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.
They Might Be Giants, sometimes called The Pink Album, is the debut studio album from Brooklyn-based band They Might Be Giants. It was released by Bar/None in 1986. The album generated two singles, "Don't Let's Start" and "(She Was A) Hotel Detective". It is included on Then: The Earlier Years, a compilation of the band's early material, in its entirety, with the exception of "Don't Let's Start", which is replaced with the single mix for the compilation.
Other Voices is the seventh studio album by the Doors, released by Elektra Records in October 1971. It was the first album released by the band following the death of lead singer Jim Morrison in July 1971 with keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger sharing lead vocals. Tracks for the album had begun before Morrison's death and the band hoped that Morrison would return from Paris to finish them.
Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released by ABC Records on February 20, 1974. It was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, with producer Gary Katz. The album was Steely Dan's last to be made and released while the group was still an active touring band, as well as the final album to feature the band's full quintet-lineup of Becker, Fagen, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, though it also features significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians.
Look What the Cat Dragged In is the debut studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on May 23, 1986 through Enigma Records. Though not a success at first, it steadily built momentum and peaked at #3 on the US Billboard 200 on May 23, 1987. The album spawned three successful singles: "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action", and "I Won't Forget You".
One Man Dog is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter James Taylor. Released on November 1, 1972, it features the hit "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard charts on January 13, 1973. The follow-up single, "One Man Parade", also charted but less successfully, peaking at number 67 in the US and reaching number 55 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. The basic tracks were primarily recorded in Taylor's home studio.
JT is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor. It was released on June 22, 1977, via Columbia Records, making it his first album released for the label. Recording session took place from March 15 to April 24, 1977, at The Sound Factory in Los Angeles with Val Garay. Production was handled by Peter Asher.
Between the Buttons is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 10 February in the US. Reflecting the band's brief foray into psychedelia and baroque pop balladry during the era, the album is among their most eclectic works; multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones frequently abandoned his guitar during the sessions in favor of instruments such as organ, marimba, dulcimer, vibraphone and kazoo. Keyboard contributions came from two session players: former Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor Jack Nitzsche. Between the Buttons would be the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, who had to this point acted as the band's manager and produced all of their albums.
Jim & Ingrid Croce is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, the only one performed as a duo with his wife Ingrid. It was originally released in 1969 and has been subsequently re-released with alternate titles such as Bombs over Puerto Rico, Another Day, Another Town and Approaching Day.
Life and Times is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in January 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, which is noted for its sparse piano-only vocal backing, was written by his guitarist and friend Maury Muehleisen and was included on the album as a gift to the writer.
VU is a 1985 album by the American musical group the Velvet Underground, a compilation album of outtakes recorded 1968-69. It was released in February 1985 by Verve Records.
Pacific Ocean Blue is the only studio album by American musician Dennis Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys. When released in August 1977, it was warmly received critically, and noted for outselling the Beach Boys' contemporary efforts. Two singles were issued from the album, "River Song" and "You and I", which did not chart.
Fresh is the second studio album by Raspberries, released in 1972. It contained two Top 40 singles. "I Wanna Be With You" reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 10 on Cash Box and number 7 on Record World. "Let's Pretend" reached number 35 on Billboard, number 18 on Cashbox, and number 14 on Record World. It was their highest-charting album, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard album chart.
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is an uptempo, strophic story song written by American folk rock singer Jim Croce. Released as part of his 1973 album Life and Times, the song was a No. 1 hit for him, spending two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1973. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1973.
Bop Till You Drop is Ry Cooder's eighth album, released in 1979. The album was the first digitally recorded major-label album in popular music, recorded on a digital 32-track machine built by 3M.
Aimless Love is the eighth album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1984. It is his first release on his independent record label, Oh Boy Records.
Thomas Picardo Jr., known professionally as Tommy West, was an American record producer and singer-songwriter.
"You Don't Mess Around with Jim" is a 1972 strophic story song by Jim Croce from his album of the same name. It was Croce's debut single, released on ABC Records as ABC-11328. ABC Records promotion man Marty Kupps took it to KHJ 930 AM in Los Angeles, CA where it first aired. It made the KHJ "30" chart that week of June 6, 1972. After spending 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song peaked at No. 8 the week ending September 9. Croce performed the song on American Bandstand on August 12, 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 68 song for 1972.
My Second Album is the second studio album released by American country artist Donna Fargo. The album was released in February 1973 on Dot Records and was produced by Fargo's husband and manager Stan Silver. The album spawned two number one singles on the Billboard country chart and was one of two albums Donna Fargo would release in 1973.