Tribute: Jim Croce

Jim Croce's music was memorable - either for the touching and bittersweet feelings it evoked, or for the humorous and catchy anecdotes he related. He sang about topics that the average person could relate to, and he told his stories with, depending on the song, either sharp wit or raw emotion. The tragedy of his death is compounded by his omission from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Below, is an outline of his career and the details of his fatal plane crash.

Career

James Joseph Croce attended Villanova University where he was a member of the Villanova Singers and Villanova Spires. He was also a student deejay at WXVU. He met his future wife, Ingrid Jacobson, at a dance in Philadelphia. When they married, he converted to Judaism. Croce formed a number of college bands and later performed with his wife in the mid-1960s.

Croce worked steadily for a time at a bar and steak house in Lima, Pennsylvania, called the Riddle Paddock. In 1968, Jim and Ingrid were encouraged to move to New York City to record their first album with Capitol Records. For the next two years, they played the college circuit promoting their album.

Disillusioned by the music business and New York City, Croce sold all but one guitar to pay the rent, and they returned to Pennsylvania where he got a job driving trucks and doing construction. On one instance, Croce smashed a finger with a sledgehammer and had to readjust his guitar-playing style.

In 1970, Croce met classically trained pianist/guitarist, singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen. Eventually Muehleisen would become a good friend and Croce's lead guitarist.

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 newborn son, Adrian James (A. J.) Croce - propelled the former album to hit #1 on the charts in 1974. Croce's biggest single, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," achieved #1 on the U.S. charts in the summer of 1973, selling two million copies.

The Plane Crash

Croce had just completed a concert at Northwestern State University. He was scheduled to leave from the Natchitoches, Louisiana airport, and was flying to Sherman, Texas. Upon takeoff, the plane did not gain enough altitude to clear an area of large pecan trees at the end of the runway. The official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report suggests that the pilot, Robert Newton Elliott, who had severe coronary artery disease and had run a portion of the three 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. Everyone on board was killed instantly - 10:45 PM EST on September 20, 1973, less than an hour after the end of their last concert. The pilot was thrown from the plane while all the passengers were found inside the wreckage, including Croce (age 30), Muehleisen (age 24), Croce's manager, Kenneth Cortose (age 28), and George Stevens (age 36), a comic who was Croce's warm up act.

For additional, larger, photos of the crash site, click here.

The plane crash occurred one day before Croce's third ABC album, I Got a Name, was to be released. Four hits resulted from the album: "I Got A Name," "Workin' At The Car Wash Blues," "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song," and the No. 1 single, "Time In a Bottle."

Croce was laid to rest in the Haym Saloman Memorial Park in Frazer, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Plot: Section B/B.

In 1985, Ingrid Croce opened "Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar", located in San Diego, California, as a tribute to her late husband. Their son, A.J. (Adrian James) Croce is also a musician. At the age of four, he was completely blinded, as the result of a brain tumor. By the age of ten, he had regained vision in his left eye. It was during this time in his life that he began to play the piano.

In 1990, Jim Croce was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Greatest Hits of Jim Croce

"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"

"Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)"

"You Don't Mess Around With Jim"

"Photographs and Memories"

"New York's Not My Home"

"Time in a Bottle" *

"I Got a Name" *

"I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" *

*Released posthumously