Customer Reviews

Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Considering the technology at the time, and of course the type and amount of media available, this DVD comes off pretty good. The sound is remarkable for it's age. The video consists of various out-takes from television shows,but that gives a good representation of the times. All in all very watch/listenable DVD

This has a good mix of videos on it ( leans a little more to the story songs), though it is probably limited some by what Ingrid could obtain after fighting for 30 years for rights to Jim's stuff. The price was very cheap and the quality was GREAT! The atmosphere of the songs is fantastic with Jim and Maury Muehleisen sitting and playing great acoustic guitar. It will make you feel like you are back in 1972 or 1973 for a while, and you'll forget that they both are gone, and when it's over you'll be glad that they still live through the music, and that you have a piece of it. It is so much better seeing it performed than just listening to the CDs. Don't miss this. It was much more than I expected, and unlike some inexpensive DVDs, this has some nice extras. If you are a Croce fan and like Maury's playing as much as me, check out www.maurymuehleisen.com/main.html run by Maury's sister Mary (a great person).

awesome dvd. I never seen him live and this dvd picture and sound are excellent. Only one word of warning if you let older females listen to it, you end up having to get yourself another one because they are not giving it back. HaHa

Croce died 11 months before I was born. I thank my father for introducing me to his music. Since I was introduced to it, I imagined Croce as a strong, "Leroy Brown" brawler character. This DVD showed me that he wasn't that way, and that performing and hitting that energy level was easy for him.

I also learned that his wife, Ingrid, was not such a "Yoko Ono" character as I first believed...take that however you want.

Upon watching this, I also learned that as of this writing I am almost as old as Croce was when he died. That amazes me. I though he was in his early 40s.

Croce is funny...hillarious, actually. I have listed to "The Final Tour" CD, and have found that this DVD is not as funny because we do not experience the crowd reaction. In most of the DVD performances, there is no audience, so the jokes are not as funny. That is the only place this DVD lacks. But it's not the DVD's fault. It's a result of the time period when the performances were recorded, which was well before (thankfully, actually) the time of MTV.

This is a great DVD for someone looking to expand their Jim Croce Experience beyond the repetitive "greatest hits" CDs that rehash the same songs.

I was a baby when Jim Croce passed in 1973, to young to have ever seen him live. I love his music and when I saw this DVD collection I had to get it. Jim Croce was a true genuine authentic person and artist. It comes through in his music & the film footage on this DVD. The footage is very good quality to be from the 70's, this is the only surviving film of him preforming live. I also enjoyed the audio interviews with Jim's wife and son A.J.. It was so touching and personal. It brought tears to my eyes that such a beautiful person as Jim was taken so soon. Thanks to the Croce Family for sharing this with us!

I remember being about 7 years old and seeing Jim Croce on PBS' Soundstage show. I was struck by his melodies even then. The first rock album my mom bought for me (I guess I'll call it "rock" for convenience's sake) was the album You Don't Mess Around With Jim that, of course, included the title track which I loved and which initially turned me on to Croce in the first place. But I loved all the songs. Songs like "A Long Time Ago," "Box #10" and "Dreamin' Again" from the Life and Times record got to me then and still get to me now. Croce's stuff never, ever gets old. To finally be able to see Croce and his guitarist, Maury Muelheisen, on this amazing DVD is more than a treat. It's a poignant look at what was and perhaps what might have been.

The defining moment of the DVD for me is during my favorite Croce song, "The Hard Way Every Time." It's a song that, as things tragically developed, turned out to be the writer's own eulogy. The song describes a life lived with plenty of failures and setbacks. However, after the last few words of the song: "And in looking back/At the faces I've been/I would sure be the first one to say/When I look at myself today/I wouldn't've done in any other way," someone in the audience starts to clap, but suddenly stops him/herself. In that brief moment, something very subtle, but also very triumphant, happens. It's difficult to explain, but confidently standing by and claiming one's life, and not discounting the tragedies that shaped one's character as much as if not more than the triumphs, is, to me, the very essence of being truly and honestly human. Croce, amazing artist that he was, captured that idea in a few lines in a two-minute song, and someone in that audience of long ago 'got it.' It's a beautiful moment that, for me, encapsulates this man's attitude and his short but wonderful and creative life.

I wish that Croce's CD's would be released in their original studio song sequences and packaging (although the 50th Birthday Collection comes pretty close in terms of the sequencing), but as long as the man's music is available in some form or another, someone will be out there to discover it and marvel at the tunes and lyrics that Croce was able to write. And now, we have this excellent visual document. Well done and, Ingrid and A.J., if you discover any more, put it out! You have one sure buyer in me.

Jim Croce was my idol. I learned fingerstyle guitar listening to his album "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" over 30 years ago. When I heard the news of his death I was devestated. I was like Don McLean in American Pie when he talked about the day the music died, referring to Buddy Holly's plane crash. I had all of Jim's albums, including the one with Ingrid. I knew all of his songs. I made it a point to watch every time he was on TV (Midnight Special, Tonight Show, Helen Reddy Show, In Concert ... ) After he died I discovered that he had performed 100 miles away from where I lived the night before the crash. I've been kicking myself ever since because I never got to see him perform live. Now 30 years later, thanks to Ingrid and A.J., I am able to watch Jim and Maury perform some of their hits in remarkably high quality video on this new DVD. In addition I have learned much about Jim's background from the interviews with Ingrid, Randy Matthews, Loggins & Messina, and A.J. For example, I never knew that Jim and Cheech Marin were planning on making a movie together. That would have been great.

The audio and video are surprisingly good considering that they are from the early 70s. Numerous photos and home movie clips are worked into the video with voiceovers by Ingrid and A.J. to add context. One track that I really enjoyed presented Jim (sans mustache) and Ingrid doing one of their songs (Spin, Spin, Spin) in a TV taping from the late 60s. A.J. tends to ramble a bit in his narration over the special feature videos. Also, I would have enjoyed seeing a short segment with Ingrid and A.J. as they look today. You never see their faces on the DVD.

Being a big Croce fan, there are things I remember that weren't included in this DVD. Cashman & West (Jim's college friends who helped him get his recording deal with ABC) did an interview after Jim died where they recalled their days with him. Jim was turned down by numerous labels because he sounded too much like James Taylor (another great example of how the recording industry is full of morons). Then there was the intro (I think it was on the Midnight Special) where Jim introduced Speedball Tucker by telling a story of pulling his rig into a truck stop and trying to look cool by leaning up against it after he got out, only to burn his hand on the white hot chrome muffler. These would have been great additions. Maybe in a future version some of these additions can be included. In the meantime I can't imagine any true Jim Croce fan passing this one up.

This DVD is an excellent overview of the all too short career of Jim Croce! I have been a fan of Jim Croce from the time his first album was released in the early 70s! I have updated my Jim Croce collection to the digital technology of today, which I call The Essential Jim Croce Trilogy! The trilogy consists of 1)"Jim Croce: The 50th Anniversary Collection" 2 CD set released to commemorate what would have been Croce's 50th birthday and goes as far back as some of Jim and Ingrid's songs together! It's the most comprehensive collection of Jim's career. 2)"Jim Croce Home Recordings:Americana" the first CD in 30 years of previously unreleased recordings of Croce singing into a reel-to-reel tape recorder in 1967 at his kitchen table, released in late 2003! Every effort was made to bring these recordings into the digital age of CD and it is essential to complete any Croce collection! 3)The "Have You Heard Jim Croce Live" DVD! This DVD is a GEM! It is good to see Jim Croce performing live with his guitar, to see videos of his songs and footage of Jim, Ingrid and A.J. at home just being a family, released the same day as item two in late 2003 ! I highly recommend these three titles as the best way to update your Jim Croce collection! Jim Croce will live on through his music and now this DVD also! Thanks to everyone involved in these three projects!

Music gets 4 stars and visuals 2 stars for an overall rating of 3 stars. I prefer his music on CD without the visuals given that it is so dated from the early 1970's.

Having purchased some really bad concert DVD's, I was not sure what to expect here. While you can definitely tell that this is old video, I was surprised and excited by the audio and video quality. Jim Croce brings a depth of emotion and warmth to his performances.

Three songs are not played live in concert, but show photographs and video footage of Jim with his family. This is deeply moving. The live recordings are not of one concert, but a variety of formats. Although it was obvious that some of these recordings were for TV, these recordings brought back memories of the coffeehouse era. Just two guys with guitars singing into microphones. Jim Croce talks before some of the songs. There is nothing to interfere with the enjoyment of the music. This DVD creates the experience of actually being there. There is direct access to every song. The 16 songs are 52 minutes long. The bonus features are 21 minutes long.

Ingrid gives a 52 minute commentary. She describes how she and Jim Croce met and how she fell in love with him. She talks about Jim's life and career. She tearfully describes their last conversation and reminds us that Jim Croce was not the only one to die in the plane crash, that guitarist Maury Muehleisen died with him. (Road manager Dennis Rast, booking agent Ken Cortese, comedian George Stevens, and pilot Robert Elliott were killed in this crash.) The 21 minute commentary by A.J. Croce discusses getting to know his father as a person through Jim's music and interviews of those who knew Jim. He talks about the bonus features included in the DVD.

Seeing Jim Croce brought back the profound sense of loss of this wonderful man and tremendous talent. This over 2 hour DVD is an intensely personal and intimate picture of Jim Croce the man, husband, father, and friend, and Jim Croce the musician. This tribute to Jim Croce is a reminder to us of how brief life is. "Have You Heard - Jim Croce Live" is a tremendous DVD and I highly recommend it.