Jim Croce was one of the premier architects of the singer/songwriter movement in the early 1970s, and during his all-too-brief 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 recordings are the soundtrack to a generation of music enthusiasts that continues to this day.

Growing up in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, PA, Jim Croce played “Lady of Spain” on the accordion when he was only five. He found local success as a folk singer during his college days at Villanova. He performed at fraternity parties and coffee houses, playing “anything that the people wanted to hear: blues, rock, a capella, railroad music...anything.” Croce's band was chosen for a foreign exchange tour of Africa, the Middle East and Yugoslavia. He later said “we just ate what the people ate, lived in the woods, and played our music. Of course they didn't speak English over there but if you mean what you’re singing, people understand.” He met his future wife, Ingrid Jacobson, and released his first album in 1966 with 500 copies pressed. The LP had been financed with a $500 wedding gift from Croce’s parents, who set a condition that the money be used to make an album. They hoped he would give up music after the record failed, and use his college education to pursue a “respectable” profession. However, all 500 copies sold out.

After a few short stints in radio advertising, truck driving and teaching emotionally disturbed children, Jim Croce was determined to score a hit recording career and went out as a solo artist, teaming up with an awesome guitarist and back-up singer, Maury Muehleisen. As friends Tommy West and Terry Cashman were soon a part of this mix as producers, his debut ABC Records single and album, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” were a huge success.

Known for his unique 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. Spearheaded by the country rock title track, the LP was buoyed with even more success as the brilliant “Operator” hit a chord with the hearts of his new legion of fans across the globe. “I wrote a lot of things in street terms...based on real characters,” Croce explained.

Whether standout tracks like his classics “Photographs And Memories,” “New York’s Not My Home” or “A Long Time Ago,” this NEW vinyl remaster demonstrates the incredible talent Jim possessed as a singer, magnificently skilled acoustic guitarist (as was Muehleisen), and songwriter.

By 1973, despite several more chart-topping recordings, Jim was clearing only about $200 a week as he was in hock to the record company, which had loaned him the money to make his albums. So he embarked on a European tour, during which he grew homesick and resolved to take a break from the road and settle down with his wife and two-year-old son after his “Life and Times” tour was completed. In a letter to his wife — which she received after his death — Croce said he wanted to write short stories and movie scripts, and withdraw from public life. The couple talked of opening a restaurant.

On Thursday, September 20, 1973, Croce and Muehleisen played their last (and sparsely attended) concert at Northwestern State University in Louisiana that by happenstance was taped. An hour later they were dead when their charter plane crashed on takeoff. The pilot, who had advanced coronary artery disease, had jogged three miles to the airport, then mistakenly took off downwind, failed to gain enough altitude, and failed to avoid the only tree for hundreds of yards. Jim Croce's voice was silenced at the age of 30, but his kind and generous spirit lives on... This LP is a keepsake tribute to him.

To sample some of the tracks, click the speaker icon below to hear them. Then scroll down the page to order today!