REVIEW: Croce Plays Croce at Universal Preservation Hall
04/09 @ UPH, Saratoga
Photos by Tom Miller
“Throughout the evening, A.J. gave a master class in putting on a show — weaving narrative storytelling with energetic and passionate performing, switching between narrator and song-and-dance man in a way that was smooth as silk.”
The weight of legacy can be a daunting thing. In many ways, A.J. Croce has long escaped the shadow of his legendary father, Jim. His own career in music spans four decades and twelve studio albums — four times the output of his father — and yet those songs were mercurial and special.
A.J. reminded the crowd at the start of his set that all of the music we know and love from his father was written, recorded, released, and played on tour about 18 months before Jim Croce’s untimely death in a plane crash; an ascending career tragically cut short. He also emphasized that doing a show to honor his late dad was an idea he had for almost 30 years. He had to be absolutely sure that he would be able to make it a fitting tribute.
A.J. got to work right away making this show fit the bill, playing his piano like a man possessed, and leading a six-piece band that included two back up singers, electric bass, guitar and strings, and percussion. For fans of Jim who haven’t heard A.J. much (if you’re out there), you’ll notice a more gruff and gritty character reminiscent of classic blues singers; there’s also that warm and welcoming sincerity linking his performance to his father.
There’s always something uniquely spiritual to me about live music in a venue like UPH, which inhabits a re-purposed church. Today’s sermon was to be the life and times of A.J., Jim, and Ingrid Croce and one of the first stories of the night was that of Jim and Ingrid fleeing New York City for small-town Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania where A.J. would be born. On the heels of that retreat in the wake of a failed first attempt at making it as artists, some of those first Jim Croce songs were being written (like Box #10, played by A.J.).
However, it isn’t just a check list of Jim Croce’s greatest hits — although you certainly get those — the set also included plenty of A.J.’s own music from his storied career. These included collaborations with the likes of Leon Russell on Willie Nelson’s tour bus, as well as classic blues and rock ‘n’ roll songs that A.J. didn’t know Jim performed until he found an old setlist of his. A.J. emotionally revealed to the audience that when he found that set list from a gig his father had played at a small bar in Philadelphia to probably entertain a handful of people, he realized they had more in common musically-speaking than he previously thought. A main driver to finally take the plunge and do the show.
For Croce fans looking for their fill of stories of Jim’s career, there was plenty of that to go around. Stories of spending the ’60s doing odd jobs to avoid what A.J. playfully referred to as “real work”, taking a job for the state department playing folk music in Africa and the Middle East, and driving trucks from New York to Los Angeles. There was even time spent recounting Jim’s time in the military at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Stories he was able to collect secondhand from the base phone booth (which lacked a door and therefore, privacy) would influence his hit “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)”. Throughout the evening, A.J. gave a master class in putting on a show — weaving narrative storytelling with energetic and passionate performing, switching between narrator and song-and-dance man in a way that was smooth as silk.
In the last third of the set, we reached something that I was pretty surprised to see at a show like this: a request section! A.J. opened the floor to the crowd and asked them what songs they had come to see that hadn’t been performed yet, and the patrons hooted and hollered out some excellent choices: “Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)” and “Walking Back to Georgia” among others were shouted from all around the room.
As A.J. sat back down at the piano bench and began to launch into “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, you could actually see the kinetic wave of groove travel around the room through the crowd. The main set closed with a heartfelt rendition of the Croce classic “I Got A Name” leaving the crowd with an emotional sendoff as the lights went down. However, after a raucous standing ovation, the band returned to the stage.
A.J. re-emerged and began to tell the story of perhaps Jim Croce’s most well-known song, “Time In A Bottle”. It was Jim’s last ditch effort to make it in music as an original songwriter, and he was prepared to walk away if it didn’t get the results he needed. As the song got underway, we were treated to a rare, scarcely-heard demo version of the song as it was being written. The spotlight shone down on the microphone in tribute to where Jim may have stood. After the first chorus, A.J. and the band kicked in to carry the rest of the song to the end as a way for A.J. to share the song with Jim in a truly touching and incredible performance.
The connection between father and son through music shows how special the experience of bonding through song can be across generations. Croce Plays Croce is an emotionally triumphant tribute to a supernova of a career that was extinguished far too soon. A celebration of a career earned in its own way, and an homage made on its own terms that will leave you feeling emotionally and spiritually fulfilled.
