TAKE TWO: JIM CROCE

Jim Croce was a talented singer and songwriter whose career had begun to take off with a number of popular hit songs before his voice was prematurely silenced due to a tragic plane crash in 1973.

He was born in South Philly, PA. to Italian immigrants from Southern Italy. Croce had not seriously considered a career in music until he attended college at Villanova University where he got involved with the men's chorus and became a student disc jockey. He traveled with the school band singing around Africa and Europe with the young man becoming hooked on performing.

Croce met and fell in love with Ingrid Jacobson, a fellow musician in 1963 and they married three years later. Using the $500 cash wedding gift from his parents, Croce recorded and self-released his debut album, "Facets" in 1966. They were hoping that this would prove to him that he should give up this dream of a music career and settle down. However, Croce sold every album of the five hundred copies pressed and even made a profit.

Croce began performing with his wife and they would sing covers from popular musicians before doing original material they wrote. The couple were signed to Capitol Records and recorded a self titled album in 1968. They were encouraged to give New York a try by one of the producers of their album and moved to the city. Jim and Ingrid traveled around the state to promote their record but became disillusioned with the business and the city.

They moved back to Philadelphia and tried to settle down. Croce took a series of odd jobs but after discovering they were expecting their first child, he became determined to have a career as a musician. With their son, Adrian James born in 1971 and Ingrid becoming a stay-at-home mom, Croce went back on the road to perform and sent demos to a producer friend in New York. This helped lead him to being signed to a three-album deal with ABC Records in 1972.

He released the first two albums; "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" in 1972 and "Life and Times" the following year. These albums yielded the top-twenty US Billboard Hot 100 singles, "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" and "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" which went to number one on the chart and got Croce nominated for two Grammy awards for Best Pop Male Vocalist and Record of the Year. He toured extensively across the globe and appeared on several television programs. But he grew very homesick and planed to slow down after the release of his next album, "I Got a Name".

On September 20, 1973, the singer had boarded a charted flight with his band at the airport in Natchitoches, LA. to continue the tour to promote the "Life and Times" album. During take-off, the plane clipped a tree at the end of the runway and it crashed, killing all on board. Jim Croce was only thirty years old. The posthumous release, "I Got a Name" would feature three hit singles, "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues", "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" and the title track.

I don't think the music of Jim Croce is receiving nearly enough attention today and this, in my very small way, is an attempt to place a spotlight back on this gifted musician and honor his legacy. Here are two of my favorite songs from this legendary performer: