Jim Croce |
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James Joseph Croce, pronounced (CROW-chee) (January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973), popularly known as Jim Croce, was an American singer-songwriter.
Croce scored a handful of hit songs in the first of half of the '70s, but died in an airplane crash just as he was beginning to capitalize on his success. He is probably best remembered for the songs "Time in a Bottle" and "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," both #1 hits in 1973.
In 1970, Croce met classically trained pianist/guitarist, singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen from Trenton, New Jersey through Joe Salviuolo (aka Sal Joseph). Salviuolo was best friends with Jim when they attended Villanova University together, and Salviuolo later discovered Maury when he was teaching at Glassboro State College in New Jersey. Sal, along with Tommy West and Terry Cashman, brought this duo together in the Cashman and West production office in New York City. Initially, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar at his gigs. But in time, their musical strengths led them each to new heights. Muehleisen's ethereal and inspired guitar leads became the perfect accompaniment to Croce's down-to-earth music.
In 1972, Croce signed to a three-record deal with ABC Records releasing You Don't Mess Around with Jim and Life & Times in the same year. The singles "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)," and "Time in a Bottle" (written for his unborn son, A. J. Croce) helped the former album reach #1 on the charts in 1974. Croce's biggest single, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," hit #1 on the U.S. charts in the summer of 1973, selling two million copies.
Croce, 30, and Muehleisen, 24, died in a small commercial plane crash on September 20, 1973, one day before his third ABC album, I Got a Name was to be released. The posthumous release included three hits, "I Got A Name," "Workin' At The Car Wash Blues," and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song". Three months after his death, the song "Time in a Bottle," originally released on Croce's first album the year before, became a #1 hit single (the third posthumous chart-topping song of the Rock Era following Otis Redding's "Sittin' On (The Dock of the Bay)" and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin).
Croce had just completed a concert in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and was flying to Sherman, Texas. The pilot and all passengers (Croce; Muehleisen; Croce's booking agent Kenneth D. Cortose; George Stevens, the comic who was the show's warm up act; and another passenger named Dennis Rast) were killed instantly at 10:45 PM EDT on September 20, 1973, less than an hour after the end of Croce's last concert. Upon takeoff, the plane did not gain enough altitude to clear a pecan tree at the end of the runway, which investigators said was the only tree for hundreds of yards. The official report from the NTSB[3] hints that the charter pilot, Robert Newton Elliott, who had severe coronary artery disease and had run a portion of the 3 miles to the airport from a motel, may have suffered a heart attack, causing him to crash into the trees on a clear runway with excellent visibility. A later investigation placed sole blame for the accident on pilot error.
Croce was laid to rest in the Philadelphia area, even though he had recently relocated to San Diego. Family, friends, and fans were stunned to learn of the premature death of the two musicians.
News of the premature deaths of the duo sparked a massive interest in Jim’s first two albums – You Don’t Mess Around With Jim and Life and Times - as well as the “I Got A Name” single, which was released later that same week. This was followed closely by the release of the album of the same title. Sales soared and resulted in three gold records. A “Greatest Hits” package released in 1974 also proved to be extraordinarily popular. The catalogue became a staple of radio play, turntables, cassettes, and CDs for years, and is still receiving significant airplay in the first decade of the 21st century.
Wikipedia contributors. Jim Croce. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. January 16, 2009, 00:54 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Croce&oldid=264370175. Accessed January 17, 2009.
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