The career of Jim Croce was cut short when he died in a 1973 plane crash at the age of 30. Hit singles “Operator”, “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song”, “Time In A Bottle” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” are all here, alongside 63 further tracks taken variously from the three albums he released in his lifetime, and assorted live and audition tapes.

At times his warm voice and sentimental tendencies recall Don McLean. But he also possessed a wry humour and down-to-earth conviction that stand in the timeless tradition of the best American storytelling.