Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Jim Croce fan seeks inspirati
From:
catspaw49
Date: 27 Feb 00 - 04:03 PM
There are a few collections of sorts. Here's your first stop...Go to Elderly Instruments and go to the book section. Enter the name in the search box at the bottom. You'll find several, including a 61 song anthology.
Jim's stuff was not hard to learn, not all that difficult in chord progressions and such, though virtually all of it was overproduced. It was much better when he played without the "orchestral" bullshit, as in his live performances. His longtime guitarist/partner, Maury Muehleisen, is the person you hear on some of the fine and intricate guitar solos and background picking. Unique style, very tasteful. He too died in the crash.
I don't know what albums you have, but the anthology released a couple of years ago is well worth it if you're a Croce fan. But if you want to hear something of his early stuff that was much more "folk-like" and simply produced, his first album, with a couple additions, was also re-released under the title, "Bombs Over Puerto Rico" and is something you need to hear. It is just Jim acoustically with a small group and Ingrid (his wife) singing the duets. There are a couple of fantastic songs on there that never made it, even after his death.
BTW, the word was that he wanted to do a simpler recording on his next album, possibly in Nashville. He didn't care for the "orchestral" treatment either. That was just a rumor, I don't know whether its true or not...but it fits. Ingrid had a beautiful voice but unfortunately had a medical problem after Jim died that curtailed any use of her singing voice. She now runs a night spot called "Croce's" in San Diego where their son AJ plays jazz piano. As you're also probably aware, she's kinda' looked down on by a large contingent of fans and former associates because she fought to gain what was Jim's for herself and their son that the publishers had screwed him out of. She seems pretty neat to me. Wish she still sang.
Spaw
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