A.J. Croce - That's Me in the Bar (20th Anniversary Edition)

Bitrate:320K/s
Year:1995
Time:39:52 
Size:92,3 MB 
Label:Compass Records 
Styles:Blues/Rock/Mix 
Art:Front 

Tracks Listing:
 1. That’s Me in the Bar - 3:55
 2. Sign on the Line - 2:53
 3. She’s Waiting for Me - 2:47
 4. Checkin’ In - 2:34
 5. Music Box - 2:48
 6. Callin Home - 2:10
 7. Night Out on the Town - 3:16
 8. Pass Me By - 2:38
 9. I Meant What I Said - 3:50
10. Maybe I’m to Blame - 2:14
11. I Confess - 3:14
12. Some People Call it Love - 4:14
13. If You Want Me to Stay (Bonus Track) - 3:14

A.J. Croce has built a distinctive career with a warm combination of contemporary blues and soulful roots rock threaded with various facets of pop. The son of the late folksinger Jim Croce, A.J. turned to music in the face of tragedy and made his own mark as a singer/songwriter. Debuting in the mid-'90s, he garnered critical acclaim during the next decade with albums like 2004's Adrian James Croce and 2006's Cantos. He later signed with the Compass label and issued a straight-up soul album in 2017's Just Like Medicine. In 2021, after enduring the sudden death of his wife, Croce found comfort in classic songs from his old covers repertoire and released an album of them called By Request. In 2025, he teamed up with producer Shooter Jennings to make the gritty and textured Heart of the Eternal.
Much of Croce's young life was marked by tragedy, beginning with his father's 1973 death in a plane crash before A.J. was even two years old. When he was four, he suffered a brain tumor that cost him his eyesight. He eventually recovered partial vision in one eye and found solace in learning to play the piano. Taking influence from the likes of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, as well as several early blues artists, Croce began gigging on the San Diego circuit and signed a record contract with Private Music at the age of 19. Two years later, he released his self-titled debut, which featured production from John Simon and T-Bone Burnett. That's Me in the Bar appeared in 1995, and Croce soon left the label to sign with Ruf Records, for whom he issued Fit to Serve in the spring of 1998. Although best known for his piano-based interpretation of American roots music, Croce switched gears in 2000 by hiring alternative rock producer Michael James (whose credits included albums by New Radicals, Hole, and Jane's Addiction) to helm his next record, Transit. Four years later, the singer's fifth album, the self-titled Adrian James Croce, explored an eclectic range of pop music influences, while 2006's excellent Cantos featured a decidedly stripped-down feel. Croce then returned to a rootsy sound with Cage of Muses. Croce signed with Compass Records for the release of 2014's Twelve Tales, an ambitious project that featured a dozen original songs recorded in six cities with six different producers, including Allen Toussaint, Jack Clement, and Mitchell Froom. Arriving in 2017, Just Like Medicine was a set influenced by vintage soul artists; legendary producer Dan Penn was behind the controls for the sessions, which included accompaniment from Vince Gill, Steve Cropper, and David Hood. The following year, Croce's life was again turned upside down when his wife died suddenly of a rare heart virus, leaving him a widower with two young children. Again healing himself with music, he revisited cover songs he loved to play by himself or at parties. Translating that intimate feel to record, he returned with the 2021 album By Request. This exploration of loss and love fed into Croce's next set of originals which returned him to his signature rootsy blend of styles. This time around, he hired Shooter Jennings to produce, resulting in 2025's vibrant Heart of the Eternal. ~ John Bush

That's Me in the Bar (20th Anniversary Edition)