I Got a Name

I Got a Name
Studio album by Jim Croce
Released	December 1, 1973
Recorded	The Hit Factory, New York City
Genre	Folk rock
Length	30:57
Label	ABC (USA) Vertigo (UK)
Producer	Terry Cashman, Tommy West
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Jim Croce chronology
Life & Times (1973) I Got a Name (1973) Down the Highway (1975)

I Got a Name is an album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released on December 1, 1973.^[1] It features the ballad "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", which reached #9 in the U.S. singles chart. Croce died in a plane crash shortly before the album's title song was released, leaving wife Ingrid and son Adrian J. Croce. The title track, the theme from the film The Last American Hero, was another posthumous hit for Croce, reaching #10 in the U.S. singles chart.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Jim Croce; except where indicated

1. "I Got a Name" (Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel) - 3:09
2. "Lover's Cross" - 3:02
3. "Five Short Minutes" - 3:32
4. "Age" - 3:44
5. "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues" - 2:29
6. "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" - 2:28
7. "Salon and Saloon" (Maury Muehleisen) - 2:30
8. "Thursday" (Joseph) - 2:20
9. "Top Hat Bar and Grille" - 2:48
10. "Recently" - 2:31
11. "The Hard Way Every Time" - 2:24

Personnel

• Jim Croce - guitar, vocals
• Leroy Brown - vocals
• George Devens - percussion
• Steve Gadd - drums
• Ellie Greenwich - vocals
• Michael Kamen - synthesizer
• Joe Macho - bass
• Rick Marotta - drums
• Bobby Matos - percussion
• Terence P. Minogue - strings, vocals
• Maury Muehleisen - guitar, vocals
• Marty Nelson - vocals
• Alan Rolnick - guitar, vocals
• Tasha Thomas - vocals
• Tommy West - bass, keyboards, vocals
• Stu Woods - bass

Production

• Producers: Terry Cashman, Tommy West

Songwriting

Croce's wife Ingrid has an autobiographical cookbook, Thyme In A Bottle, in which she writes interesting anecdotes about Jim. What she wrote about "I'll Have To Say 'I Love You' in a Song" is this.

"One weekend, after being on the road for many months, Jim got a chance to come home to relax with his family. We settled in to enjoy our time alone together. Though Jim was expecting company the next day, avoiding confrontation he never told me that we were to be joined by an entire film crew! The next morning, 15 people from Acorn Productions descended upon our house to record a promotional film of Jim Croce at Home on the Farm.
"I prepared breakfast, lunch and dinner for the whole film crew and after the group left, I questioned Jim about our finances. After a year and a half of his working so very hard on the road, we were barely making ends meet, but Jim wouldn't talk about it. He hated questions as much as he hated confrontation, especially about money. He stormed out of our bedroom and went down to the kitchen table to brood. The next morning he woke me gently by singing his new song. 'Every time I tried to tell you the words just came out wrong. So I'll have to say "I love you" in a song.'"

[1]

"I Got a Name" in Film"

Prior to the album's release, the song "I Got a Name" was featured as the theme song to the 1973 fim, The Last American Hero (also shown on television as Hard Driver). Circumstances are unclear as to whether or not Croce's song was specifically written for the film, or if he simply allowed the film makers to use the track, but the film was released two months before the album "I Got a Name." The arrangement of the song in the film differs slightly from the single version.

Charts

Album

Singles^[2]

References