A .J. Croce, son of the late Jim Croce, makes his own way in music A .J. Croce, son of the late Jim Croce, makes his own way in music By By Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal Posted: # Comments THE LATE singer-songwriter Jim Croce, who was killed in a plane crash in the fall of 1973 just as his star was beginning to rise, wrote his hit song "Time in a Bottle" for his infant son. He and his wife named the child Adrian James, calling him "A.J." A.J. Croce is now a 41-year-old singer-songwriter in his own right with eight albums to his credit. If you want to have a good cry, watch the "Time in a Bottle" video of him as a two-year-old, cavorting with his dad, who would die at the age of 30 not long after that footage was shot. In all the years he's been touring, by himself or as an opening act for the likes of Carlos Santana, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Dave Matthews, he's never played Marin County.

He makes his debut here on Friday at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley. Obviously, he has no first-hand memory of his father, who wrote a host of great songs in his tragically short career. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and "Time in a Bottle" were both number one Billboard hits, but he also penned "Operator," "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" and "I Got a Name," to name a few. A.J.'s personal favorite is the poignant "Lover's Cross." "It's unfortunate, but I got to know him the way most people do, by listening to his music," A.J. told me from his home in San Diego. "And he recorded everything from about 1966 on — songs he'd written, songs he was working on, even conversations with friends (like James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Arlo Guthrie) about the kinds of music he liked. Most people get some photographs and that's it, so I was really lucky." As if losing his father wasn't hardship enough, a brain disorder when he was four left him completely blind.

As he struggled to gradually see again, he learned to play the piano, emulating blind keyboard stars like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. By the time he was 10, he regained vision in his left eye. His father was an accomplished fingerstyle guitarist, but A.J. didn't pick up the guitar until about 10 years ago. It was a very special guitar, a 1933 L-00 Gibson acoustic. "I inherited that instrument from my father, which is the only material possession I have of his," A.J. said. "He wrote everything on his first two albums on that guitar. So I wanted to make sure I did it justice and played it." Although Jim Croce had four hits on the charts and was just beginning to headline concerts, he had little more than the clothes he was wearing when his chartered plane crashed an hour after a show in Natchitoches, La. His rise to fame was so swift, there wasn't enough time for him to collect royalties or make money on the concert trail. "He had two shirts, a pair of boots and tennis shoes when he died," A.J. said. "He had hit records, but it wasn't like there was anything to show for it.

He was broke. At the very end of his life, he had a guitar that Ovation (the guitar company) gave to him and the one I have now." Unlike his father, who had to scuffle for years, A.J. signed with Private Records when he was just 19. His eponymous debut album was produced by the prestigious T-Bone Burnett. His sophomore album, "That's Me in the Bar," featured David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and Ry Cooder. Because his music was too eclectic for the label to market as a popular genre, the albums sold only moderately. In 1998, A.J. formed his own company, Seedling Records, to release his music. His most recent album, 2009's "Cage of Muses," earned a four-star review in Rolling Stone magazine. "I recognized that I'm outside the box," he said. "Being eclectic is not a choice. It's who I am. I'm going to continue to write different kinds of music. That's what I love about music. It has different facets." He's currently at work on a new album with several different producers. He plans to release one song a month all of next year.

When he was younger and wanted to develop his own identity, A.J. didn't perform his father's songs. But now that he's older and established, he often includes some of them in his set, usually by audience request. Asked which ones he'll play at Sweetwater, he thought for a moment and said, "It depends on what people want to hear." Contact Paul Liberatore via email at liberatore@marinij.com If YOu Go Jim Croce, Five Others Die in Plane Crash - Rolling Stone Jim Croce, Five Others Die in Plane Crash Jim Croce, Five Others Die in Plane Crash Singer-songwriter was riding a wave of overdue success before tragedy stuck Musician Jim Croce, guitarist Maury Muehleisen on the Helen Reddy Show, 1973 Credit: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Natchitoches, La. — Pop singer-songwriter Jim Croce, 30, was killed September 20th when the single-engine plane in which he and five others were riding hit a tree on takeoff.

More News All Stories The other victims in the accident were Croce's second guitarist, Maury Meuhleisen; road manager Morgan Tell; comedian George Stevens, a booking agent, and the pilot. Croce had gained headliner status only recently, following his hit records, "Don't Mess Around With Jim" and the current "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." He was en route from a college concert at Northwestern State College, 75 miles southeast of Shreveport, to another in Sherman, Texas. "It was a single-engine plane, I believe," said deputy Walter Braxton. "It was taking off and it did not get any altitude." The plane went past the runway, hit the tree, and spun around in the air before crashing. Croce is survived by his wife Ingrid and their two-year-old son, Adrian. Corb Donahue, a friend of Croce's and an employee at his record company, ABC/Dunhill, described Croce as "simply one of the finest human beings I've ever met." The sentiment was echoed by others who knew him.

* * * Jim Croce was born in south Philadelphia January 10th, 1943, and brought up on ragtime, country and Dixieland music. He played the accordion as a child and taught himself guitar, but did not play professionally until 1964, while he was at Villanova College in Pennsylvania. There he formed various bands and played fraternity parties. He also worked on construction crews to support himself. Talking to Rolling Stone in London while on a promotional tour there two months ago, Croce recalled: "I've had to get in and out of music a couple of times, because music didn't always mean a living. You don't make that much in bars; I still have memories of those nights, playing for $25 a night, with nobody listening." Outside the bars, Croce had teaching jobs: In 1966, he taught guitar at an arts camp, and later, he taught emotionally disturbed children in Philadelphia. "I would never teach again," he said. "What a year that was, beat up by a girl who was 260 pounds in junior high." And, he said, "My one and only shot at an office gig was working at radio station WHAT in Philadelphia.

I was writing jive commercials for an R&B station. I'd be up on Germantown Avenue trying to sell time to a jazz bar. I was the only white person to walk into some of those bars, and they'd think I was either a cop or a collection man." Croce and his wife Ingrid were in Mexico, where she had a grant to study pottery, when he reunited with a college friend, musician Tommy West, who urged him to try the New York coffeehouse circuit. Croce, with West and Terry Cashman producing, cut an album in 1969, and when it failed to sell, he became a truck driver until he and Ingrid moved to a farm in Lyndell, Pennsylvania. When money ran low, Croce went back to construction work, doing some session singing for commercials on the side.

Finally, after one rejection from ABC/Dunhill (which Croce had framed and put on the wall next to his first gold record; the rejection regretting that his songs were "not strong enough for us"), he signed with the label and cut a couple of songs he'd written in a truck cab, on his construction job: "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" and "Operator." Both became hits and led to a second album, Life And Times, the Number One single, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," and a new career in TV and film work. "'Leroy Brown,"' he said in London, "came out of the American street tradition. I wrote a lot of things in street terms, a lot of truck-driving songs. 'Leroy' I wrote at home and was based on real characters. The jobs I've had attract characters." (Said Donahue at ABC/Dunhill: "There was no persona between Jim and his songs; he was a strong man who wasn't afraid to be gentle.") "It's a nice feeling having a Number One record," said Croce two months ago. "It's a strange feeling.

After having played for such a long time I don't even know how to describe it." Croce had just completed a third album for Dunhill, I've Got a Name. The title cut is part of a soundtrack for 20th Century Fox' new film, The Last American Hero. Husband-Wife Duo Team Up With Their Own Kind of Blues - latimes Husband-Wife Duo Team Up With Their Own Kind of Blues March 19, 1998 |JAMES E. FOWLER | TIMES STAFF WRITER The husband-and-wife team of Janiva Magness and Jeff Turmes, performing at the Onion in North Hills Friday night, are a good match in more ways than one. They're blues-based musicians, the kind who currently thrive here in L.A. And like all good teams, their talents complement one another in such a way as to create something that's greater than the sum of its parts. Magness sings with a smoky, savvy quality. And Turmes writes intelligent, catchy songs that reveal a rare lyrical-melodic prosody. Their new CD, "It Takes One to Know One," was released last year.

It has a number of standout tracks, including the title song and another called "You Made Me." "People seem to like the record a lot," said Turmes, though he admits that some blues purists find the recordings a bit too eclectic. Darn Tootin'! Magness and Turmes have taken a wide variety of musical influences and created something that's completely their own. Magness is originally from Detroit. Her father was a transplanted Oklahoman who listened to a lot of country music around the house. "I probably got my start lying on my bed listening to the radio, but I started working professionally in Minneapolis-St. Paul," Magness said. "I lived there for a long time, and I've been away from there a real long time too." She said that the Beatles and the British rock invasion had a profound effect on her when she was a kid. As an adult, she has been influenced more by such blues artists as Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Memphis Minnie and Dinah Washington. "When we play gigs, I joke--I say we do original material and songs by dead people," Magness said. Turmes is a California native.

Besides being a songwriter and singer, he's a multi-instrumentalist performing on bass, guitar, saxophone and piano. He worked with the James Harman Band for six years, playing the bass and doing the horn arrangements. His influences include composer Kurt Weill as well as such blues and R & B artists as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Percy Mayfield. "It Takes One to Know One" took two years to finish. But, as they say in Chinese restaurants, "Good Food Takes Time to Prepare." Last summer, soon after the CD's release, the duo toured Europe; they plan to tour there again this year. But Friday night, they'll be in North Hills. * Janiva Magness and Jeff Turmes perform Friday night at the Onion, 9550 Haskell Ave., North Hills. Al Rieman and the Diamond Anniversary Jazz Band will also perform. (818) 894-9251. $5. * Father's Son: A.J. Croce, who's performing Saturday night at B.B. King's in Universal City, is the son of 1970s singer-songwriter Jim Croce. A.J.

Croce says being son to a famous father is not so bad, but don't ask him to play "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" or any of his father's tunes. "Nothing's wrong with his music. He was a great storyteller and songwriter," A.J. Croce said. "But expecting me to do what he did is an insult." In less than two years, beginning in early 1972, the elder Croce had several hit records including "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Bad Bad Leroy Brown," "Operator" and "Time in a Bottle," all of which have become American pop music classics. Jim Croce's career was tragically cut short when he died in a plane crash in September 1973. When A.J.'s career started, there were overtures from record company people to mold him into "Jim Croce Jr.," a born-again version of his dad. Instead, A.J. wanted to develop his own musical identity, which is decidedly bluesier than his father's. The younger Croce, who sings and plays piano, has just released his third CD, "Fit to Serve," his first on the Ruf label, a German subsidiary of international giant PolyGram Records.

He recorded the CD in Memphis with veteran producer Jim Gaines. "Jim Gaines was a pleasure to work with; it was the most enjoyable work I've ever done," Croce said. Gaines allowed more of Croce's personality to come through in the music. The album covers a wide variety of R & B-flavored styles. Sometimes, Croce's voice is evocative of Randy Newman, a friend of his father's. "I love his [Newman's] music," Croce said. "Everything you listen to becomes an influence--his music as much as Elvis Costello, or Tom Waits." The CD also features his core band of bassist Dave Curtis and drummer Paul Kimbarow. Croce has been working with the pair for eight years, during which time he's opened for artists such as Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Bela Fleck, B.B. King, Lyle Lovett and Aretha Franklin. "This CD is a lot more rock 'n' roll," Croce said. "It's more like what my music is about." * A.J. Croce performs Saturday night at B. B.

King's Blues Club, Universal CityWalk, 1000 Universal Center Drive, (818) 622-5464. $14. Short Takes: * The Livingstons, another husband and wife team, are making a rare Valley appearance tonight at the Blue Saloon, 4657 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 766-4644. Barry portrayed Ernie on the TV sitcom "My Three Sons" in the 1960s, but now he and his wife, Karen, are performing their own songs, which have a folk-rock flavor, around town, most often at Genghis Cohen's in Hollywood. Check them out. * Continuing in a long line of interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach's music, the J.S. Bach Experience performs the master's music in a hard rock mode with drums and squealing electric guitars. The J.S. Bach Experience plays at the Club 21 at the Riverbottom Cafe, 4201 W.

Olive Ave., Burbank, (818) 846-2342, on Saturday night, which coincidentally is Bach's 313th birthday. MORE: JIM CROCE - Original Albums Plus - Amazon.com Music Original Albums Plus Audio CD, Import, August 2, 2011 "Please retry" Original Albums Plus [Import] $12.33 Free Shipping for Prime Members | Fast, FREE Shipping with Amazon Prime Only 5 left in stock. Sold by Fulfillment Express US and Fulfilled by Amazon . Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and . If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon . Frequently Bought Together Add all three to Cart Add all three to List These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers.

Show details Buy the selected items together This item:Original Albums Plus by Jim Croce Audio CD $12.33 Only 5 left in stock. Sold by Fulfillment Express US and ships from Amazon Fulfillment. FREE Shipping on orders over $49. Details Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits by Jim Croce Audio CD $9.59 In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $49. Details Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest Hits by Gordon Lightfoot Audio CD $9.79 In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $49. Details Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Next Special Offers and Product Promotions Your cost could be $0.00 instead of $12.33!

Get a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card instantly upon approval for the Amazon Rewards Visa Card Apply now Editorial Reviews UK two CD collection from the '70s singer/songwriter containing his three original albums plus 16 tracks released posthumously. Jim Croce's untimely death in a airplane crash (in September 1973) came at a point in his career when he seemed set for a lengthy and rewarding career. To the millions of fans he had made through his music, his death was almost like losing a close friend. Jim Croce's emergence to global prominence came in the early 1970's, an era dominated by the confessional singer/songwriter albums such as Carole King's Tapestry, James Taylor's Sweet Baby James and Neil Young's Harvest sold in their multi-millions. This double disc set features a 32 page booklet that includes the lyrics to every song along with the full musician credits, and liner notes by Alan Robinson. Edsel Records. 2011. Track Listings 1. You Don't Mess Around with Jim 2. Tomorrow's Gonna Be a Brighter Day 3. New York's Not My Home 4. Hard Time Losin' Man 5.

Photographs and Memories 6. Walkin' Back to Georgia 7. Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels) 8. Time in a Bottle 9. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) 10. Box #10 11. A Long Time Ago 12. Hey Tomorrow 13. One Less Set of Footsteps 14. Roller Derby Queen 18. A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business (Singin' the Blues) 19. Next Time, This Time 20. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown 21. These Dreams 23. It Doesn't Have to Be That Way Disc: 2 1. I Got a Name 2. Lover's Cross 5. Workin' at the Carwash Blues 6. I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song 7. Salon and Saloon 9. Top Hat Bar and Grille 10. Recently 11. The Hard Way Every Time 12. Mississippi Lady [Bonus Track] 13. Medley: Chain Gang [Bonus Track] 14.

Ol' Man River [Bonus Track] 15. Which Way Are You Goin'? [Bonus Track] 16. Stone Walls [Bonus Track] 17. King's Song [Bonus Track] 18. Cigarettes, Whiskey and Wild, Wild Women [Bonus Track] 19. (And) I Remember Her [Bonus Track] 20. Cotton Mouth River [Bonus Track] 21. More Than That Tomorrow [Bonus Track] 22. The Migrant Worker [Bonus Track] 23. Child of Midnight [Bonus Track] 24. Railroad Song [Bonus Track] 25. Country Girl [Bonus Track] 26. Maybe Tomorrow [Bonus Track] 27. The Way We Used to Be [Bonus Track] Product Details Audio CD (August 2, 2011) Number of Discs: 2 By Grandpa Tom on May 23, 2013 Format: Audio CD Jim's work will forever live in my heart. Talk about a national treasure taken from us way too soon!

Jim's 3 albums were all released during my High School years, and Jim's hits were always spinning on the radio. AM was still king, and they always sounded great on the car radio or 8-track players. What casual fans, or those that didn't invest in the albums didn't realize was that Jim's enormous talent was only skimmed on the radio. SO many deep tracks that are essential are here, as well as bonus material. For a few dollars, this is the best volume to score. The EDSEL set reviewed here delivers slightly improved sound than the 50 Anniversary sets that are OOP. The 50 Anniv. sets seem slightly bright, though excellent sound, also. This EDSEL sound is a little warmer to my ears, and the booklet is chock full with lyrics, notes, and photos. Listen to my generation's premier singer-songwriter, and experience his gifts to all of us...

All the best, x You Don't Mess Around With Jim Jim Croce was one of the premier architects of the singer/songwriter movement in the early '70s, and during his much revered musical career, he managed to successfully cultivate his story telling, humor and heartfelt thoughts and heartbreak into some of the most memorable songs and melodies ever recorded in our lifetime. His legendary ABC recordings are the soundtrack to a generation of music enthusiasts that continues to this day and will forever stand the test of time. Growing up in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, PA, Jim Croce graduated high school and soon found local success as a folk-singer during his college days. In those earlier years, he met his future wife and musical partner Ingrid Croce, and together they began touring the coffee house circuit throughout the '60s into the early-'70s. After a few short lived careers in radio advertising, as well as being a truck driver and welder, Jim Croce was determined to score a hit recording career and went out as a solo artist, teaming up with his lead guitarist Maury Muehleisen. Friends Tommy West and Terry Cashman were soon a part of the mix as producers, and the hit records soon followed.

His debut ABC Records single and album You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim were a huge success for this legendary performer. Known for his uncanny ability to connect with his fans with his simple tales of love, heartbreak and good time feel good songs, this multi-platinum album raced to the top of the charts in no time. Spearheaded by the country rock title track, the album was buoyed with even more success as the brilliant "Operator (Thatï¿½s Not The Way It Feels)" hit a chord in the hearts of his new legion of fans across the globe. Whether standout tracks like his classics "Photographs And Memories," "New Yorkï¿½s Not My Home" or his masterpiece "Time In A Bottle," Croceï¿½s You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim album has surely earned its currency over the years as one of the more important albums of the classic singer/songwriter era. After several more smash hit recordings and a massive worldwide following, "Time In A Bottle" was featured a year later in the made for television movie She Lives! which added to the further success of his classic You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim album.

A few weeks later, Croce along with guitarist Muehleisen and several others were tragically killed in a small plane crash on September 20, 1973. The music world was in shock as one of its newest stars, a true original, the great Jim Croce, his life was cut short way before his prime. Radio and retail outlets were flooded with fan support as a race to buy this album, which became a lasting tribute to the artistry and memory of this legendary performer. Friday Music now ushers in the Jim Croce Friday Music 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl Series with their first installment of his monumental pop/rock classic You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim. Mastered impeccably by Joe Reagoso from the original tapes at Friday Music Studios with Kevin Gray, the You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim album is truly one of the more anticipated audiophile vinyl releases of 2012. Includes the rare gatefold cover with lyrics and photos from the original 1972 release! 1. You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim 2. Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Brighter Day 3.

New Yorkï¿½s Not My Home 4. Hard Time Losinï¿½ Man 5. Photographs And Memories 6. Walkinï¿½ Back To Georgia 7. Operator (Thatï¿½s Not The Way It Feels) 8. Time In A Bottle 9. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) 10. Box #10 11. A Long Time Ago 12. Hey Tomorrow x You Don't Mess Around With Jim You Donï¿½t Mess Around With Jim was Croceï¿½s third album and the first in the ABC records era in 1972. The most successful release of his career, spending 93 weeks in the US charts, YDMAWJ features the chart topping ï¿½Time In A Bottleï¿½, ï¿½Operatorï¿½ and the title track, Croceï¿½s debut single, peaking at #8. 1. You Don't Mess Around With Jim 2. Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Brighter Day 3. New York's Not My Home 4. Hard Time Losin' Man 5.

Photographs And Memories Conshystuff | Talkin’ Music with Jack – “Jim Croce” “Could You Help Me Place This Call” I’d Like To Talk To Jim Croce, For About Twenty Minutes, Maybe Longer. By Jack Coll 3-19-14 I’ve always been a fan of Jim Croce, it broke my heart the day his plane went down on September 20, 1973, in Natchitoches, Louisiana. It was a Thursday, I remember it well, I was living in Bridgeport at the time and was headed back to work from my lunch hour when I heard the news on my car radio. Jim was born and raised in South Philadelphia and attended Upper Darby High School. Following a year at Malvern Preparatory School Jim headed to Villanova University in 1961 and majored in psychology and German. Although Jim started playing music at the age of five, it wasn’t until he joined the Villanova Singers and the Villanova Spires that he started taking music seriously. Within that time Jim formed a number of bands who mostly played for fraternity parties, coffee houses and other universities around the city.

Just before he released his first album “Facets” in 1966, Jim met his wife Ingrid Jacobson during a hootenanny (Our youngsters who might be reading this column might not know what a “Hootenanny” is, look it up!) The hootenanny was held at the Philadelphia Convention Hall, Jim was judging and Ingrid caught his eye, and the two were married in 1966. A week after the two were married Jim enlisted in the Army National Guard to avoid being drafted and deployed to Vietnam, Jim served on active duty for four months. Growing up in South Philly Jim had a little trouble with authority, and had to go through basic training twice. Jim later stated that if “there’s ever a war where we have to defend ourselves with mops, we’ll be well prepared.” For a number of years Jim and Ingrid performed as a duo, the two performed many leading covers of the day including Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, and Ian and Sylvia. But as time progressed Jim’s writing skills improved greatly.

It was around 1970 that Jim met a number of people who would become part of his professional career like Maury Muehleisen, Maury was an outstanding guitar player and was seen at Jim’s side at every concert ever recorded. Tommy West and Terry Cashman, the West-Cashman writing team landed a number of songs on the top 100 Billboard Hits including “Sunday Will Never Be The Same,” Medicine Man” and “Talkin’ Baseball. Although Jim and Ingrid weren’t making much money in the music business, they had a reputation for throwing a good party at their rented farmhouse located in Lyndell Pennsylvania. Jim was good friends with Arlo Guthrie, and Cheech Marin, (of Cheech & Chong fame) frequent guests at the Croce farmhouse included Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Arlo Guthrie, Jimmy Buffet, and Randy Newman just to name a few. Jim worked a number of jobs to support his early music career including construction jobs, truck driver and welder. He had a way of tucking away information, later using that information in his songs, so many of his songs were true to life.

“Rapid Roy” was written by Jim from his experiences at a race track in Reading Pennsylvania where he would go on Sundays to view the stock car races. “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” was this character Jim had met while serving in the Army National Guard, boot camp at Fort Jackson, SC. Jim tells the story of Leroy Brown who was from the South Side of Chicago, and just got fed up with the whole Army thing, so one night he decided to leave the camp, what the military calls “going AWOL.” (Absent Without Leave) Leroy Brown was a bad mudder but not too much upstairs as Leroy returned to the camp two weeks later to pick up his paycheck. “Roller Derby Queen” is a song that actually came to him while performing, I don’t remember where, I think it was in Texas, but as Jim told it, he was up on stage one night, after every song this lady down front would raise her arms high in the air and applaud. Well Jim noticed that when she applauded with her arms in the air and fully exposed the flab under her arm muscle would just wiggle back and forth and Jim kinda got a kick out of this little arm show after every song.

Jim noted that this is a chick I gotta say hello to. It turns out that she was a “Roller Derby Queen” who performed on the roller derby circuit throughout the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Jim noted that her husband was a State Cop, and in Jim’s words, “he could mess up a good day if you know what I mean,” the song “Roller Derby Queen” is in her honor. “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” well turns out that Jim had been thrown out of a pool tournament that was being held in Upper Derby back in the late 1960’s, he had been thrown down a flight of stairs by a pool room bouncer, Jim tucked that information away and later came up with the song. “Operator,” came from his boot camp days, he stated that dozens of soldiers would be waiting in line every night for the lone pay phone, and man the stories you would hear while waiting in line, the heartbreak of the guys getting dumped via the phone.

Jim took a job at a car wash for a time that explains “Working At The Car Wash Blues.” When Jim drove a truck he met a guy named “Speedball Tucker,” and when Jim was forced to travel to work in New York for a year, he hated it, he hated everything about New York, hence the song “New York’s Not My Home.” According to Ingrid Jim wanted to get off the road, and one night they sat in the bedroom discussing their future, Ingrid was upset at Jim never being home, and making no money. A small argument ensued and Jim left the room while Ingrid lay in bed crying. Jim went down to the kitchen where he often played his guitar and wrote songs, the next morning Jim returned to the bedroom with his guitar and told Ingrid to listen to his song, “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song.” The song “Time In A Bottle” was a song written in December 1970, upon learning that Ingrid was pregnant with their son A. J.

Within a week of learning of Ingrid’s pregnancy he sat down at the kitchen table at the farmhouse and penned “Time In A Bottle,” “Operator,” “New York’s Not My Home,” “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” “Rapid Roy,” and “Photographs and Memories,” all within a week, pretty amazing. In 1972, Jim signed a three-record deal with ABC Records and put out two albums including “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” and “Life and Times.” He hit big with the singles “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels),” and “Time in a Bottle,” as mentioned a song written for his un-born son A. J. Jim followed with his biggest hit in the summer of 1973 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” by then the Croce’s had left the farm behind and moved to the Gas Light District in San Diego, California. By the summer of 1973, after many years of struggling, Jim had finally hit it big.

National appearances on The Midnight Special and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, was followed by a trip to Europe where he played to sold out venues in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. During his tours Jim grew homesick and wanted to take a break from the music industry. Jim wrote a letter to Ingrid stating that as soon as the Life and Times tour was complete he really wanted to quit the music business, and stick to writing short stories and movie scripts and fade from public life. Jim stated in the letter that it was much more important to him to spend time with Ingrid and A. J. Ingrid received the letter after Jim’s death. Jim was playing big venues by this time, although he still wasn’t getting paid a whole lot of money his record company was carting the cash off in wheel barrows. In the fall of 1972, Jim was forced to cancel a show scheduled at Northwestern State University in Louisiana due to health issues. Jim promised that he would make the show up to the students. When Jim canceled the show he was still struggling to make it playing small colleges and clubs.

A year later Jim was this big star but insisted on making up the concert, Northwestern State was a very small venue, and would net $750.00 for the record company. On September 20, Jim flew into Louisiana, and by all accounts put on a hell of a show. As usual, Jim called Ingrid before the show, told her he had just finished the new album “I Got A Name,” told her he missed A. J., and his final words to Ingrid, according to Ingrid, “I love you.” With that he took the stage, finished the show, and him, Maury, and four others boarded a chartered Beechcraft E18S headed for a concert in Texas. As the plane went down the runway at the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the plane was late getting off the ground and clipped the tree tops at the end of the runway, the plane crashed and everyone on the plane was gone. I remember wanting to see Jim play at the Philadelphia Folk Festival when he appeared in the summer of 1973.

If I remember right, Steve Goodman, Janis Ian, and David Bromberg were also at the festival that year, but if memory serves me right Jim Croce was playing Saturday night and the rest of them were playing on Sunday. Back then Donna, (my wife) was pregnant with Butch, (our son), we were living in an apartment in Bridgeport, I was working two jobs, and that really left very little time for concerts, life gets in the way, it wasn’t a big deal, hell I would have a lot of time to see Croce and many other concerts when the kids grew a little older. One month after the Philly Folk Fest, the plane went down, I would never see Jim Croce. Forty years after Jim’s death, a tribute was held by friends and family of Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen. On September 21, 2013, several hundred people showed up at Upper Darby High School on a rainy night, to recall fond memories of the two. A Jim Croce Tribute band called “Maggie’s Guitar” filled the night with excellent versions of Jim’s music, Gene Shay hosted the evening and assorted stories were told by family and friends.

While standing in the lobby waiting for the Performing Arts Center doors to open on the night of the tribute, I found myself talking to legendary DJ “Giant Gene Arnold.” Giant Gene was on the front end of rock and roll’s introduction in Philadelphia. Gene appeared on American Bandstand in the late 1950’s as a singing teenager where Dick Clark gave him the stage name “Rick Roman.” Gene was a ground breaking DJ doing stints at WIFI-FM, WCAM, where he became well known for his “AM Underground” program and “heavy 13” format. He joined WIBG radio where his “Giant Gene’s Electric Scene” was a feature on the station. Talking with Gene was extremely interesting and I asked him what he knew about Jim Croce. Gene laughed and recalled the time he had Jim Croce performed a concert in a cemetery on Halloween night. Jim’s friends and family recalled some fond memories the night of the tribute, Terry Cashman picked up his guitar and played a great tribute song, Maury’s sister Mary was present as were a number of Jim’s relatives.

As I sat in the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, located in Upper Darby High School where Jim had attended school more than sixty years earlier, surrounded by Jim’s friends and family members, with the band Maggie’s Guitar playing his music, I realized that this is as close to Jim Croce as I’m ever gonna get, In my life I rarely look back with “I should have’s” but I thought back to 1973, and my decision to skip the folk festival knowing he was there hit me. Fifteen years ago when Donna and I traveled across the country the gas light district in San Diego California was a must visit location. What little time the Croce’s had together Jim and Ingrid would often stroll along the streets of the district. Ingrid opened two restaurants, one called Croce’s Top Hat, the other simply called Croce’s Restaurant. Donna and I stopped in the Top Hat for a little lunch and felt right at home with large pictures of Jim displayed throughout the restaurant. All the pictures displayed were taken at their farmhouse located in Chester County Pennsylvania. Ingrid spends a lot of time at the restaurants but was not present on the day we visited.

The single “I Got A Name” was released the day after his death, (it was slated to be released on September 21, the day after his death) the album with the same name was released on December 1, 1973. The posthumous release included three hits including “Working At The Car Wash Blues,” “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song,” and the title song. The song “I Got A Name” was used as a theme song for the film “The Last American Hero” which was released two months prior to his death.

Jim is buried at Haym Salomon Park in Frazer Pennsylvania, he has a simple marker that reads: Jim Croce Jim was 30 years old when the plane went down His rise to fame happened in a span of 18 months Had he lived Jim would have been 70 years old on January 10th If you have a minute to read this, I’ll give you a couple of his songs in verse, Jim wrote from his life’s experiences, and he wrote it from the heart, in his wife’s own words “Jim was a very humble man.” Jim had a lot of hit records, I have a few favorites but at a time when singer/songwriters could reach right into your life, I really liked: “The Hard Way Every Time” Yeah, I’ve my share of broken dreams And more than a couple of falls And in chasin’ what I thought were moonbeams I have run into a couple of walls But in looking back at the places I’ve been The changes that I’ve left behind I just look at myself to find I’ve learned the hard way every time ‘Cause I’ve had my share of good intentions And I’ve made my share of mistakes And I’ve learned at times it’s best to bend

 ‘Cause if you don’t well those are the breaks Should have listened to all the things I was told But I was young and too proud at the time Now I look at myself to find I learned the hard way ev’ry time But in looking back at the lessons I’ve learned And the mountains I wanted to climb I just look at myself to find I’ve learned the hard way ev’ry time ‘Cause I’ve had my share of broken dreams And more than a couple of falls And in chasin’ what I thought were moonbeams I have run into a couple of walls But in looking back at the places I’ve been I would sure be the first one to say When I look at myself today Wouldn’ta done it any other way If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I’d like to do Is to save everyday Just to spend them with you If I could make days last forever If words could make wishes come true I’d save every day like a treasurer and then, Again, I would spend them with you But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do Once you find them I’ve looked around enough to know That you’re the one I want to go Through time with If I had a box just

 for wishes And dreams that had never come true The box would be empty Except for the memory Of how they were answered by you But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do Once you find them I’ve looked around enough to know That you’re the one I want to go Through time with (That’s Not The Way It Feels) Operator, well could you help me place this call See, the number on the match book is old and faded She’s living in L.A.

With my best old ex-friend Ray A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated But isn’t that the way they say it goes Well let’s forget all that And give me the number if you can find it So I can call just to tell’em I’m fine, and to show I’ve overcome the blow I’ve learned to take it well I only wish my words Could just convince myself That it just wasn’t real But that’s not the way it feels Operator, well could you help me place this call ‘Cause I can’t read the number that you just gave me There something in my eyes You know it happens every time I think about the love that I thought would save me But isn’t that the way they say it goes Well let’s forget all that And give me the number if you can find it So I can call just to tell’em I’m fine, and to show I’ve overcome the blow I’ve learned to take it well I only wish my words Could just convince myself That it just wasn’t real But that’s not the way it feels No, no, no, no That’s not the way it feels Operator, well let’s forget about this call There’s no one there I really wanted to talk to Thank you for your time

 Ah, you’ve been so much more than kind You can keep the dime But isn’t that the way they say it goes Well let’s forget all that And give me the number if you can find it So I can call just to tell’em I’m fine, and to show I’ve overcome the blow I’ve learned to take it well I only wish my words Could just convince myself That it just wasn’t real But that’s not the way it feels Still hard to believe that Jim died 40 years ago, my how time slips away, back in 1973 we all had our whole life in front of us, I hope everyone reading this had a good ride in life, enjoy a few of my photographs below: Ingrid Croce’s Restaurant in the Gas lamp District in San Diego Ca.

The photo of Jim is courtesy of Shout Factory and Sony Music Entertainment. Jack and Donna at Croce’s Restaurant in San Diego Ca. summer 1999. The photograph of Jim looking out of the window was a photo used for his album cover. The picture was taken on the farm in Chester County. Jim was looking out the window of an old outhouse Terry Cashman played a song at the Jim Croce Tribute in September 2013 at the Upper Darby High School. Members of “Maggies Guitar” the preeminent Croce tribute band played at the Jim Croce tribute in September 2013 Talkin at the Jim Croce Tribute in September 2013 is Gene Shay and Mary Muehleisen, sister of Maury . Croce’s Top Hat Restaurant San Diego Ca, Gas Light District 1999 JIm Croce's Official Web Site | All Things Croce's Contact Do you know the story about when Jim Croce and I first moved to San Diego in 1973? We were so surprised when we went to the Gaslamp and saw our new downtown in such disrepair.

There were no restaurants or music venues anywhere and we were hungry for both. So Jim joked that we should open a restaurant and bar and have our friends like James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, Arlo Guthrie, Bonnie Raitt, The Manhattan Transfer and more, come to play at our bar. But a week later, Jim’s plane crashed and that dream was gone. Then after 10 years of litigation, I wanted to recreate the warmth and energy of my time with Jim Croce, and those early days of entertaining together. So I built Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar, right on the corner of Fifth and F, just where Jim and I had talked about it. It took a long time for the Gaslamp Quarter to come of age. It was an uphill battle for so many years, but I wanted to do it for Jim Croce and his fans. So I poured my heart, soul, effort and lots and lots of money into my endeavor. Until finally, the Gaslamp came alive and we had foot traffic. When we lost our lease in the Gaslamp Quarter after thirty years, my husband Jimmy Rock and I tried to recreate our dream in Banker’s Hill.

But you know Bob Dylan got it right when he sang “You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way.” And unfortunately, we have found that live music isn’t the draw that we hoped and needed it to be. The piracy and devaluation of music has been such a major blow to us that we can no longer afford to support live music on our own. And it wouldn’t be Croce’s without live music. In the end, Croce’s Park West was fabulous…the food, the ambience, the hospitality, the live music and our wonderful guests, who have become like friends and family. It was everything we wanted it to be! We feel it was a success. We hope that the many wonderful memories and friendships that have been cultivated over all the years will endure. And we sincerely thank you all so very much for supporting us and for helping us to honor Jim Croce and the legacy of his music. With gratitude, Ingrid Croce and Jimmy Rock Please follow me on my blog at Ingrid Croce and Jim Croce, and on Facebook and twitter. Latest News & Blog Posts

Question: Who had 2 hit records in his short career, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" & "Time in a Bottle"?
Answer: Jim Croce