An 18-track anthology subtitled "The Americana Recordings 1993-1998,"
Early On cherry-picks
A.J. Croce's first three albums:
A.J. Croce,
That's Me in the Bar, and
Fit to Serve. The son of the late folk-pop singer/songwriter
Jim Croce, he has an undeniably '70s feel to his music, but it's the likes of
Leon Russell, early
Tom Waits, and
Randy Newman who appear to be the primary influences on
Croce's old-timey New Orleans-style piano playing and blues and jazz-influenced songwriting. Though each album features a different producer and set of musicians,
Croce has developed enough personal style that all of
Early On sounds of a piece. Due in part to vocal problems suffered during the recording of
Fit to Serve,
Croce switched to a smoother and less bluesy vocal style starting with his fourth album, 2000's
Transit, and his material has grown increasingly pop-oriented as well. As a result,
Early On is a neat summation of a closed chapter in
A.J. Croce's career.