Post by DazedOblivion on Jun 26, 2005 5:27:18 GMT 1
Being the old guy around here, I have a longer history of musical memories. I am sure many of you have never heard of Jim Croce. I hope that he is never forgotten.
This post is my little way of remembering and honoring an artist whose music I will never forget and will forever love...
The music of Jim Croce (pronounced CROW-chee) was a big part of my childhood, and it continues to touch me even after 30 years.
Tragically, Jim was killed at the age of 30 on September 20, 1973 when the single-engine plane in which he and five others were riding hit a tree on takeoff after a concert at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Jim Croce's career had just skyrocketed before his untimely death. He had gone to the university to fulfill a promise he made long before he became famous to make up a concert that he had been forced to cancel earlier. Also killed in the plane crash was his sidekick, second guitarist, Maury Meuhleisen. Maury was a great musician in his own right.
I was just a boy when I heard the news, and I recall how sad it made me. Like most people, I heard most of his music for the first time after his death.
Jim Croce was the son of first-generation Italians from Philadelphia. As a child, he learned to play the accordion. He worked long and hard before he became a success in music. More than once his musical career "ended." He served in the army. Then he became a schoolteacher in a ghetto, where every day the students would kick his car. He ended up having to park it several blocks away and walk to the school. In 1970, he and his wife Ingrid failed to achieve success as a folk duo on the New York club circuit. He returned to his native Pennsylvania as a truck driver to raise enough money to have a baby. He never gave up his music. He worked in construction. He played in small bars where he learned to play his guitar without a strap, so he could jump out of the way quickly in case the beer bottles started to fly.
He once recalled: "I've had to get in and out of music a couple of times, because music didn't always mean a living. You don't make that much in bars; I still have memories of those nights, playing for $25 a night, with nobody listening."
When his son, A.J. was born, a flood of inspiration followed. He became famous with his "tough guy" songs inspired by his days as an "everyday working man," such as "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown," and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim." However, he also wrote sensitive and beautiful songs that he performed simply with the assistance of Maury Meuhleisen, a classically trained guitarist. Jim and Maury were a perfect duo. These more "sensitive" songs include "Operator," "Time In A Bottle" (sample), "I Got A Name," "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song" (sample), "Lover's Cross," and "These Dreams." These are just a FEW of his great songs.
Some more sound samples can be found HERE.
Jim Croce was deceptively intelligent, a student of people, talented and generous and humble.
The following is a link to a Quicktime file of Jim and Maury performing "Operator": www.jimcroce.com/operator_low.mov
The following link takes you to the CorrBoard X-Board where KellyD and Firefly are currently offering a link to a Jim Corr slideshow that is set to Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim": www.corrboard.com/cgi-bin/mb.cgi?mbnum=3&msgnum=1119756992
The biography from his official website can be found HERE
This post is my little way of remembering and honoring an artist whose music I will never forget and will forever love...
JIM CROCE
The music of Jim Croce (pronounced CROW-chee) was a big part of my childhood, and it continues to touch me even after 30 years.
Tragically, Jim was killed at the age of 30 on September 20, 1973 when the single-engine plane in which he and five others were riding hit a tree on takeoff after a concert at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Jim Croce's career had just skyrocketed before his untimely death. He had gone to the university to fulfill a promise he made long before he became famous to make up a concert that he had been forced to cancel earlier. Also killed in the plane crash was his sidekick, second guitarist, Maury Meuhleisen. Maury was a great musician in his own right.
I was just a boy when I heard the news, and I recall how sad it made me. Like most people, I heard most of his music for the first time after his death.
Jim Croce was the son of first-generation Italians from Philadelphia. As a child, he learned to play the accordion. He worked long and hard before he became a success in music. More than once his musical career "ended." He served in the army. Then he became a schoolteacher in a ghetto, where every day the students would kick his car. He ended up having to park it several blocks away and walk to the school. In 1970, he and his wife Ingrid failed to achieve success as a folk duo on the New York club circuit. He returned to his native Pennsylvania as a truck driver to raise enough money to have a baby. He never gave up his music. He worked in construction. He played in small bars where he learned to play his guitar without a strap, so he could jump out of the way quickly in case the beer bottles started to fly.
He once recalled: "I've had to get in and out of music a couple of times, because music didn't always mean a living. You don't make that much in bars; I still have memories of those nights, playing for $25 a night, with nobody listening."
When his son, A.J. was born, a flood of inspiration followed. He became famous with his "tough guy" songs inspired by his days as an "everyday working man," such as "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown," and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim." However, he also wrote sensitive and beautiful songs that he performed simply with the assistance of Maury Meuhleisen, a classically trained guitarist. Jim and Maury were a perfect duo. These more "sensitive" songs include "Operator," "Time In A Bottle" (sample), "I Got A Name," "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song" (sample), "Lover's Cross," and "These Dreams." These are just a FEW of his great songs.
Some more sound samples can be found HERE.
Jim Croce was deceptively intelligent, a student of people, talented and generous and humble.
The following is a link to a Quicktime file of Jim and Maury performing "Operator": www.jimcroce.com/operator_low.mov
The following link takes you to the CorrBoard X-Board where KellyD and Firefly are currently offering a link to a Jim Corr slideshow that is set to Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around With Jim": www.corrboard.com/cgi-bin/mb.cgi?mbnum=3&msgnum=1119756992
The biography from his official website can be found HERE
