b. 10 January 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 20 September 1973, Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA. Originally a university disc jockey, Croce played in various rock bands before moving to New York in 1967 where he performed in folk clubs. By 1969, he and his wife Ingrid (b. 27 April 1947, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) were signed to Capitol Records for a self-titled collection. The album's failure led to Croce's returning to Pennsylvania and taking on work as a truck driver and telephone engineer. Meanwhile, he continued with songwriting and, after sending demo tapes to former college friend and New York record producer Tommy West, Croce secured a new contract with the ABC Records label. Croce's second album, 1972's You Don't Mess Around With Jim (he had issued an ultra-rare home recording, Facets, in 1966), provided the artist with a US Top 10 hit with the title-track and, along with "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)", helped establish Croce as a songwriter of distinction. The album also climbed to the top of the US album chart in July. In April 1973, he topped the US charts with the narrative "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", but a few months later he died in a plane crash at Natchitoches, Louisiana, along with his guitarist Maury Mulheisen. In the wake of his death Croce registered another US Top 10 hit with "I Got A Name", which was featured in the Jeff Bridges movie The Last American Hero. The contemplative "Time In A Bottle" was released in November 1973 and provided Croce with a posthumous US number 1. It was a fitting valediction. During 1974, further releases kept Croce's name in the US charts, including "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song" and "Workin' At The Car Wash Blues". His son, A.J. Croce, began his own recording career in the 90s.
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YouTube Videos
Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle 1972 (02:22)
Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle 1972 James Joseph Croce,(January 10, 1943 -- September 20, 1973), popularly known as Jim Croce, was an American singer-songwriter. Croce and his song-writer Maury Muehleisen died in a...
Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim (Covers SLD) (03:01)
I make this video is for my Yahoo! 360 Blog, My favourite music, My music world ... A Tribute to the late Jim Croce ... This music video will be posted on 18/11/2007 in my blog ... Jim Croce (Jan 10, 1943 - Sep 20,...
Live
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The Velvet Hearts
- Frog and Wicket, Eversley Cross
- Jan 10, 2009
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Animal Collective
- KOKO, London
- Jan 12, 2009
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The News - - Manchester - -
- See Myspace for gigs..., Manchester
- Jan 12, 2009
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Bruno Gallone
- Ducking Stool, Leominster
- Jan 14, 2009
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Soft Toy Emergency
- Carling Academy, Liverpool
- Jan 17, 2009
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Soft Toy Emergency
- Academy, Liverpool
- Jan 17, 2009
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Bruno Gallone
- Railway Hotel, Evesham
- Jan 18, 2009
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All That Remains
- Carling Academy 2, Birmingham
- Jan 19, 2009
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All That Remains
- Academy 2, Birmingham
- Jan 19, 2009
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All That Remains
- Academy, Manchester
- Jan 21, 2009
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Discography
albums.
- Facets - 1966 (Jim Croce)
- Jim & Ingrid Croce - 1969 (Capitol)
- You Don't Mess Around With Jim - 1972 (ABC)
- Life And Times - 1973 (ABC)
- I Got A Name - 1973 (ABC)
- Facets - 2004 (Shout! Factory)
Videos & DVD's
video and DVD releases.
- Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live - 2003 (Sony Music Video)
Books
bibliography.
- The Faces I've Been - Jim Croce
- Jim Croce: The Feeling Lives On - Linda Jacobs
