I love their music, I like Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot, and Operator and I've got a name, and Time in a Bottle, and I'll have to say I love you in a song-by Jim Croce not sure that's the title, but I have it on his greatest hits CD. Does anyone else like them too??
Posted by sam hain2 (Member # 1964) on :
I like Jim Croce more then Gordon Lightfoot but I do like Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. If you talk about these two you should probably also include Harry Chapin.
Posted by HipsterMom27 (Member # 2161) on :
I remember them all very well and very fondly, though they are polar opposites of the music I'm listening to today.
The songs from these guys heavily marked my coming-of-age years. I didn't know "The Wreck" was based on a recent true story...it sounded like an old sea-faring ballad...but then one day I saw a documentary on the story...fascinating! Croce was fairly prolific for a guy whose commercial success was so short-lived. I liked everything by him except probably his two big commercial hits, "Leroy" and "Jim"...those were kinda goofy. The rest was all good stuff and I'll never forget hearing that he died, just like the kids must have felt when Buddy Holley died.
Chapin was good too, sort of a "local boy made good" since he was a NY-er like me...my sister went to college with one of his younger brothers.
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
I was recently going through some older subjects, and I can't believe I didn't respond to this earlier!
The early 70's was a time when folk-pop "sensitive" male singer/songwriters flourished: Lightfoot, Croce, John Denver, Harry Chapin, and James Taylor.
Gordon Lightfoot - I can't say I'm a big fan of his, but I enjoyed his songs.
Harry Chapin & John Denver - I don't really care for his singing and songs, though I did like a couple of his hits. But I was most impressed about both guys is that they were doing a lot of charity shows and causes back in the 70's, long before it became a fad in the 80's (such as Live Aid, "We Are The World", Farm Aid, etc.)
Jim Croce - he was the man back in those days! I have his "Greatest Hits" on an album, not CD. But every song is outstanding, and especially his "I Got A Name" song. It is a shame that he died in a plane crash. What kind of career he would've had. Posted by Sam Hain 666 (Member # 3150) on :
Of the 4 only Gordon Lightfoot is still alive.
Posted by isis9968 (Member # 1780) on :
yeah and 2 died in freak plane wrecks, isn't it really scary how many celebrities have actually died in a plane crash from Patsy Cline and Buddy Holly-to Jim Croce and John Denver.
I loved John Denver. I love Rocky Mountain High and Country Roads, and I have his greatest hits. He looked like a kid I grew up with, and that kids Dad- we thought they were John Denver's twin.
John Denver hosted the Muppet Show for a long time, and I always liked him, and I liked him in Oh God!
Posted by JCU (Member # 2851) on :
Being born in the mid 70's and remembering music from growing up, a few of the names being thrown around here really hit home. One such artist caught my interest when I was a little tyke. My father loved his music and for some reason, I found myself always wanting to listen to "You don't mess around with Jim". Back when record players were on their way out, I found my young self hitting the repeat switch so I could listen to it over and over again. As the years past, I grew an appreciation for Jim Croche and all of his music. Much of it was depressing but all of it was damn good.
Fast forward a few years and again, I found my father listening to certain cd's from a man who sang about everything. At this time, I had no idea who Harry Chapin was or what he was about. Perhaps this was because I was in my young teen years and couldn't listen to anyone that wasn't screaming or wearing skin tight leather pants with frizzed hair. As I matured, I grew to strongly appreciate Harry Chapin and found myself where my father once was: listening to this man at every opportunity I had. This man ranks very high with me in terms of skill, ability and all around performance. How can you not like such songs as "WOLD", "Taxi", "I Wanna Learn A Love Song", "Danceband On The Titanic", etc.., The song that really did it for me is "30k lbs of bananas" since it was a true story that took place in my hometown.
These two men must be rolling in their graves when they see the so called "artists" that are out there today! Music today is garbage when compared to many of the artists of years past!
Posted by HipsterMom27 (Member # 2161) on :
I'm glad you guys resurrected this thread...JCU, nice post.
While Sammy & I are hip to the fact that there's plenty of quality music around today, your assessment of Chapin's talent is right-on.
There are plenty of talented singer-songwriter-musicians around today...I wonder if any of them credit the influence of Chapin, Croce, Lightfoot, JT, etc.?
![[Frown]](frown.gif)