Jim Croce became a household name during his short time on the charts. He started out playing accordian at age five. He became serious about music while attending Villanova College in Pennsylvania, where he formed bands and played fraternity parties and anywhere else he could find to play. One of the bands he was in was chosen for a foreign exchange tour of Africa and the Middle East.He returned home to Philadelphia, but found it very difficult to make a living from playing music. He held various jobs including writing commercials for a radio station, to teaching discipline problem students. He got back into music when he and his wife Ingrid moved to New York City and started playing coffee houses. He was introduced to Terry Cashman by his Villanova College schoolmate Tommy West. Cashman and West produced an album, Jim And Ingrid, but nothing happened. They returned to Philadelphia where Jim ended up in a construction job.
Everything changed for the better for him in 1972 with the release of his debut solo album, You Don't Mess Around With Jim. When the title song became his first single and hit the Top Ten, there was no looking back. In the two year span of 1972 and 1973, he scored seven hit singles, four of which were Top Ten, two reached #1 and they also achieved Gold record sales. Incidentally, Cashman and West produced his solo records as well as the Jim and Ingrid album.
Tragically, he died in a place crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana on September 20, 1973 at the very young age of 30. His last two big singles, I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song and Workin' At The Car Wash Blues were released posthumously.
This week on Voice Your Choice, Treasure Island Oldies spotlights two of his biggest hits: You Don't Mess Around With Jim and Bad Bad Leroy Brown. Come to the website and cast your vote for the song you prefer. The hit with the most votes will be played in Hour 3 of this week's show.
