Jim Croce -- 35 Years Later

Tomorrow, Sept. 20, marks 35 years since Jim Croce died in a plane crash.

I was accidentally an early Jim Croce fan before I even had any idea who he was or what he might accomplish. We used to stop at the grocery store on the way home from church and I always looked through the cut-out closeout bin of records, which were 44 cents. And one of the albums I got there was the "Croce" album by Jim and Ingrid.

I really bought it because of the instruments listed on the back. I haven't got it anymore, but at Wikipedia it says 12 string guitar, mandolin, and banjo. I thought it sounded like it might be good. I remember we were talking about it on the way home, kind of laughing really, of artists we'd never heard of. At that time we pronounced Croce as though it rhymed with "close."

Anyway, I played the LP many many times and basically had it memorized. It was great.

Later, it must have been 1972, I was on a trip to the Ozarks and heard "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" on the radio. The voice was familiar. And the announcer said it was Jim CROW-chee, the same guy!

I was planning to go to Jim's concert in Iowa City whenever it was to be, within a week of when he died.