Album Notes

"Shame Shame Shame" is Joe Croker's follow-up release to the critically acclaimed debut, "All the Pretty Girls" (2001). Produced by Bonnie Raitt sideman George Marinelli, Croker's second cd does more than simply follow up on a notable first effort. It's intended to encourage the electorate to jettison Dick Cheney from his bunker while accurately mapping several stray acres of the human heart.

Joining him on the disc are a number of musical heavyweights, including former Bob Dylan guitar slinger John Jackson, bassist Mark Prentice (Elvis Costello, The Fairfield Four), drummers Vinnie Santoro (John Prine, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris) and Ian Wallace (Dylan, Clapton, Sting, King Crimson, Brian Eno, etc.), as well as multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke (Guster, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, many others). Croker has assembled such diverse talent not only to bring a high tone of professionalism to the record but to fully flesh out the many genres that he draws upon as a singer-songwriter.

Croker's initial release garnered praise for its eclectic style-from rock to country, folk to swing-and for the incisiveness of the songwriter's lyrics. Indie-Music called the disc "pure quality, in every respect," and other reviewers noted that despite the "topical element to some of the songs, reminiscent of the populist appeals of Springsteen or Mellencamp, Croker's range of styles and subjects makes most comparisons less than apt. He's an original in the best sense of the word."

Croker's reception in his adopted town of Nashville has been enthusiastic, with Tennessee's largest paper, The Tennessean, describing his work as "potent, sparkling, and remarkably varied." Listeners will find a broad musical palette here, and they will also find compelling commentary from a writer who has, as one reviewer put it, "a clear grasp of the intricacies of our modern world."