James
Joseph Croce (January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and
rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio
albums and singles. His songs "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time
in a Bottle" reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In the music
industry, arguably the worst tragedy that can befall an artist is to die in his
or her prime, when just beginning to break through to the mainstream and reach
people on a national or international level. One such artist was Jim Croce, a
songwriter with a knack for both upbeat, catchy singles and empathetic,
melancholy ballads.
Though Croce only
recorded a few studio albums before an untimely plane crash, he continues to be
remembered posthumously. Croce appealed to fans as a common man, and it was not
a gimmick -- he was a father and husband who went
through a series of
blue-collar jobs. And whether he used dry wit, gentle emotions, or sorrow,
Croce sang with a rare form of honesty and power. Few artists have ever been
able to pull off such down-to-earth storytelling as convincingly as he did.
James Joseph Croce
was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 10, 1943. Raised on ragtime
and country, Croce played the accordion as a child and would eventually teach
himself the guitar. It wasn't until his freshman year of college that he began
to take music seriously, forming several bands over the next few years. On
November 29, 1963 Croce met his future wife Ingrid Jacobson at the Philadelphia
Convention Hall during a hootenanny, where he was judging a contest.
After graduation,
he continued to play various gigs at local bars and parties, working as both a
teacher and construction worker to support himself and his wife, Ingrid.
Croce released his
first album, Facets, in 1966, with 500 copies pressed. The album had been
financed with a $500) wedding gift from Croce's parents, who set a condition
that the money must be spent to make an album. They hoped that he would give up
music after the album failed, and use his college education to pursue a
"respectable" profession. However, the album proved a success, with
every copy sold.
From the mid-1960s
to early 1970s, Croce performed with his wife as a duo. In 1969, the Croces and an old friend from
college, Tommy West, moved to New York and record an album. When the Jim and
Ingrid record failed to sell, they moved to a farm in Lyndell, Pennsylvania,
where Jim juggled several jobs, including singing for radio commercials.
Eventually he was noticed and signed by the ABC/Dunhill label and released his
second album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, in 1972.
The record spawned
three hits: "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," "Operator (That's
Not the Way It Feels)," and "Time in a Bottle," the latter
ultimately shooting all the way to number one on the Billboard charts. Croce
quickly followed with Life and Times in early 1973 and gained his first number
one hit with "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."
After four years of
gruelling tour schedules, Croce grew homesick. Wishing to spend more time with
Ingrid and his infant son Adrian James, he planned to take a break after the
Life and Times tour was completed. Tragically, the tour would never finish;
just two months after "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" topped the charts,
Croce's plane crashed in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Croce and the four other
passengers (including band member Maury Muehleisen) were killed instantly.
Croce's career
peaked after his death. In December of 1973, the album I Got a Name surfaced,
but it was "Time in a Bottle," from 1972's You Don't Mess Around with
Jim that would become his second number one single. Shortly afterwards,
"I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" reached the Top Ten. Several
albums were released posthumously, most notably the greatest hits collection
Photographs & Memories, which became a best-seller.
Several other
compilations were later issued, such as the 1992 release The 50th Anniversary
Collection and the 2000 compilation Time in a Bottle: The Definitive
Collection. Listening to the songs Croce recorded; one cannot help but wonder
how far his extraordinary talents could have taken him if he would have lived
longer. Unfortunately, such a question may only be looked at rhetorically, but
Jim Croce continues to live on in the impressive catalogue of songs he left
behind. (Info edited mainly from Barry Weber @ All Music)
For “ Jim Croce – Songbook” go here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mediafire.com/file/21kz3s6vz3c1hbq/jimcrocesongbook.rar
01. Jim Croce - I Got A Name (3:12)
02. Jim Croce - Mississippi Lady (3:59)
03. Jim Croce - New York's Not My Home (3:09)
04. Jim Croce - Chain Gang Medley (4:31)
05. Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim (3:03)
06. Jim Croce - Old Man River (2:28)
07. Jim Croce - Which Way Are You Goin' (2:19)
08. Jim Croce - Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (3:02)
09. Jim Croce - Walkin' Back To Georgia (2:51)
10. Jim Croce - Box No. 10 (2:27)
11. Jim Croce - Speedball Tucker (2:27)
12. Jim Croce - Alabama Rain (2:15)
13. Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle (2:28)
14. Jim Croce - Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels) (3:50)
15. Jim Croce - Salon And Saloon (2:35)
16. Jim Croce - Alabama Rain (2:16)
17. Jim Croce - Dreamin' Again (2:42)
18. Jim Croce - It Doesn't Have To Be That Way (2:36)
19. Jim Croce - I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song (2:34)
20. Jim Croce - Lover's Cross (3:06)
21. Jim Croce - Thursday (2:29)
22. Jim Croce - These Dreams (3:15)
23. Jim Croce - A Long Time Ago (2:23)
24. Jim Croce - Photographs And Memories (2:08)
A big thank you to Ludovico @ Entra Musica for original post.