Jim Croce (January 10, 1943 - September 20, 1973) was an American singer and songwriter. He began playing music in college, finally signing to ABC in 1972, releasing You Don't Mess Around With Jim and Life & Times that year. The singles "Time in a Bottle" (written for his newborn son, A.J., who is now an accomplished musician and songwriter in his own right,), "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" and "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" helped the former album reach #1 on the charts in 1974.

Croce died in a plane crash on September 20 1973 in Natchitoches, Louisiana, only days before releasing the third ABC album, I Got a Name. The posthumous release included three hits, "I Got a Name," "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues" and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song". Several releases since have sold moderately well. Croce was interred in the Haym Soloman Memorial Park cemetery in Frazer, Pennsylvania .

Recently, his widow, Ingrid, was allowed to obtain from Jim's daughter Heidieh the permissions for all of his songs. Since then, she has allowed a PBS special to be made from archive footage as well as footage from the Croce family collection, in order to, in her words, "keep his legacy alive".

Discography

• Facets (1966)
• Jim & Ingrid Croce (1969)
• You Don't Mess Around with Jim (1972)
• Life & Times (1972)
• I Got a Name (1973)
• The Faces I've Been (1975)
• (1990)

Samples

• TimeinaBottle.ogg of "Time in a Bottle"

External links

• Official site
  • US NTSB Report on plane crash