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) Two singles were originally released from the album in 1972: (You Don't Mess Around with Jim) and "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)"
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 sings about how "You don't mess around with Slim."
Side A
A1. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim - 3:00
A2. Tomorrow’s Gonna Be A Brighter Day - 2:49
A3. New York’s Not My Home - 3:05
A4. Hard Time Losin’ Man - 2:23
A5. Photographs And Memories - 2:03
A6. Walkin’ Back To Georgia - 2:47
Side B
B1. Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)- 3:45
B2. Time In A Bottle - 2:24
B3. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) - 2:40
B4. Box #10 - 2:22
B5. A Long Time Ago - 2:18
B6. Hey Tomorrow - 2:40
Notes
Released: 1972
Format: LP
Genre: Folk Pop
Label: ABC Records
Catalog# ABCX 756
Vinyl: G
Cover: Poor
Prijs: €3,99
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