Album of the Day

Producers Terry Cashman and Tommy West knew a good thing when they heard it; they shopped Jim Croce's YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIM to dozens of labels before ABC picked it up. The 1972 collection, Croce's third studio set, proved the charm for the amiable singer-songwriter, spinning off a Top Ten single in the comic title track and another hit in the heartfelt ballad "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)." Also among the dozen originals here is the classic "Time In A Bottle," which was issued as a single after Croce's untimely death and helped push YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIM to No.1 on the U.S. album chart on this day in 1974.