James Joseph Croce was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After Croce formed a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen in the early 1970s, his fortunes turned. Croce's breakthrough came in 1972, his third album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, produced three charting singles, including "Time in a Bottle", which reached No. 1 after Croce died. The follow-up album, Life and Times, included the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.
Keepin' the Summer Alive is the 24th studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 24, 1980, on Brother, Caribou and CBS Records. Produced by Bruce Johnston, the album peaked at number 75 in the US, during a chart stay of 6 weeks, and number 54 in the UK. It is the group's last album recorded with Dennis Wilson, who drowned in 1983, although he only appears on one song.
Hey Jude is a 1970 collection of non-album singles and B-sides by the Beatles. Originally released in the United States and various other markets, but not in the United Kingdom, it consisted of non-album singles and B-sides not previously issued on an American Beatles LP; this included "I Should Have Known Better" and "Can't Buy Me Love", two singles released by Capitol Records whose only previous American album appearance had been on the A Hard Day's Night soundtrack album, which had been released by United Artists Records. The Hey Jude LP has been out of print since the late 1980s, although it remained available on cassette during the 1990s. The album was issued on CD for the first time in 2014, as an individual release and in a box set titled The U.S. Albums.
Hot Rats is the second solo album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1969. It was Zappa's first recording project after the dissolution of the original version of the Mothers of Invention. Five of the six songs are instrumental; while "Willie the Pimp", features vocals by Captain Beefheart. In his original sleeve notes, Zappa described the album as "a movie for your ears".
Facets is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released and self-published in 1966. Croce had five hundred copies of the album pressed, financed with a $500 cash wedding gift that he and his wife to be, Ingrid Croce, received from his parents. Croce's parents were certain that Jim would fail completely at selling the record, and realizing that he couldn't support his family as a singer, would abandon music and finish his college education. The album was recorded in a three-hour session at a Delaware studio. Unexpectedly, it proved to be a success. Croce sold every record, even turning a profit of $2500. The majority of those records were sold to fans who attended Croce's shows at local bars. Original vinyl copies of Facets are extremely rare today.
You Don't Mess Around with Jim is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in April 1972 by ABC Records.
Life and Times is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in July 1973. The album contains the No. 1 Billboard chart hit "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". Croce was nominated for two 1973 Grammy awards in the "Pop Male Vocalist" and "Record of the Year" categories for the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". It was Croce's final album to be released during his lifetime.
I Got a Name is the fifth and final studio album and first posthumous release by American singer-songwriter, Jim Croce, released on December 1, 1973. It features the ballad "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", which reached number 9 in the US singles chart, and the ballad "Salon and Saloon", the last song Croce recorded in his lifetime. The song was written by his guitarist Maury Muehleisen and was included on the album as a gift to the writer. The song is noted for its sparse piano-only vocal backing. This would be Croce's final album, as Croce died in a plane crash on September 20, 1973, the day before the album's title song was released, leaving wife Ingrid Croce and son Adrian J. Croce. The title track, the theme from the film The Last American Hero, was another posthumous hit for Croce, reaching number 10 in the US singles chart.
The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artful practitioners of pop music, influenced as it was by folk, blues, rhythm & blues, jazz and the pop music of the day.
Missing Links is a compilation album of rare and previously unreleased songs by the Monkees, issued by Rhino Records in 1987. It is the first volume of a three-volume set, followed by Missing Links Volume Two in 1990 and Missing Links Volume Three in 1996.
The Majesty Demos is the first demo album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, under their original name, Majesty. The original 1986 tape contained six tracks that were recorded on Mike Portnoy's analog 4-track recorder, and another 4-track recorder obtained from friends at Berklee College of Music. All the band members were about 19 years old at the time of the recording. Only 1,000 copies were recorded on cassette tape and distributed to fans and rock and metal magazines. Portnoy gave one copy to Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, a move that was instrumental in the band's break into the progressive rock scene. The line-up on the initial recording was keyboardist Kevin Moore, bassist John Myung, guitarist John Petrucci, and drummer Mike Portnoy. Chris Collins, the band's singer at the time, had been introduced to the band after a friend heard a demo of him singing a note-for-note version of Queensrÿche's "Queen of the Reich".
Blue Virgin Isles is the fifth studio album and international debut album by Swedish singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestad, released on November 1978 by Epic Records in the UK and Polar Music in Scandinavia.
Tinkerbells Fairydust were a British pop group in the late 1960s, who hailed from east London. They recorded three singles and one album for the Decca label.
Thomas Picardo Jr., known professionally as Tommy West, was an American record producer and singer-songwriter.
Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits is a rare mail-order album issued by Adam VIII consisting of rough mixes of John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album. It was available through television sale for three days in January 1975 before Lennon and Apple/EMI pulled it off the market. Lennon then rush-released his "official" version in February 1975.
Preflyte is a compilation album by the American folk rock band the Byrds and was released in July 1969 on Together Records. The album is a collection of demos recorded by the Byrds at World Pacific Studios in Los Angeles during late 1964, before the band had signed to Columbia Records and become famous. It includes early demo versions of the songs "Here Without You", "You Won't Have to Cry", "I Knew I'd Want You", and "Mr. Tambourine Man", all of which appeared in re-recorded form on the band's 1965 debut album.
Ingrid Croce is an American author, singer-songwriter and restaurateur. Between 1964 and 1971, Ingrid performed as a duo with her husband, Jim Croce, releasing the album Jim & Ingrid Croce in 1969.
Jerry Reed Sings Jim Croce is an album by American country singer Jerry Reed, released by RCA Records in 1980. The album is a tribute album for Jim Croce who died in 1973 in a plane crash during the peak of his career. Seven of the ten songs were singles released by Croce. The album peaked at number 56 on the Billboard country chart. The song "Age" was the only single released from the album. It peaked at 36 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
We'll Sing in the Sunshine is the tenth studio album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy that was released in 1978 by Capitol Records. The album included two songs that were also covered by Johnny Mathis in the first half of that year: "All I Ever Need", which came out on his March release, You Light Up My Life, and "Ready or Not", on which he duetted with Deniece Williams for their June release, That's What Friends Are For. Reddy also ventures into Beatles territory with their rockabilly number "One After 909" and takes on Jeff Lynne's "Poor Little Fool" with accompaniment in the vein of Electric Light Orchestra. This was her first album not to reach Billboard's Top LP's & Tapes chart. On February 23, 2010, it was released for the first time on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being her 1977 release, Ear Candy. "Blue" was originally featured on the 1977 animated film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure.
Woodstock – Back to the Garden: 50th Anniversary Experience is a live album by various artists, packaged as a box set of ten compact discs. Released by Rhino Records during the summer leading up to the fiftieth anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, it contains selections from every performance at the music festival, which took place on August 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. The discs also include stage announcements and miscellaneous audio material. The package contains essays by producer Andy Zax and Jesse Jarnow, details about the performers and notable festival figures, and photographs. This box set is a compilation derived from its limited edition parent box set. A smaller three-CD or five-LP sampler was also released.
