| You Don't Mess Around with Jim | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 1972 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1971–1972 | |||
| Studio | Hit Factory, New York City | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 33:22 | |||
| Label | ABC (USA) Vertigo (UK) | |||
| Producer | Terry Cashman, Tommy West | |||
| Jim Croce chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from You Don't Mess Around with Jim | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [2] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B− [3] |
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.
The album was recorded over a three to four-week period for approximately $18,000, with most funding coming from the PolyGram Group in Baarn, the Netherlands, on the basis of hearing an 8-song demo tape assembled by production team Cashman & West. The deal with PolyGram was made after team attorney Phil Kurnit approached a contact within the record company who then had PolyGram executives listen to the demo tape. After having the finished album rejected by up to 40 record labels, Croce was signed to ABC Records after Cashman & West had a chance meeting with ABC promotion man Marty Kupps. Kupps urged label head Jay Lasker to sign Croce after hearing cuts from a cassette tape of the finished album.
The record spent 93 weeks on the charts, longer than any other Jim Croce album. Due to the strong performance of the posthumous single release "Time in a Bottle" (#1 pop, No. 1 AC), You Don't Mess Around with Jim was the best selling album in the U.S. for five weeks in early 1974. [4] It was listed at No. 6 on the 1974 Cash Box year-end album charts. [5] Two singles were originally released from the album in 1972: the title track (#8 pop) and "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" (#17 pop).
The album was issued on CD by the Rhino Flashbacks record label on September 30, 2008.
The lyrics of the title track concern the fate of a 'pool-shooting son-of-a-gun' by the name of 'Big' Jim Walker when his 'mark', Willie 'Slim' McCoy, from South Alabama, shows up to get a refund from being hustled or get revenge. The song is notable for the line, "You don't tug on Superman's cape/You don't spit into the wind/You don't pull the mask off that ol' Lone Ranger/And you don't mess around with Jim." However, after the song ends with Jim being thoroughly thrashed by his victim ("he'd been cut 'n 'bout a hundred places/ and he'd been shot in a couple more"), the chorus now goes, "You don't mess around with Slim."
All tracks are written by Jim Croce
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Tomorrow's Gonna Be a Brighter Day" | 2:49 |
| 3. | "New York's Not My Home" | 3:05 |
| 4. | "Hard Time Losin' Man" | 2:23 |
| 5. | "Photographs and Memories" | 2:03 |
| 6. | "Walkin' Back to Georgia" | 2:47 |
| 7. | "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" | 3:45 |
| 8. | "Time in a Bottle" | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)" | 2:40 |
| 10. | "Box No. 10" | 2:22 |
| 11. | "A Long Time Ago" | 2:18 |
| 12. | "Hey Tomorrow" | 2:40 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Which Way Are You Going'" | 2:20 |
| 14. | "Mississippi Lady" | 3:59 |
| 15. | "Country Girl" | 1:49 |
| 16. | "King's Song" | 3:21 |
| 17. | "Chain Gang Medley" | 4:29 |
| 18. | "Ol' Man River" | 2:26 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maybe Tomorrow" | 2:30 |
| 2. | "Stone Walls" | 2:58 |
| 3. | "Railroads and Riverboats" | 3:12 |
| 4. | "(And) I Remember Her" | 2:49 |
| 5. | "More Than That Tomorrow" | 2:44 |
| 6. | "The Way We Used to Be" | 2:30 |
| 7. | "Cotton Mouth River" | 2:00 |
| 8. | "Circle of Style" (featuring Ingrid Croce) | 2:09 |
| 9. | "Carnival of Pride" (featuring Ingrid Croce) | 1:53 |
| 10. | "Wear Out the Turnpike" (featuring Ingrid Croce) | 2:14 |
| 11. | "Can't Wait" (featuring Ingrid Croce) | 1:53 |
| 12. | "(The) Migrant Worker" (featuring Ingrid Croce) | 1:54 |
| 13. | "Railroad Song" (featuring Ingrid Croce) | 2:55 |
| 14. | "Child of Midnight" | 2:48 |
Notes
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | US Billboard 200 | 1 |
| 1974 | Canadian RPM 100 | 1 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" | Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
| 1972 | "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" | Easy Listening | 9 |
| 1972 | "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" | Billboard Hot 100 | 17 |
| 1973 | "Time in a Bottle" | Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| 1973 | "Time in a Bottle" | Easy Listening | 1 |
| Country | Certifications |
|---|---|
| United States | Gold |
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, when 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", Croce's only No. 1 hit during his lifetime.
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