Spotlight On Jim Croce

  Everyone loves Jim Croce songs.  I wanted to put a spotlight on him and his music so that everyone could know what a great singer songwriter he was.  If this is your introduction to his great career then you are in for a treat. 

  Jim Croce was born in South Philadelphia.  He married Ingrid Jacobson and soon they were a duo playing Gordon Lightfoot, Joan Baez, and Woody Guthrie songs together.  They also wrote their own music, such as “Spin, Spin, Spin”, “Hey Tomorrow”, and “Age”, which then led him to hit songs. 

  Croce found his longest gig at a rural bar and steak house called the Riddle Paddock, in Lima, Pennsylvania.  He developed a repertoire to more than 3,000 songs during those years.  He was able to include every genre into his set list from rock ‘n roll with tender love songs, blues to country and traditional bawdy ballads.  He had a way of introducing his songs with a story and an impish grin. 

  Capitol Records invited both Jim and Ingrid to move to New York City in order to record their first album, in 1968.  After driving over 300,000 miles playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit promoting their album, the next two years, they became disillusioned by the music business and NYC.  There are signs of disillusionment in his song “New York Ain’t My Home”.  They returned to Pennsylvania after selling all but one guitar to pay the rent.  He took jobs such as driving trucks and construction in order to pay the bills.  During his, as quoted by Croce, “character development period”, he wrote songs about his buddies and those he met at the local bars and truck stops. 

  Croce was signed to a three record deal with ABC Records, in 1972.  “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim”, “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)” and “Time In A Bottle”.  “Time In A Bottle” was written for his newborn son, A. J. Croce.  These singles helped his former album to reach number 1 on the charts in 1974.  “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, his biggest single became number 1 in the summer of 1973, and sold two million copies. 

  On September 20, 1973, one day before his third ABC album, “I’ve Got A Name”, was released, Croce, 30, died in a small commercial plane crash.  He was flying from Natchitoches, Louisiana, to Sherman, Texas less than an hour after completing a concert.  The plane did not gain enough altitude to clear an area of large pecan trees at the end of the runway.  The pilot, Robert Elliott, was thought to have suffered a heart attack.  The final investigation deemed the accident pilot error. 

  Although Jim Croce’s career was just starting, he did leave his audience with some great songs.  “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim ”and “Rapid Roy”, were just a couple, as well as the others mentioned earlier.  “Photographs and Memories”, was my senior class song in 1975, (I’m telling on my age).  My personal favorite song is “Time In A Bottle”; it makes you put things into perspective.  I hope you have as fond memories of these songs as I do. 

  I found all this information on Wikipedia.org.