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Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | Croce wrote some good stuff, but the real guitar genius was his side man Maury Maulhausen (sp?). he played some great acoustic riffs. I'm not sure how long Croce played Martin vs. Ovation but for some reason I think of him more as a Martin player, I guess because of the LP Cover. On the DVD he seems to play more Ovation. Anyway, good stuff no matter what name is on the box. Dave |
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March 2005
Posts: 2791
Location: Atlanta, GA. | There was a special about Jim Croce on TV several years back. I remember his wife saying he wrote a lot of his best tunes in a very short timespan (2-3 weeks) trying to make a recording session deadline. or something to that effect.
Most of my Croce is on 8-track, and an LP or two... |
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April 2003
Posts: 2503
Location: Fayetteville, NC | No Question About it, Jim Croce was amazing. Now as far as guitarist's goes I'd say he was very good but he would have probably told you thatwhile he was a solid rhythym player maury complemented and added to the arrangement. Jim was a songwriting machine and gave a variety of styles in his music from the acoustic rock-n Roll of "Rapid Roy" to the smooth mellow sound of Time in a Bottle. I wish he was still here. |
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October 2002
Posts: 178
Location: New York, NY | I was never crazy about "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", but "I've Got A Name" is one of my all time favorites.
"...if it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud."
That is SUCH a great line! |
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December 2004
Posts: 59
Location: North Carolina | " I was so afraid to touch you,
Thought you were too young to know,
so I just watched you sleeping.
Then you came and said to me,
the night is cold it frightens me,
I could sleep so easy next to you.
We spent the whole night talking,
You said you'd like to see the sun rise.
But in the gold of morning,
was nothing that I had not seen in your eyes.
hmm-mm hmm-mm"
(From "A long Time Ago)
That, my friends, is poetry! |
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December 2004
Posts: 59
Location: North Carolina | Sorry for the wasted space, but this should be my 20th post.
"Well he musta thought I was a Rockafella
or an uptown man of wealth.
He said now boy I got the car that was made for you, and it's cleaner than the board of health." |
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June 2002
Posts: 1614
Location: Converse, Texas | Paul:
Isn't Mr. Moody your dad?
I agree with Paul. Croce was a decent rhythm player and a GREAT songwriter. |
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March 2004
Posts: 201
Location: Vernon, CT | Paul,
A healthy debate is good and agreeing to disagree is fine. That's what part of this great website and exchange is about. There are probably some guitarists I think stink or are not so good IMHO that others would take offense to. But that is okay with me. It would be boring if we all agreed.
John L. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12754
Location: Boise, Idaho | Good timing. I just started playing my O again after many years, bought 2 more since Christmas and learned "I'll Have to Say I Love You". Croce was one of the reasons I got my first Ovation in 1977 and I tried to learn that song for my wife then. I couldn't figure it out, so learned "Time In a Bottle" instead. After 28 years I still love the songs he wrote. There's a nice little booklet about him in his double CD. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | A Favorite JC lyric:
Well I had just got out from the county prison
Doin' 90 days for non-support
Tried to find me an executive position
But no matter how smooth I talked
They wouldn't listen to the fact that I was genius
The man said, We got all that we could use... |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | John L, I can disagree with friends all the time. Still friends. Being around people who agree with me 100% is boring.
Last October my wife and I were down in San Diego and had dinner at Croce's. Met Ingrid and she bought us dessert. A very nice lady. Back in our hotel room, I picked up my Deluxe Balladeer (which I brought to serranade my wife), and started relearning I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song. Jim Croce wrote strong, powerful tunes and beautiful ballads. He was terrific.
In fact, at the last OFC gathering, I seem to remember in the hotel lobby, some of his tunes being done. And everybody joined in. |
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February 2004
Posts: 171
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma | It's so great to see the appreciation of Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen.. (and yes that is how you spell his name)... Although there is dispute about his specific skills, I will say that if you can play both the lead and the rhythm lines you can play just about anything..,.
Great to see the love man.. |
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February 2004
Posts: 171
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma | Another thing for all of you who want to learn the music and the lyrics of Jim Croce... Get on ebay and find a music book... "Jim Croce: His Life and Times"..... You won't regret it.... the last copy cost me about $25... I've bought about 4 now and given 3 of them away... ( I lost my first one)... The narrative and the music will serve you well... Great lyrics, great music... |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | My daughter recently gave me a disc she thought I'd like ... a new artist by the name of Adrian James Croce (album of the same name). Remember the curly haired tot on the album "Photographs and Memories"? Yup, the kid is grown up now. The liner notes thanks Ingrid. My daughter had no idea of the connection to Jim Croce ... in fact, she didn't know who Jim Croce was. A few spins on the turntable and she recognized a few of the tunes ... and then of course remembered the Ovation I pointed out on the wall of Croce's in the Gaslamp district of San Diego when we ate there a few years back.
Pretty good album. Sort of Wallflowers/McCartney/Fastball/with a bit of Buddy Holly thrown in. But unique it its own way. I've been playing it a fair bit and it stands up both musically and artistically.
P.S. She also gave me the new Paul Westerberg. Pretty good kid, eh? |
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April 2003
Posts: 2503
Location: Fayetteville, NC | Jeff W,
Workin' At the Car Wash Blues...
What A great Song.. Fun, Upbeat..With a great hook.
You're right..Great Lyrics. |
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April 2004
Posts: 234
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Originally posted by stonebobbo:
My daughter recently gave me a disc she thought I'd like ... a new artist by the name of Adrian James Croce Interesting. I knew he had been singing for a while, and, I think, writing his own songs. But, as a young child, he was always known as "AJ". (I never even knew what the "AJ" stood for!) |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I was QUITE surprised when I found this over the weekend, as I thought I'd lost it YEARS ago:
I'd done this when I was NINETEEN (egad!) years old.
Approx. 11" x 14" pen & ink on cold-pressed illustration board.
The image on the left is the original drawing in colour(s) and has been pretty much damaged/discoloured from years of musty basement storage. The one on the right is an 11"x17" b&w Xerox copy made from the original when it was new.
Ironically, the Xerox has seemed to fair better.
The middle shows a highlight of the signature (which probably isn't too legible at this piss-ant size/resolution) which was completed on my birthday 2-24-NineteenSeventyFIVE!!! (oy!)
Oddly enough, I'd done this BEFORE I even OWNED my first Ovation (which I didn't get till the following year). The Croce "pose" came from a photo inside of the "I've Got a Name" songbook that I pencil-sketched onto the board and then "stippled" with tiny ink dots with a small drawing quill. The main foreground was done in black, the sky/clouds in blue, and background landscape in yellow/brown/black inks.
I'd venture to guess having this much "intimate knowledge" with an Ovation (at that age) helped to solidify the decision to actually buy one a year later . .
hmmm . . . maybe for my "50th", I'll have this tattooed onto my back . . ;) |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Cool drawing. If you do have it tattoed, a number of us would be willing to come watch and cheer you on. |
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Very cool. It's alway nice to find a "lost relic"! |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I'm a bit concerned that Cliff was drawing naked pictures of Jim Croce.
...regardless of how well its done |
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December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | Yes, but the guitar is very tastefully positioned. Kind of like Inspector Clouseau at the nudist camp... |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | "Does your dog bite?" |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
I'm a bit concerned that Cliff was drawing naked pictures of Jim Croce.
...regardless of how well its done I was going to ask about that, but I was afraid of what the answer might be. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
"Does your dog bite?" That's not my dog. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | He could drawing one of you playing at the factory at this very moment. |
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Jim Croce - One of the Greatest Acoustic Guitarists!
