You Don't Mess Around with Jim

You Don't Mess Around with Jim
Studio album by Jim Croce
Released	April 1972[1]
Recorded	1971-1972, The Hit Factory, New York City
Genre	Folk rock, Folk pop
Length	33:22
Label	ABC (USA) Vertigo (UK)
Producer	Terry Cashman, Tommy West
Jim Croce chronology
Jim & Ingrid Croce (1969) You Don't Mess Around with Jim (1972) Life & Times (1973)
Singles from You Don't Mess Around with Jim
"You Don't Mess Around with Jim" Released: July 1972 (1972-07) "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" Released: October 1972 (1972-10) "Time in a Bottle" Released: November 1973 (1973-11)

Professional ratings
Review scores
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Allmusic	[2]

You Don't Mess Around with Jim is an album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in 1972.

Contents 1 Title track 2 Covers 3 Track listing 4 Notes 5 Personnel 6 Production 7 Chart positions 7.1 Certifications 8 References

Title track

The album's three singles, title track (Pop #8), "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" and "Time in a Bottle" written after Ingrid Croce told Jim that she was pregnant with their first child, A.J. Croce, (Pop #1) are among his most identifiable songs.

The lyrics of the title track concerns the fate of a 'pool-shooting son-of-a-gun' by the name of 'Big' Jim Walker when his 'mark,' Slim, from a south Alabama Honkytonk shows up to get a refund from being hustled or get revenge. The song is notable for the line "You don't tug on Superman's cape/You don't spit into the wind/You don't pull the mask off the ol' Lone Ranger/And you don't mess around with Jim." However, after the song ends with Jim being thoroughly thrashed by his victim ("he'd been cut 'n 'bout a hundred places/ and he'd been shot in a couple more"), the chorus now sings about how "You don't mess around with Slim."

Covers

The song "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" has been covered by Poison on Look What the Cat Dragged In, Ty Herndon on What Mattered Most, Josh Turner on Long Black Train, and by Donna Fargo on My Second Album.

Kid Rock covered "Box #10" in 1995 as part of The Bootleg Series. Jesse Malin covered "Operator" on his 2008 album On Your Sleeve. On an episode of the ABC drama Eli Stone, Victor Garber performed this song in one of Eli's visions.

American musician Tori Amos covered "Operator" live in 2005 while on her Original Sinsuality Tour. An official live recording can be found in The Original Bootlegs box set.

Guitar wild man Jerry Reed has covered this song also interpretating it with his own unique style.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jim Croce. 

Notes