Jim Croce Questions?

Question

I'm doing a essay about the man and unfortunately cannot find a lot of information I need. Can someone help? These are the things I'm looking for:

- Musical Training
- Musical Influences
- Musical Style(s)
- Previous Band or Ensembles
- Musical Contributions
- Awards
- Other Achievements (Besides Music)

I'd appreciate any help. Thank you!

Answer 1

Check out the link I posted below. It also lists his musical infliences, bands he's influenced and all awards he's won. Good luck!

Biography by Barry Weber
In the music industry, arguably the worst tragedy that can befall an artist is to die in their prime, when he or she is just beginning to break through to the mainstream and reach people on a national level. One such artist was Jim Croce, a songwriter with a knack for both upbeat, catchy singles and empathetic, melancholy ballads. Though Croce only recorded a few studio albums before an untimely plane crash, he continues to be remembered posthumously. Croce appealed to fans as a common man, and it was not a gimmick — he was a father and husband who went through a series of blue-collar jobs. And whether he used dry wit, gentle emotions, or sorrow, Croce sang with a rare form of honesty and power. Few artists have ever been able to pull off such down-to-earth storytelling as convincingly as Croce.

James Croce was born in Philadelphia, PA, on January 10, 1943. Raised on ragtime and country, Croce played the accordion as a child and would eventually teach himself the guitar. It wasn't until his freshman year of college that he began to take music seriously, forming several bands over the next few years. After graduation, he continued to play various gigs at local bars and parties, working as both a teacher and construction worker to support himself and his wife, Ingrid. In 1969, the Croces and an old friend from college, Tommy West, moved to New York and record an album. When the Jim and Ingrid record failed to sell, they moved to a farm in Lyndell, PA, where Jim juggled several jobs, including singing for radio commercials. Eventually he was noticed and signed by the ABC/Dunhill label and released his second album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, in 1972. The record spawned three hits: "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)," and "Time in a Bottle." The latter would become Croce's breakthrough hit, shooting all the way to number one on the Billboard charts. Croce quickly followed with Life and Times in early 1973 and gained his first number one hit with "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

After four years of grueling tour schedules, Croce grew homesick. Wishing to spend more time with Ingrid and his infant son Adrian James, he planned to take a break after the Life and Times tour was completed. Unfortunately, the tour would never finish; just two months after "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" topped the charts, Croce's plane crashed in Natchitoches, LA. Croce and the four other passengers (including band member Maury Muehleisen) were killed instantly.

Ironically, Jim Croce's career peaked after his death. In December of 1973, the album I Got a Name surfaced, but it was "Time in a Bottle," from 1972's You Don't Mess Around with Jim which would become his second number one single. Shortly afterwards, "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" reached the Top Ten. Several albums were released posthumously, most notably the greatest hits collection, Photographs and Memories, which became a best-seller. Several other compilations have since been issued, such as the 1992 release The 50th Anniversary Collection and the 2000 compilation Time in a Bottle: The Definitive Collection. Listening to the songs Croce recorded, one cannot help but wonder how far his extraordinary talents could have taken him if he would have perhaps lived a few years longer. Unfortunately, such a question may only be looked at rhetorically, but Jim Croce continues to live on in the impressive catalog of songs he left behind.

Answer 2

James Allen Croce was born in Aix France in 1856, the son of Swiss immigrants of Syrian decent. At the age of 5, Jim mastered the finger picking style of Chet Atkins and wrote "Operator" before even knowing what a telephone or even what romance was all about.

"Time in a Bottle" was Croce's next hit, written at age 7 following a particularly lenthy bar fight while in the Navy and stationed in Pierre, SD. Jim said of this song, "I had just punched this chick out and I thought, 'if I could save this experience in a bottle, I would cherish it forever!'"

Driven to amphetamine addiction, Jim grew a big mustache and eventually jumped off of a bridge. This increased his fame. He was posthumasely awarded a ASCAP Liftime acheivement award in 1978 and is recognized for developing such studio breakthroughs such as multitrack recording and the spring reverb unit.

Jim never talked to the press. He liked his privacy and he never had any wierd fetishes made publicly available. He just had that mustache and old dirty hair. He always wore the same stinky jeans jacket too. In short, most of the world is just glad the whole Croce era is over.

Answer 3

I just wanted to tell you I'm also doing research on Jim. I was only 15 when the tragic accident happened in Natchitoches, La. The magic question is who put Jim on the map. The answer, is his producers Cashman and West. When you listen to Jim's music in his early career to the famous, I call the Croce trilogy albums, this is night and day. You will also find similar artists such as Gordon Lightfoot who Jim was listening to, where Gordon's producer put him on the map. Jim's inspiration to his music was his son AJ. Jim had a story to tell on all of his life experiences and were put into a unique song. Till this day, I never experienced a singer songwriter such as Jim who could go from a street song, such as Leroy Brown to a beautiful ballad such as Operator. It's like going 100mph and then stopping to 20mph with nothing in between. I know there are differences between his widow Ingrid and Jim's producers. But one thing you must realize, that famous sound came from Cashman and West his producers. When I was 15, Jim presented you with an album that you knew was timeless and priceless. Every song was like a gift you were given and you got your moneys worth. Those three albums were way ahead of it's time and the research I've done opened the door where there only were just a handful of studio musicians creating this beautiful sound. After his death, I found where Jim was struggling on his last album. Apparently I think the road caught up with Jim, and had some personal issues. One thing was the money. Jim would only perform with Maury and himself. Jim was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame where his son AJ and widow Ingrid accepted the award. I am blessed to had lived in a time where we had such great American Popular Songwriters. Today, you don't hear much of them anymore. America at one time was looked at from around the world with the music, talent, and entertainers that it produced. Jim was one of them. If Jim was still living today, yes he would have been a legend, and still would have been out there writing a song or two and big names such as Garth Brooks would sink their teeth on one of them just to have a Jim Croce song in their pocket. I miss Jim, and I miss the fact that I don't hear that new fresh sound or that new unique sound out there anymore. But if you want to listen and be entertained, just listen to the Triology Of Jim Croce. You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Life and Times and I Got A Name. .

Answer 4

i would not classify the two of those super artists as novelty or comedy. on a similar time as a lot of their song has a humorousness, there is usualy a message in there too. on a similar time as "conceal of the Rolling Stone" could be a parody, lots of Hook's songs are very romantic and hassle-free. And in case you won't manage to sense the genuine discomfort in tunes of Croce's like "Operator", you're no longer listening close adequate. the two have been giants of dad. peace

Answer 5

I'm a huge fan of Jim Croce, and have most of his music, but I'm not going to do your homework for you. If I give you all the answers, you don't learn anything.

Answer 6

here are a couple links that may help
I love his music - kind of a folk pop sound

Answer 7

Here ya' go...


Croce was born in South Philadelphia to a devout Catholic family. He graduated from Upper Darby High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania in 1960 where in 1976, he was the first former student to be added to the high school's Wall of Fame. Then, while attending Villanova University (1965 graduate), Croce got interested in becoming a professional musician and met his future wife, Ingrid, at a hootenanny at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, where he was a judge for the contest.


[edit] Early career
During the early 1960s, Croce formed a number of college bands and performed at coffee houses and universities, and later with his wife Ingrid as a duo in the mid-1960s to early 1970s. Upon marrying his wife, he converted to Judaism.[1] At first their performances included songs by Ian and Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot, Joan Baez, and Woody Guthrie, but in time they began writing their own music, such as "Age", "Hey Tomorrow", and "Spin, Spin Spin" which later led to Croce's hit songs in the early seventies.

At the same time, Croce got his first long-term gig at a rural bar and steak house in Lima, Pennsylvania, called the Riddle Paddock. There, over the next few years, Croce developed a very engaging rapport with tough audiences and built his musical repertoire to over 3,000 songs. His set list included every genre from blues to country, rock 'n roll to folk, with tender love songs and traditional Bawdy Ballads, always introduced with a story and an impish grin.

In 1968, Jim and Ingrid Croce were encouraged to move to New York City to record their first album with Capitol Records. For the next two years, they drove over 300,000 miles playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit promoting their album Jim & Ingrid Croce.

Then, disillusioned by the music business and New York City, Croce sold all but one guitar to pay the rent, and they returned to the Pennsylvania countryside where Croce got a job driving trucks and doing construction to pay the bills. He called this his "Character Development Period" and spent a lot of his time sitting in the cab of a truck, composing songs about his buddies and the folks he enjoyed meeting at the local bars and truck stops.


[edit] Success
In 1970, Croce met classically trained pianist/guitarist, singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen from Trenton, New Jersey. Initially, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar at his gigs. But in time, their musical strengths led them each to new heights. Muehleisen's ethereal and inspired guitar leads became the perfect accompaniment to Croce's down-to-earth music.

In 1972, Croce signed to a three year record deal with ABC Records releasing You Don't Mess Around with Jim and Life & Times in the same year. The singles "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)" and "Time In A Bottle" (written for his newborn son, A. J. Croce) helped the former album reach #1 on the charts in 1974. Croce's biggest single "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", hit number 1 on the US charts in the summer of 1973, selling two million copies.


[edit] Sudden death
Croce, 30, and Muehleisen, 24, died in a small commercial plane crash on September 20, 1973 in Natchitoches, Louisiana two months before the release of his 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."

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Croce

Try this link.

I know he was a folk singer in the 70s who died in a plane crash. He sang Bad Bad LeRoy Brown and Time in a Bottle.

Answer 9

check the link

Answer 10

http://www.jimcroce.com/biography.html

http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember.3/JimCroceBio.html