Review:

on 2011-04-18 CharlesMartel Said:

I cannot remember where I first heard Jim Croce's music but right from the start it was not what I was expecting. However, always being one who has an ear for a good lyric, I remember latching onto "I Have to Say I Love You in a Song" and reminding myself to find that track. It was many years before I eventually bought this album, largely if not solely because it had that track on it. As a result of that, this album tends to fall into the same category as albums in my collection such as Nilsson's "Schmilsson", or Dan Fogelberg's "Souvenirs", both also bought for one track: I like one track and don't really listen to it apart from that.

As a consequence, this is a compilation album which does little for me except that it contains "I Have to Say I Love You in a Song" which is one my all time favourite tracks. "Big Bad Leroy Brown" is OK in a strange sort of way, but that is pretty much it. The former will come up on reasonably frequent rotation on iPod shuffle; the latter occasionally. Other than that, the album and the other tracks on it get little airplay these days. When I bought it there were not such things as internets and downloads available when I did. Had there been, then this album would not be in my collection.

The reason is that I have never really been a great fan of this type of music. The lone singer songwriter with his acoustic guitar has never really caught my imagination apart from the occasional song. I always though Dylan's best works were in a group context. The same goes for unheralded artists such as Pickering Pick (though I will admit "Egypt" is a lovely song). Others, such as Woodie Guthrie or Tim Buckley never really rattled my cage. Occasionally a single track would shine through from such an artist as a classic of its time, but rarely was that enough to hold my attention on such artists for too long. When all is said and done, I seem to veer towards a collective approach to music instead of a solo one.

Although Jim Croce follows in a grand tradition of American singer-songwriters, I am not sure what it is about him that has such an appeal. I do not find his music to be that inspiring. I find his voice to be rather insipid and lacking in character and emotion. On the other hand, his guitar work, while competent enough, is not exactly inspiring either. Okay, I will grant you the lyrics can, at times, be insightful and clever, but beyond that, I do not really find anything to be enthusiastic about.

So here is a question, what are the reasons I am so disappointed by Jim Croce as a whole? Is he too American? Is his sound too laid-back or even too bland? Is his reputation enhanced by his untimely death in the way that many (late) artists have found theirs to be (Jeff Buckley is one who springs immediately to mind)? These and other deep and meaningful questions I cannot answer. If others can, please enlighten me.

There is no doubting the underlying talent with Jim Croce, but his music is something I struggle with. I just cannot get to grips with this sort of thing and at times it really bugs me because I feel I ought to. Still, this compilation, though in many ways personally disappointing from my perspective, is worth having in my collection.
Rating: 5/10