July 07, 2009
Remembering an artist who left us too soon
I remember when Jim Croce died, back in the Summer of '73. I was in New York, staying at my Aunt Mame's house in Laurelton, when the DJ interrupted whatever song was on the turntable to break the news.
Croce, barely 30 years old, was best known for "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," but darn near every song he recorded in his all-too-brief career were keepers. In an interesting contrast to today's overproduced and sampled stars, Jim Croce often performed alone -- or with one other guitarist -- as naked as a performer can be, short of a capella.
Croce and Jim Muehleisen, the 24 year-old classically-trained guitarist who performed with him (and is in these videos), were flying back to Texas after a concert when the plane they were in hit a tree during takeoff, killing all aboard. A little more than a week earlier, Croce had finished work on the album that would catapult him to fame, "I Got A Name."
Perhaps his best song, one that is almost unbearably sad in light of his fate -- and the wife and young son he left behind -- is "Time In A Bottle."
Almost 36 years after his death, I still love to listen to his music.
Here are a few more of his songs.
Enjoy.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 7, 2009 08:01 PM
| TrackBack