2. Careful Man
3. Operator (Intro)
4. Operator
5. Box #10
6. Framed (Intro)
7. Framed
8. Iron Horse Lament (Intro)
9. Iron Horse Lament
10. A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business (Singin' the Blues) (Intro)
11. A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business (Singin' the Blues)
12. These Dreams
13. Hard Time Losin' Man (Intro)
14. Hard Time Losin' Man
15. Rapid Boy
16. It Doesn't Have to Be That Way (Intro)
17. It Doesn't Have to Be That Way
18. Roller Derby Queen (Intro)
19. Roller Derby Queen
20. One Less Set of Footsteps
21. Next Time, This Time
22. Speedball Tucker (Intro)
23. Speedball Tucker
24. New York's Not My Home
25. Dreamin' Again
26. Ball of Kerrymuir (Intro)
27. Ball of Kerrymuir
28. You Don't Mess Around With Jim

"I Got A Name" includes concert recordings "The Final Tour"
1. Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)
2. Roller Derby Queen Monologue
3. Roller Derby Queen
4. Next Time, This Time
5. Trucker Monologue
6. Speedball Tucker
7. New York's Not My Home
8. Hard Time Losin' Man
9. Ball of Kirriemuir Monologue
10. Ball of Kirriemuir
11. You Don't Mess Around With Jim
12. It Doesn't Have to Be That Way
13. Careful Man Monologue
14. Careful Man
15. Shopping for Clothes
16. These Dreams

Also, the cover for "I Got A Name" is not the same as the original ABC LP. (Unless it had an alternate cover in the UK, which is possible.)

Track listing for "You Don't Mess Around With Jim." I assume that tracks 13 - 24 are actually the second disc of home demos.

1. You Don't Mess Around With Jim
2. Tomorrow's Gonna Be a Brighter Day
3. New York's Not My Home
4. Hard Time Losin' Man
5. Photographs and Memories
6. Walkin' Back to Georgia
7. Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)
8. Time in a Bottle
9. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)
10. Box #10
11. A Long Time Ago
12. Hey Tomorrow
13. You Don't Mess Around With Jim
14. New York's Not My Home
15. Tomorrow's Gonna Be a Brighter Day
16. Walkin' Back to Georgia
17. Hard Time Losin' Man
18. Operator
19. Time in a Bottle
20. Seems Like Such a Long Time Ago
21. Mississippi Lady
22. These Dreams
23. A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business (Singin' the Blues)
24. Lover's Cross

Okay, from what I can gather from other sources, the bonus content on the individual albums is not included in the box set. So, if you want everything, you will need to purchase the box set and all the individual releases. Thank you Edsel/Demon UK for screwing over the fans.

The box set reportedly does contain (full?) lyrics and a 5000-word essay.

The box set tracklist is now in the first post, and it's as Actorman described. Seven CDs (not the originally announced eight) with no bonus tracks. The box has been pushed back another week to March 16th, while the Deluxe Editions of the three individual albums remain scheduled for the 9th.

Edsel sure did do a number on Croce's fan base . I honestly can say that I expected more but I should have known better . One last time to go the financial well . Hopefully it is mastered properly

After reading the reviews for their Pretenders releases, I would not count on it.

Box set is a joke if the bonus tracks were not included. I'll just be getting 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim' an absolute classic album.