Over the years, fans and friends have written to me about Jim Croce and how he has touched their lives. It is always a wonderful feeling to know that Jim’s music and memories continue to inspire others. The letters, photos and musical tributes that people have shared with us have helped to keep Jim’s spirit and music alive.
If you feel moved to write about how Jim has touched your life we’d love to hear your story. Please email us here.
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Hello Ingrid,
My name is x my friends call me x, 1967 was my year of birth . As a child I grew up listening to Jim's music thanks entirely to my Mom. I think by the time I was ten years old I knew every song by heart. my mother passed away on November 12th 2000. It wasn't until a few years later on "May 18th my Mothers Birthday" that I was driving down the road I was thinking about my Mom when I clicked on the radio in the car and right from the first guitar note one of his songs came on the radio I think it was "Time in a bottle" I was instantly brought back to being that 10 year old kid listening to that big wooden console record player that played records . god i wish i still hat that thing . anyway i never really / really cried when my mother passed I was in a daze pretty much all through those days in November but on that day the 18th of May I cried like a baby Keep in mind I'm a 6'5" 265 lb man that just doesn't cry, period.
Your husbands song brought me to my knees. After I was done it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of me it had been raining all weekend , as i started to drive again the clouds cleared i saw the sun start peeking threw the clouds and ahead of me was the most beautiful rainbow i have ever seen . To this day I believe my mother or your husband had something to do with that song being played that time and day.One reason being no one drives my car but me. I always listen to the same radio station in my car & it wasn't on my normal station. i have all my preset stations programed to the same station that I listen to . So some one had to manually change that station & it was not me. well now i have 2 stations i listen to. No song has ever touched me the way that song did . so now every time I feel like i want to be close to my mother i toss in one of your husbands CD's & she is right there with me. Is there a song he wrote that reminds you of him besides .. "Operator" Did he write that for you? Was there really a Ray? Do you have any home Cd's you might want to copy and share/ I'd love to hear something for lack of a better word "New"so to speak of Jim singing? I would cherish them if you did
P.S. My fathers name was x he passed on Feb.6th 2005. & the song " Don't mess around with Jim" always reminds me of him!!
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Denver, Colorado
Dear Ms. Croce,
My name is x and I'm 15 years old. I live near Denver, Colorado, and I just wanted you and your family to know how much Jim's music has meant to me the past couple weeks.
Recently, my mom passed away from colon cancer, and my dad has started dating someone new. Pretty much everything has changed in my life after my mom, and I've begun to feel like I'm not at home in my own home sometimes. I lived in Florida for most of my life before living here, and I've never felt like Colorado is a home to me. The past few weeks I've listened to few songs other than "New York's Not My Home" and "Photographs and Memories". These songs describe exactly how I feel in Colorado. While listening to "New York's Not My Home," it feels nice to hear someone in the same situation. And although my mom died over a year ago, I never really mourned her death. "Photographs and Memories" is one of the few ways I can think about her without breaking down. I wish that the rest of my classmates knew about Jim and his amazing music. I don't want to see such an incredible musician not be recognized in my generation, which is why I am in the process of convincing my choir teacher to let us sing "I Got A Name" at the next graduation ceremony. The song has such a great message, and I hope that my other classmates will hold his music close to their hearts like me.
Thanks
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Austin, Texas
Ingrid,I just (for the first time) looked through your website & your story. Interesting that Pandora, an internet 'radio station,' lead me in that direction as I clicked on their web-links. As I was working along early this morning in Austin, and my PC blaring away with "my" Pandora station, one of Jim's songs was played. I knew the sound was different than the album release of Operator: I had all of Jim Croce's albums. Pandora was playing one of the rare Live releases.
I had worn out a lot of Jim Croce albums: two vinyl records, one 8 track, a cassette tape or two… all listening to Jim's music. When CDs began to replace all the other media in the 80s, Jim's music was among the first acquisitions of that new digital media. Still have those! LOL! Now, another "new media", is bringing back such wonderful memories and great music.I was in east Texas the day I got the news of his death. The Longview, TX, (way too close to western Louisiana) radio station gave the sad news and played several cuts back-to-back. I loved Jim's music before that day, and I loved it more afterwards. So many of us learned our guitar chops trying to sing his music (mostly by ear…. we were blue collar, too.). I was 16, and one of my music heroes had died. To use the words of my children's generation, "it sucked, big time." Jim's music was a big part of the fabric of my youth.Your story was a missing gap for me. I loved reading about your restaurant, your work in Costa Rica, your commitment to your son, and your work for and in the community in San Diego. I also love the grace of your remembering & honoring Jim's music as you built your family, your businesses, and your new marriage. Just wanted to write a quick note to you to wish you a happy and prosperous 2010. Thanks for all your work in keeping Jim's music alive and the memories fresh!
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Hi Ingrid
I just want to personally thank you for the warm and welcoming greeting you gave to both myself and my husband at your book signing and 1st night of restaurant week. X and I have been married for 20 years. We married when I was 19 and he was 23. When we started dated he was listening to Jim Croce. We would get in his car and I would think where does he get this music but the more I listened the more I loved it. He would go weekly to a local bar to watch a singer who sang many of Jims songs. I never understood why it was so important to him. Now after 20 years of it, listening to every song over and over again I found that he loves it because that music is about us...everyone!! His songs were so individual yet so broad that it could encompass everyone who listened to it.
Now we all listen to it. It has become our travelling CD. Our kids request songs from the cd. Our boys have begun learning the songs as did x on their new guitars. I mean it truly amazes me when 15-18 year old boys stop and listen...and most of all like!!!
x has waited so long to get out there and go to the Restaurant. He had to go to California for a business trip and he had decided he would go. Then he found out about the book signing and it being the same weekend we would be there. He acted like a little kid finding out they were going to Disney World.
I was so worried that it all would not live up to his expectations...You know how that works sometimes. However, he could not have been happier. He was so excited about the signing. He brought his guitar which was such a hassle with the airlines, and when you signed it for him I thought I would never be able to bring him back to earth.
Then we went to the Restaurant and I again I was worried. And once again for no reason. You and Jim Rock were both so hospitable. It was as if we had come to your home. You greeted everyone. Made everyone feel like you had been waiting on them to come. The food was amazing, the staff was perfect and you made a dream come true for my husband.
I just want to make sure you understand how much it meant to him, and how much it meant to me that it turned out just as he thought it would.
You are a great person and that shows in everything you do. Make sure you thank Jim for me as well.
We will be back!!!
Thanks Again,
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"I just spent a few minutes flipping through the pages of Ingrid's book, and what a great collection of photographs and memories. This is like looking into a personal family scrapbook of someone all of us knew so very well from his music, and Ingrid's stories and comments are just perfect to add even more depth to Jim's music. What a treat!"
Charlie Tuna
http://www.charlietuna.com
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Washington State
Dear Ingrid Croce,
It is so very difficult to explain how your husband fit into my life, I feel like I've known him all my life it's just one of those deals. I'm XXXXX from Washington State and I'm fifteen years old. Around August of 2006 my father was diagnosed with terminal glioblastoma brain cancer, I was so afraid my whole life would change, and it did.
Around September, the surgeons at the hospital attempted to remove the cancerous tumor for about 4 hours, as my brother and I drove home from the hospital in total silence the radio softly and harmoniously started to play "Operator (that’s not the way it feels)". The feeling of my grieving and fearful heart began to melt away as I was lost in the sound of the deep guitar.
After the song had ended I asked my brother who had sung it, and that was the beginning of my love for your husband’s music. As my father progressed with his cancer my mother told me that at one time he had played Jim Croces old records so often she forgot the sound of the house without his voice singing in it. This made me overjoyed to know that my dad treasured Jim’s music as well.
When my dad became so ill that he could not speak anymore, I would put on the Jim Croce CD that I had bought him for Christmas and we would sit and listen to it together, this is how my father and I bonded when words could no longer be used, I will never, in my ,lifetime forget these memories.
Before my father passed in February of 2008 he dedicated his message to my mother through “Time in a bottle”, nothing else had to be explained because this was exactly what he wanted to say to my mother. The music that your husband created has been so incredibly profound in my young life that I asked when my father reached heaven that he would have a conversation with Jim and thank him for me…
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Arizona
Hello Ingrid,
Mr. Croce's music has always meant a lot to me and my family. I grew up in Hood River Oregon, a small town in the Columbia River Gorge. There wasn't much entertainment there in the 70's. There was no cable and TV reception was minimal. There was an AM station that would, if we were lucky, play something as "long hair" as 'Operator' once in a while.
When I was about five, my parents bought a commercial fishing boat. We spent the summer of 1976 with an 8-Track of 'Life and Times' on the Oregon Coast. I think we wore it out. I have all these vivid memories of the deck rolling and falling out from underneath the dog and I while 'Bad,Bad Leroy Brown' played over the droning diesel engine. When I was a little kid, I can't tell you how many nights my mom would throw the 'Photographs and Memories' LP on the giant consul stereo with the green velvet over the speakers. She would play a tambourine or play along on the guitar to 'Operator' as best she could. She passed away in January after a long struggle with a rare form of cancer. As my sister and I spent time with her at the end, we started thinking about the different "rallying points" in our lives together. It was only natural that my sister bought my mom a CD of Jim's greatest hits. I was with her the last week of her life. As the end got closer, we listened to those songs we loved so much over and over again. That great sound is just such a perfect fit for the New York coffee house scene or Philly, now that I know more about the country. But, when I was growing up, that music felt like it was part of our home, so much so, that the backroads of Oregon just would not have been the backroads of Oregon to me without that music.
I have lived in Arizona for a long time now. The loss of my mom has made me a little nostalgic and I was just thinking about that wonderful music. I saw your "Please Write Me" link and felt like it was such a great opportunity say thanks to you and Jim for that body of work. It sounds corny, but thinking about growing up without it is like trying to recall a memory without one of the primary colors. It just isn't the same.
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New Mexico
Dear Mrs. Croce,
My name is XXXXX, I'm 15 years old and live in Rio Rancho New Mexico. Since as far back as I can remember I've listened to Jim Croce, but lately I've been listening to him ALL the time. Mr. Croce is a big influence to me. I've learned a lot from him through his songs. Since I was about 8 years old I've been playing the guitar, and just recently I've had a go at learning how to play Mr. Croce's songs such as New York's Not My Home, Time In A Bottle, Workin' At The Car Wash Blues, and others. I love listening to Jim Croce, and now it's like I get to play with him whenever I play along with his music.
You'd probably know if I'm playing it right but here's a link to a video of me playing his "New York's Not My Home":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARKBnRuJr3o
You know, I always tell my parents that I wish I could have been a kid when they were a kid, because I really only listen to music from the 60's and 70's, and if I was their age I would have been able to possibly meet some of my favorite artists. But if I could go back in time and just have one day to talk and just jam with ONE artist, that artist would be Mr. Jim Croce. I hope once I am an adult, that I can be like Jim Croce. Not necessarily playing music for a living, but to be as kind, and as wise, and as peaceful as he seems like he was.
I'm gonna save up, so that my parents can take me out to your and Mr. Croce's restaurant one day. God bless you and your family. :) And thank you very much for making it possible for all of us fans to send fanmail. I don't know why but for some reason even though I'm sending this to you it also feels like I'm sending it to Mr. Croce himself. Lol. :) Thanks again,
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Ireland
Hello Ingrid,
My name is XXXXXX- I am a musician from Ireland.
For many years I have been listening to and playing the songs of Jim Croce.
A few days ago I met a friend who I had not seen for many years- The one song he wanted me to sing was 'Time in bottle' It brought us back in time almost 30 years to when we first met and when a music session never concluded without some of Jim Croces songs being sung. Before the advent of U-tube I had been trying for several years to find Jim Croce on video without any success. Somehow a few years ago my wife Monika managed to find a tape. On Christmas morning when I came upstairs Jims greatest hits were playing -then I looked towards the television and could not beleive my eyes -for the first time I was looking at Jim Croce on stage.
It was a magical moment.
Last year my niece XXXX worked in San Diego for the summer, I asked her to find 'Croces Restaurant ' I now have a Croces baseball cap and an application form for employment framed on my music room wall. Together with a cartoon of me and my son playing with Paul Simon -James Taylor- Harry Chapin and Jim Croce.
My other favourite singer is Harry Chapin -its ironic and incredibly sad that both of them should die before their time.
Thank you for keeping Jims memory alive and for the lifetimes joy his songs have given me
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Dear Ingrid--
Thank you so much for the e-mail telling us all about Jim's original LP's finally coming to CD! I was so excited when I heard the news! I purchased the CD's the day they hit the stores and they are fabulous! I was happy to see the releases were faithful to the LP's and included both the original front and back cover album art! I know it's been 35 years since we lost Jim, but to this day I still miss him...and I always will. It's an even greater loss when I think of how many great songs he would have given us. Everything Jim had to offer was first class: His wonderful songs, his humorous stories, his warm personality and his endearing smile. I wish I could have met him. He was a captivating performer and there never was, or ever will be, anyone again quite like him. I miss Maury as well. His unique guitar playing added so much to Jim's recordings and live perfomances and together they were pure magic. I treasure the "Jim Croce Live" DVD and I'm hoping that there will be more in the future. God bless you, Ingrid.--- A B I G Jim Croce fan forever!---
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Dear Ingrid,
I have found your site as I sit here listening to Jim's music and I wanted to learn more about his life. I just had to tell you how I came to know of and love Jim's music.
When my sister and I were about 6 and 8 years old we went on a family holiday to France - its about 1500 miles round trip by car and ferry and my parents would split the driving. Before we left, my dad had carefully made a pile of the cassettes he wanted to take and we set off in the wee hours of the morning to avoid some of the traffic. When we got a bit into the journey my dad decided to put on some music... but he had forgotten the pile of cassettes and the only tape he had was the last one he had been listening to in the car - Jim's Photographs and Memories. Well, that tape was nearly burned out by the time we got home and we knew every lyric by heart. Truly happy times! Jim's music became a staple for every family holiday we went on since that year.
Over the years I have always listened to Jim's music and the songs have begun to take on new meanings for me as events in my life resonate with his songs. Well, I'm the father now and my kids are already getting into Jim's music - they love 'Dont mess around with Jim' - and I'm still singing, loudly and badly, whenever I'm in the car on my own!
Thank you for having this site where fans of Jim can let you and everybody else know just how much he has touched our lives,
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New York
It was a long day, an even longer evening and for some reason I went to Google and did a search for Jim Croce. I'm about to turn 50. Jim's music was part of my New York childhood of the late 1960s and early 70s. I remember listening to his songs on the radio, recording them on my tape recorder for later listening. I was 14 when Jim died and a freshman in high school. Disco quickly became the new wave, but I can still remember all of his songs, lyrics, and my understanding of their message. His lyrics and tones were a great friend to an adolescent growing up during interesting times in New York. Not a time goes by now when I hear a song or a part of a song of Jim's that a smile does not come across, a moment of pause, and a memory of times past.
I'm sure you get e-mails like this all the time, but I belive that the memory warrants a comment now and then. I get to San Diego a few times a year. On my next visit I will make sure I visit the restaurant.
With warm regards,
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Texas
I doubt this mail reaches ingrid, but if it should, I know I am only one of thousands that loved Jim and Maury. To me however, I am their biggest fan. I was just learning guitar when I first heard Operator, and was blown away by the melody, story, and unique voice behind it. I would over the next two years see them on "Midnight Special" and have all their songs memorized. Their music and style has made me the self artist that I am today. No .... I don't play professionally ; just pick up the guitar every now and relive the past.
I remember the morning I came into work and read in the paper about the fatal crash and how I remained numb for the rest of the day. I was too young when Buddy Holly died in 1959, to have the feeling of impact that so many did. But when Jim and Maury were suddenly gone, I knew fully the impact of the grief.
I remember looking at the album photo of young AJ holding Jim's hat and my heart would just ache. How wondewrful it was for me, to see him as a grown young man perform on piano, and talk lovingly of his dad.
Thank You so much for sharing your time with all of us to keep Jim alive.
and........Thank You too Jim and Maury for the beautiful music you left for us to keep in our hearts and minds forever.
With love and fond memory,
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Hello Ingrid,
I guess I should begin by telling you that in the early 70's, I started listening to Jim on the radio and was hooked on his music from that point. I already had "Another Day, Another Town" when he hit the radio with "You Don't Mess Around with Jim." Of course, I bought the album and then "Life and Times" and "I Got a Name." I played them so much as a teenager they were barely audible. (Crazy enough I still have them!) I remember trying to catch him on the Tonight Show or any show he would appear and being totally mesmerized by his words and music.
I also remember the announcement on the radio and how hard I cried. I can honestly say, I think he may have been the only famous person that I ever shed a tear for. A few years later, I bought The Faces I've Been" the double record set. I loved the collection of raps on the flip side of record 2. All of his raps on tv were always hilarious.
Now, back in 2008-I have three grown children, ages 23-22-19, who have all grown up listening to my music and, of course, they have also grown to love and appreciate Jim's songs. My middle child XXXX, a college student, has downloaded every song she can find. The music touches her like it does me. I am grateful that Jim Croce's music is so far reaching. I teach high school English, and I play many of my favorites in the morning for my students. Many of them are interested in hearing more about Jim and his music, so I share your website info with them. Thank you for keeping the music alive.
I do believe that this is the first fan mail I have ever written in my life. (Just for the record). I just felt like I needed to say these things ages ago. I have read through a lot of your fan mail and am sure you realize the impact your husband had on so many individuals then and now including myself.
Finally, I would really like to know if and when "The Faces I've Been" will be coming out on CD. I did have it on cassette, but my daughter played it until it broke. I would love to have it as I think we have almost everything else in digital form. I am also looking forward to getting the cookbook for Christmas. I already sent the link to my kid's emails! Again, thank you for your commitment to keeping Jim's music and legacy alive in the hearts of his fans- old and new.
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Dear Mrs. Rock:
There are only a very few days that one can recall as vividly 35 years after the fact as if they were yesterday. I remember JFK's assassination, Armstrong's walk on the moon, MLK,Jr.'s murder, and the day that Jim and Maury were lost. I remember where I was, and remember pulling over to the side of the runway on which I was working (driving an Exxon fuel truck servicing jet aircraft) and sobbing.
There have only been two solo performers (although I cannot think of Jim w/out thinking of Maury as well) who have provided my wife and I with as much musical joy in our lives as Jim and John Denver. Both were tragically lost before I had an opportunity to hear them live, and that is a regret I will always have in my life.
All four of our children, as well as our two young grand-daughters, know most of Jim's hits by heart, having grown up listening to them repeatedly for the past 33 years (our oldest just turned 33).
I just wanted to thank you for your wonderfull website and to thank you for your support and love that gave us the music of Mr. Croce.
God Bless you, Mr. Rock and your son.
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California
Dear Ingrid Croce,
My name is XXXX, and i live in Fremont, Ca. U.S.A. I would just like you to know how much i am touched by Jim's song "Time in A Bottle". I am in my early 20's, and i am a drummer (musician). I am in college majoring in music, and i am learning how to compose...from early baroke, (Mozart, Chopin, to present music)...i am learning about how to change keys (modulation), and about chord progression, and about polyphony style voice writing. Well, i have loved this song since i can remember. This song reminds me of my dad. I cry uncontrollably every time i hear this song, (in a good way) because i love my dad so much....the song makes me feel like a little boy again...being taken care of by my father....just like the way Jim did in the music video. I am so grateful to have this song in my memory...especially those times i argue with my dad and we dont see eye to eye...i listen to this and i remember that our relationship is special...i am so happy to have told you this. I wish that i could have met Jim personally to have told him....i think he can see me in heaven :) I especially love that last chord that Jim does at the Cadence of "Time in a Bottle"...which is a minor chord. Just this yesterday...my father and i were in our garage and i was playing Jim's song, and my dad was suprized....he played along with his guitar...and i played with my brand new dw drum kit which i brought home a few weeks ago. this was a special time for us...just my dad and me...in the garage playing together....very emotional.
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Indiana
Dear Ingrid and AJ,
I would like to share with you some thoughts on how the Croce's have impacted my life. I hope you don't mind if I share a short autobiographical story with you.
Like many people, I try to imagine who Jim Croce was by listening through his music; to guess at the quality of his character and the quickness of his wit and the depth of his understanding. Much more than I can reach any conclusions to my speculative questions, Jim's music reaches me. I am amazed at how Jim's music describes the emotions I can't name. His music is incredibly versatile; sometimes it is cathartic, sometimes depressing, sometimes fun, and always great to sing.
Although Jim died tragically nine years before I was born, my parents introduced me to his music when I was about eight years old. Growing up in a Foreign Service family, I spent a lot of time away from the US, and we occasionally picked up foreign customs. For St. Nicholas Day in early December when I was bout eight, I put my shoe outside my door, and the next morning I found in it a cassette: Jim Croce's Greatest Hits: Photographs and Memories. At the time, I had a large Sony walkman; it was so large and I was still so small, that when I clipped it on my belt, my pants sagged to one side. I listened to the tape over and over for hours and hours, everywhere I went. I still have it. My favorite album is the Definitive Collection 2-disc set. When I bought that album in 1997, I discovered a lot of new Croce songs I'd seen in a songbook we have, but which I had never heard. With it I had a new and expanded appreciation for Jim's music. My sister and I both really like to listen to "Hard Way Every Time."
When I was 11, I got my first guitar. I never had formal lessons; my dad got me started, and I used the songbooks we had around the house, which included Jim Croce's Life and Times. I learned to play by listening to my tape and looking at the chords printed in the book. That particular book includes transcripts from some conversations between Jim and Tommy West. The transcripts provide a peek into Jim's humorous approach to life's experiences, especially his ability to turn unpleasant experiences (his time in the Army; a bad blind date) into great stories that provide a good time for other people when he can tell them with sarcasm or exaggeration or embellishment.
A few years ago, my parents got me the "Have You Seen Jim Croce Live?" DVD, through which I got to know Jim a little more by hearing him crack jokes and tell stories. At the University of Notre Dame, I studied in a program that sounds similar to what Jim studied, and Jim's comment "I came out of university totally prepared for life in the 12th Century," which he delivered with a perfect deadpan cracks me up every time I see it again. I really want to share it with the alumni from my program. By the time I got to university, I played Jim Croce's songs on my guitar when I needed some breaks, and my roommates and friends now know quite a few Croce songs. I played "Operator" at an open-mic program called acoustic cafe. When I introduced the song, someone from the audience yelled, "Croce rocks!" I find Jim's music inspiring and touching, and I enjoy sharing it with friends when I play it, or through CDs or the DVD.
While in graduate school in California, one of my roommates inquired about a song I played on my guitar and wanted to look up the artist on the internet. It was only when he googled 'Croce,' that I discovered the existence of Croce's Restaurant. When I graduated, I celebrated at the restaurant with my parents and a friend who was working in San Diego. My parents bought me your cookbook, Thyme in a Bottle.
I hadn’t cooked with Chilis much before, but they were usually the freshest items in the grocery store in California. Since graduating from grad school, I returned to Notre Dame to do some research at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Shortly after I moved back, I made your Christmas Chili Rellenos for some of the alumni from my class who were working at Notre Dame, which was a great meal. I live by myself, and I have few occasions to entertain, but I really enjoy your recipes and I fully share you view that food is for sharing during meals with family and friends. This past weekend, I made a four-course meal that included your Crimson Red Pear Salad and Shepherd’s Pie. They were a big hit with my guests. It was a great time; I really enjoyed myself. My all-time favorite meal has been the lamb chops with peanut sauce. That’s a great recipe! Next time I’m in San Diego I’ll be sure to stop and see you again.
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your family with a wide audience that spans generations. I count myself lucky to have benefitted so much from your generosity.
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Jim has always been my role model, and favorite musician of mine,of all time. I remember spending hours in the blistering cold talking to my girlfriend, and future wife, from a phonebooth, in Alexandria, Virginia. I'd get home and listen to "operator" over and over again. It is still "our song", and always will be. I hope all is well with you, and wish you nothing but happiness and prosperity.
Peace and God bless,
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Dear Mrs.Croce:
My daughter XXXX listens to CD's every night at bedtime and lately her favorite is your husband's Photographs & Memories. The other night she asked if we could go see him in concert and I had to explain about his death. She was very sad and cried that she didn't want to die ever. My husband found your web site today and we showed XXXX the pictures and read some of the bio to her.
XXXX wanted me to share how much she loves Jim's songs and voice. She's especially fond of the morning walks and bedroom talks line and she wondered who he was talking about. She wonders why he was singing so sadly. Was something wrong or did someone die when he was little she asks?
Thank you for your time and for the joy your husband's music has given my daughter.
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Ingrid,
Thank you for keeping Jim's memory and music alive. Jim was incredibly talented and I love his music. Thanks to my late Dad, also named Jim, I was able to hear the great songwriting genius that was Jim Croce. I love all of Jim's songs, and 2 of my all time favorites are 'Roller Derby Queen' and 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim'.
I really hope he gets into the rock hall of fame. He deserves it.
Jim Croce was a musical genius. I have heard and read he was a great person also. I was only 5 when Jim passed. All I have to say, Jim Croce was one of the finest musicians ever. And I will always love to hear his songs.
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Dear Ingrid…
Hello…I will be visiting San Diego this weekend with my family…I am going to try and make it to your restaurant…Long story short, Jims music affected me drastically during a hard time in my life…As most Mid- twenties, I was still searching for myself and ways to define my next step of understanding between myself and my parents…During this time, I watched “Behind the Music” on VH-1… It led me to investigate more intensely Jim’s music…What I found was a common thread to my parents due to our appreciation of his music which linked our time together….I remembered the songs from my childhood and it eventually brought on a dawn of understanding…I thought I would tell you that his legacy does live on with me and I hope to pass it on to my son someday…Take Care…
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Netherlands
Dear Ingrid,
I am sending this mail to let you know that Jim Croce's music is still an inspiration to me, someone from the Netherlands who was born 10 years after Jim Croce's death. I only recently bought an album of Jim after thinking of some past holidays with my parents long time ago. I remembered that they used to play Jim Croce's music very often when we were on the road, driving through France, Italy, and other countries during our holidays. As a child, I must have enjoyed his warm and tender voice, singing his beautiful songs. Now that I am listening to his songs again, I'm just so happy that I've rediscovered him. I'm a very big Dylan fan, but right now he comes in second place, because it is Jim Croce's music that comes from my speakers nowadays. These days I am writing my doctorate (or master) thesis which causes quite some stress now and then, but when I come every day his music can makes all the worries disappear. He is just a big inspiration and I am happy to see that his memory is still alive, and that many people hang on to his music. Thank you for this website. I wish you and the family all the best for the future.
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Canada
Dear Ingrid,
I'm not usually given to writing fan mail, or any kind of mail, but I've just got to make an exception...I've been a lifelong fan of Jim's music all my whole entire life, and I didn't even know it. It wasn't until the internet came along that I've been able to find out where some of my favourite songs came from. And then I was pleasantly surprised, stunned even, to realise that several of my favourite songs of all time were by one artist - Jim. Since the late 70s I used to listen to the radio all the time as a kid, and there were always those few eloquently beautiful songs that you knew from the first time you could never forget. Songs that didn't need the test of time for you to know that they'd live forever in your heart.The thing that prompted me to send you this message is a comment that someone posted about how Time in a Bottle reminds him of his baby son who died of cancer, and being a father of two small boys myself made me react in a way I'd never have appreciated before becoming a parent.
Then I started reading Jim's biography and yours and his story, and I can hardly grasp how much more depth there is behind everything that occurred in your life and his.Have to Say I Love You with a Song and I've Got a Name, among others, are some of those songs that bring me back in time, and remind me now how much I love my sons. I'm so grateful that I know now who performed those songs and I can finally, finally! buy a CD with the whole songs on them, instead of waiting for the songs to come on halfway through on the radio, and then be left wondering who sang them.Someday I'm going to make it to your restaurant in San Diego and treat my wife and kids, and myself, to a piece of personal history.Thanks for keeping alive some of the most beautiful music ever.
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Connecticut
Hi Ingrid,
I heard the interview you did with Chris Ryan yesterday, I just had to contact you. At the end he was telling you of a friend who sat at Jim's feet. I am that friend Renee. I met Jim and Maury on April 1, 1972 at WPOP, it was an April fools day joke. Being curious I showed up and to my suprise Tony Orlando, Harry, Chapin, the Buoys and the beloved Jim Croce were there. A friend who worked at the station took me into the small studio and sat me right in front of Jim's chair and told me not to move. A few minutes later Jim and Maury came in and sat down right in front of me. Jim told his wonderful stories, told us why he put his cigaretts in his t-shirt sleeve, and sang with perfection. I was so close to him I could touch his knees. Maury and Jim signed my autograph book, I cherish those with all my heart someday they will be passed on to Chris. I have worked in radio and meet many famous people. Ingrid none ever touched me and meant so much to me as Jim. What a gracious fun man he was. I am thank full to have been able to be so close to him and to talk to him. He inspired me, touched my soul and heart. I will always remember and love him for what he did for me, just letting a young sixteen girl sit at his feet and enjoy her favorite entertainer. I still tear up. Ingrid if you are ever in Connecticut please feel free to come to my home and visit, you are always welcome. It would be an honor and pleasure to meet you. I will be back to order your cookbook and the new DVD of Jim's. I have all his albums. Take care you are a lovely lady. You and Jim must have made a wonderful couple. Tell AJ, I say hello. A friend in CT.
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South Dakota
To All,
I just want to thank you for allowing Homespun Tapes and Pete Huttlinger to create a lesson DVD on Jim Croce's music. I have purchased this lesson and I am very pleased with how it turned out. I am having a wonderful time learning the songs presented on the DVD and I will no doubt be playing them for friends and family in the very near future. I've always wondered how someone could create such timeless music? I may never have that answered, but at least I can play some of that music now. I hope that Pete Huttlinger will be able to produce more of Jim's music in the future. He is a great instructor and Homespun Tapes is a great resource.
I have always been interested in how much collaboration there was between Jim and his side man - Maury Muehleisen. I realize that many questions can't be answered, but information on their relationship would be valuable to all of us that love this music.
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South Dakota
Hello Ingrid,
I wrote to you several years ago and you answered. I was so pleased. I still have that email even though my computers have crashed a number of times since. I made it a personal quest to retrieve that wonderful connection between a hero and me that you made complete.
I am writing again to let you know that my son (who is 19) loves Jim's music. He has a very eclectic taste and I like a lot of what he likes these days. He is going to college in Omaha, NE which is a Mecca for independent music. He believes he is in heaven. As I zero in on 50 years old, I realize what Jim has missed and what he has, would have wrote about if he had lived any longer. I know that he had a full life that had love in it, but tragedy has a way of severing the most promising from us.
Even though he is gone, his legacy lives on in me, my son and I imagine his children too. That's impact. That's worthwhile.
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California
Hello:
I was just on your website and I read a letter that somebody wrote and it said that it seems like Jim wrote the songs for everybody. That is true. No matter what kind of mood I am in, I can find a song that goes with it. I am 20 years old and all my friends think I am crazy for listening to music that is so old. But what do they know? I love it! Out of the 450 songs on my iPod, I really only listen to Jim's "Greatest Hits" album! I just moved to San Francisco, California from a small town in Washington State and right now, "New York's Not My Home" is the "theme song" to my life. I just wanted to say thank you!
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California
Hello Ingrid,
Where to begin? I guess you could say I'm a true lifelong fan of Jim's music. My mother was born and raised in Glendale, CA. And had me when she was very young. I'm almost 35 now and I can remember growing up with Jim's music always being there.
Some remember different time periods in their lives by the events that surrounded those times. I remember those times by the music that was important to me in my life, and that would be Jim's music. He was a remarkable, poetic, and truly gifted person who touched not only my life, but countless others. Although I never personally knew him I felt like he was always singing just for me.
As a young boy in Southern California, I can remember singing his songs while riding my bike. Skinned knees from playing too hard, hair blowing, and sun beginning to set, I would ride home from my friend's house. Now, almost 24 years later, I look out the window of my car and see the same sun, feel the same breeze, and find that I'm still singing along with Jim. His music is always close to me but isntead of LP's (my mother has those) I have his music on CD. I know his music will remain with me for as long as I'm around.
I would love to visit your restaurant one day!
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Tennesse
Hello Mrs. Ingrid Croce,
I was delighted to find out that Jim's dreams and music are kept alive through you and all that you have done. I, just at this moment finished reading all of the website about your husband, Jim Croce, and I was moved to write this story to you.
I was born in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1958, September. My dad was a pipeline welder and my mom was a hairdresser at a salon. They divorced in the early 60s. I think I was around 5 or 6 years old. My grandmother took care of me alot. You know sometimes you have to grow up fast to survive, which was the case with me. When I turned 11, I started working at night waxing and striping department store floors, walking home in soggy old shoes. Well, by the time I reached the age of 13, I felt I was old enough to get a place of my own. I had a job at an Italian restaurant called Pasqually's at $1.10 an hour as a cook.
Well, I never forgot the look on the ladies face that owned the boarding house when I told her that I wanted to rent the room she advertised. She said how old are you son? I said old enough to work and pay my own way. She was nice enough to rent me the place for $100 a month. This place looked a lot different at night. I have to say the first night was a bit scary.
All I had was an old cassette player and I went to the drugstore and bought my first tape. It was Jim Croce, with "Time in a Bottle", "Operator", and some other songs. So every night I would play this tape, it would take me to some place that I wanted to be not where I had to be. I am 46 now and I often say to my wife, "if I could put time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do, is to save every day till eternity passes away, and then I'd spend them with you." Well, she always wondered where I got that from and tonight we were cleaning some things out of her mom's closet and in a box with some very old jazz records was a 45 of "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", flipside, "One Less Set of Footsteps". So I looked at my wife and said "if I could put time in a", and she said why are you singing that tune again, to which I held up the record and said honey this is the man, this is the one who wrote that song. Well, Mrs. Croce, I hope that this has shed a little good light in your life because Jim Croce will always bring good memories and light into mine.
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Hi there,
Wow, I cannot believe this, I am scheduled to come to San Diego on a business trip and found out your restaurant was there!! Awesome.
Here's my story, just a regular guy and girl meet in the spring of 1980. He's from the other side of the planet, she, a small town girl from upstate NY just traveling the country basically, settled a bit in San Antonio, TX. Girl meets boy at roommates friend's party and guess what, love at first sight. Both enjoy Jim Croce music, Boston, Kansas, Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Little River Band, CCR...etc. Wow, girl can't believe it. How can he know all these songs, feel the soul and spirit she feels in the song, love OMNI magazine, and he cooks too!!! Well, we were married on October 27, 1980 and spent many nights these years singing "Time in a Bottle", (sometimes in bubble baths...LOL), "Ive Got a Name," "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Lover's Cross," "These Dreams," : New York's Not My Home," etc. Anyway, I digress. Throughout our life, we always play or sing the music, especially while I clean house, wash dishes. When family gets together, we always sing while my brother-in-law plays guitar. I always have to sing Jim Croce's "Lover's Cross" for sure.
Anyway, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year and Jim Croce's music really evokes our soul and spirit that we have together. We love the story you and he shared with us and the world.
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Hello Mrs. Croce,
My name is XXXX XXXX. I am 16 years old and have been playing the guitar for just over 2 years. When I first started playing I was into nothing but Zepplin, AC/DC all the real popular bands of the 70s. I was on the way home from school one day and I turned on the radio and heard "Operator". I said to my dad, who is this? He said, "Oh man, that's Jim Croce!" I asked him who he was and all about him. The next day I went to Best Buy and bought all the music I could find on him. I absolutely fell in love with his guitar playing, and his lyrics. He was a very good guitarist, songwriter, and person. From the DVD's that I have and just his music, you could tell he was a real character. I'm not kidding when I say this, every single song that that man wrote was magnificent. His chord progressions, fingerpicking - man, he was amazing!
Most bands write real good songs, then ones that you don't like so much, but I find myself liking all of Jim's songs! My dad was really into him when he was a kid and he passed it on to me. I have learned all of his songs, note for note and perform them at restaurants and other gigs that I have. I do my own stuff but I always, always do a Croce tune because there was just something about him. I don't know if it was his soothing voice, his jokes, his smile, the clothes he wore. I don't know why I love him so much. Recently I was in the car with my girlfriend and I always have my Jim Croce CD in and I'm singing along, and at first when she heard him she was like, you're weird. This is something that my mom or dad listens to. I was like this is music my dear. Wouldn't you know it? A few months later she knew all the words to "Operator", "Leroy Brown", "Photographs and Memories", she knows them all! I asked her, Oh I thought you didn't like this? She smiled and said shut up. I then asked her why do you like him? She said, "I don't know, there's just something about him, his voice, that I love". I just put on a big grin and kept driving. I think about it all the time, if Jim lived, he would of wrote so many more songs. Sometimes when I am playing some of his tunes I get real sad and wish he was still alive because I've been to some good concerts, Van Halen, Steve Vai, G3 concerts, Aerosmith, Kiss, but I would give all that up to see Jim play "Operator" or "Lover's Cross", "Time in a Bottle," any song by Jim. He was just an amazing man and an amazing musician. I hope you get to read this because you are a lucky girl to have married such a great man like Jim Croce.
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Kansas
It was 1972 and I was 15 and staying the summer with my estranged mother who was newly remarried to a stepfather I couldn't stand. Living out on the coon-dog ranch in central Kansas, there wasn't a whole lot to do but sweat in the heat while the "parents" worked. One Friday night, they talked me into going uptown to the pool hall with them. I played a couple of games, and then "Leroy Brown" started playing on the jukebox just as I set eyes on the most beautiful girl. Her name was Jody and when it came to love at first sight, I was now a believer! We talked, played pool and drank a few sodas, and then I walked her home. My first real kiss still lingers on my lips as I think back to that summer, and everytime I hear "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," it takes me back to my first love.
I miss Jim still - he was gone way too son.
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Indiana
Ingrid,
As I was flipping through the channels tonight, I came across "The Legacy of Jim Croce" on PBS (from 2004), and it inspired me to write you. I pointed out to my daughers the face behind the songs I've played for them through the years. (In the car, we've always played "name the singer" on the radio since they were little- they can recognize all the greats by their voice: Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, etc., and of course Jim Croce's unique voice was among them.) It was wonderful to finally see a "live" performance and to "meet" you and A.J. My wife and I were married in 1978 to "Time in a Bottle" (as I'm sure thousands if not millions of others!) We have Jim's albums, cassettes, and more recently, CD's, and I still hear him on the radio at least once a month. I did an Internet search to see if I could find an address to write you, and I came across the website. I see that I'm not alone in my admiration of your husband, but I still wanted to let you know what his songs have meant to us over the years.
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Hello,
What an awesome opportunity to be able to share my thoughts on Jim!!! For what it's worth, my name is XXX. I'm a musician, former butcher, and current stock car racer. I was attending U of P (Wharton Business School), when I heard of the plane crash. I cried for quite a while, as so much of his music reflected life in these here United States!!! I was also brought up on the southside of Chicago and worked in the Chicago Stockyards at a large hog killing plant. Also, one of my first stock cars that I raced outside of Chicago was a '64 Mercury Monteray, which happens to rhyme with the '57 Chevrolet mentioned in "Rapid Roy." At the time of my grieving for the loss of Jim, I wrote a poem, which I haven't been able to find for quite some time, but I'll resume searching for it, now that I know of the existence of this site.
Thanks again for the time of recalling fond memories of Jim Croce!!!
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Cleveland, Ohio
Several of us at Cleveland State University Cleveland - Marshall College of Law would like to circulate a petition as a show of interest in jim Croce being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We know that an anonymous committee actually makes the nominations, but we want them to know how many of us feel this is an honor long overdue. I know that there was such a drive before 2000. Does anyone with Croce's have any thoughts to share about this effort? Thank you very much.
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I don't know that you can get a note to Ingrid, but I just wanted to say that after returning home from my third tour in Iraq, I lost my left leg and have just returned home from Walter Reed Hospital, learning to walk again, and Jim's music was a great inspiration for the many "low" points in my recovery. They were a great way to escape from what I was going through at the time. I also "discovered" A.J.'s music which I have become a great fan of. In short order, deepest thanks to you and your family, and Jim will remain in my prayers as I feel it's the least I can do for all that he did for me without every knowing me.
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I was in the Navy, driving to Seattle one Saturday in 1973 when I heard the awful news. Well, its been over 30 years, and after I wore out my Jim Croce tapes, I bought them on CD. I often pop in a Croce CD as I spend a lot of time on the road. Jim and Maury were pure musical synergy. They inspired me to move beyond strumming the guitar and begin fingerpicking, and man, am I glad for that inspiration. I really honed my fingerpicking skills on Croce songs, they're so beautiful and intricate. Someday I'd love to buy a Martin - Jim Croce Commemorative guitar, if I ever get a Martin, this will be the one. Blessings to Ingrid and A.J.
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I am not sure I have the most inspirational story, but I thought that maybe it would be comforting to hear that Jim's music lives on past the generations that he directly touched. This week I have really been thinking a lot about the impact that he has had on me personally. Althought I am just a sophomore in college, his music has meant a lot to me, and my family. Last summer I went on a road trip with my entire family, (a great accomplishment). We don't agree on much, especially music, but all it took was for my brother to put in "Box #10" for us to realize that it would be a completely Jim Croce focused road trip. Music that literally brings people together is more than inspirational, it's legendary. He will always be special to my family, and no doubt one day my children will be listening to his music as well.
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Malverne, NY
Jim Croce’s timeless presence and spirit is undying and with us everyday. His legendary songs from back in the early 70’s have helped to form and define my young childhood. Having come from a divorced home, I was five years old and feeling the vulnerability and insecurity of not having my father at home anymore. It served as a very confusing and scary time for a little boy of five. My father never let me feel abandoned or alone and had eased me into the adjustment of divorce as a great weekend dad. Weekends were ‘our time’ to bond and grow our love together. Various times and weekends from very late 1971, 1972, 1973, etc., my dad would pick me and my younger sister up at the house on the north shore of Nassau county and sport us around in his brown ’69 Buick Skylark Coupe to his place on the south shore of Nassau county. During all of those weekends bonding with dad, Jim Croce’s tunes were flooding the airwaves and topping the charts with timeless greats such as:
“Time in a Bottle” (71), “Photographs and Memories” (71), “It Doesn’t Have to be That Way” (72), “I Got a Name” (72/73), “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” (72), “Bad Leroy Brown” (73), “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” (72), “Operator” (72) – just to name a few. I love Jim for the magical music and fond memories from my early years and his spirit will live on strongly with us eternally. That tragic plane crash in 1973 had taken a gem from us, but Jim is smiling down on all of those who love him and his miraculous music.
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Manchester, UK
Just a short note to let you know how I became a fan of Jim Croce. I was about ten years old living in England in the mid 70’s when my dad played Jim’s records constantly. I kept telling him to “change the music,” which he did – Demis Rousos? Over the years, Jim’s enchanting music gripped me and I was hooked for life. My favorite song “Lovers Cross” is a gem and I listen to it most days. Thank God for Jim and love to all his family.
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Canada
I know you must get hundreds of e-mails praising Jim’s music and songwriting, but I just had to write. I was only one when Jim had his accident, but I grew up listening to Jim and I never have let his musuc go. I am thirty-three now, and I love him more than ever. His music is timeless. There are so many artists out there that come and go, but Jim and his music will live forever. His music reminds me of my wonderfully happy childhood, and my dad playing Jim’s records in our living room. His music actually warms my heart. Thank you Adrian for having such a cool dad, and Ingrid, you must have been so important to Jim and his music. Thanks. I hope you are all well.
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South Carolina
I really don’t have a “stop you in your tracks” memory of how Jim’s music became part of my life. Born in 1962, youngest of six, with all the hand-me-downs from five older brothers and sisters there was not much that I ever got to have all to myself. But his music was one of those things and was so much a part of my teen years. Traveling around was much of my life due to my dad being in the Navy. We moved every year or two, and having to be the new kid every time I attended a new school was truly hard for a shy girl. So many times I would put his music on and be comforted. It was like he made your inner most feelings come to life without any effort, he really understood that hard or painful thing you’d be going through. I sought to collect all of the albums Jim ever made. After thinking I had them all, I wrote LIFESONG a letter asking if they could tell me the names of all his albums. To my surprise, I not only got a letter back, but they sent me a record, “The faces I’ve Been”, for they said that it would be hard to get any other way. These albums are still part of my treasures and even my children know because when VH1 did the feature on Jim, my kids were the ones that made sure I knew about it. And I met A.J. a few years ago. He came through Greenville, South Carolina around the 4th of July on his tour. It was nice to meet that adorable kid on the album sleeve. Thank you for letting the fans be and stay a part of your special lives and knowing how much Jim’s music was and it still a part of our lives.
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Hello!
Today I bought the 50th anniversary collection and was delighted to read about Croce’s in San Diego. What a wonderful way to honor the memory, talent, and music of Jim.
While I usually lie about my age, now I will tell you the truth. I am thirty-eight years old and some of my first music memories are of “Time in a Bottle” and “LeRoy Brown”. My dad used to sing “LeRoy Brown” as he shaved in the morning. Many of your (Ingrid+Jim) songs are woven into my existence. NYC is my adopted home…I remember hearing that song “NYC is Not My Home” while I was in Rio de Janeiro two years ago, broke and confused, and it touched my soul the way your (Ingrid+Jim) songs do. I felt like someone understood and that made it better.
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South Australia
Hi! I think I was about eighteen years old when on my way home I was moved to an emotion I never really believed I had in me as a resuly of Jim’s music. You see here, in Australia in the 1970’s, we never got to hear much American music until it was at least a year old. Thank goodness for Cassy’s top 40 radio program every Saturday night. I remember driving home along the road when the song “I Got a Name” graced my ears. That’s that time I fell madly in love with Jim’s storytelling music. At the end of this song I was told by the D.J. that the late Jim Croce dies this week in a plane crash! Nothing could pull me up from this hole my heart fell in. In the early 80’s I was able to buy a CD of his greatest hits . This replaced my vinyl record. Needless to say, this is number one in my collection. Just this week I was able to buy the DVD, once again living down under it was released in 2003. It has taken three long years to see my greatest friend on television. Have I been born again with Jim, Ingrid, and A.J.? Yes I have, for this love of his family and music. Thanks Jim mate! I think rock and roll heaven is happy you’re on board. Thanks for the lifelong DVD!
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Hello Ingrid,
I would be truly honored if you would read my simple words.
As I am typing this letter, I am listening to your husband’s music. I have been playing his songs almost nonstop lately. They somehow seem to touch my soul.
I recently bought the DVD of yourself and Jim and I was simply blown away! I was so amazing watching your husband sing his songs, and I did not know that you are a terrific singer also. I was very impressed.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hello. Maybe sometime soon I will make it to your restaurant. I am sure you must receive letters like this all the time, but, if somehow you could acknowledge my message, that would be very kind of you.
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Chicago, Il
The memory I have of Mr. Croce. When I was a young boy I would love to take evening rides in the car with my mother. We would drive up and down Chicago Avenue with its old time streetlights and quiet neighborhoods. It was our escape from an alcoholic and abusive father. We would talk about having a quiet home in this neighborhood. Looking at the large Oak and Maple trees, people sitting on their front porches would wave as we drove by. The thing that brings me to this is every time I hear “Time in a Bottle.” As soon as I hear it, I automatically get bought back to that memory of my mother and I driving and sharing our dreams with each other. I love that song and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.
Thank you Jim... even though you are not with us, you continue to make a middle aged man happy and make him feel like an innocent boy again.
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Kansas
I don't even know where to begin. When I was a young boy, my father and I had a special relationship with music. We would sit and listen to old records and he would teach me a few chords on the guitar. One of the albums we would listen to was Time In A Bottle. Over and over and over again, I would sit and listen to those songs - night after night. Jim quickly became one of my heros. We would muddle our way through Rapid Roy and sing the verses out of order and the chorus more times than he did.
I am now the proud father of a 4 year-old who has been singing "Wapid Woy dat stock caa boy" since he was 2. He has his own guitar now and it won't hold a tune but he bangs on those guitar strings and sings. It always plants a big old lump in my throat so when I stop singing he doesn't even notice, he's so caught up in the moment of dancing and singing.
You know when someone asks you "if you could meet anybody in the world who would it be and what would you say to them?" I know the first half of that question but I'm not sure what I would say. I'm certain that it might come out very jibberish like though. So I will say this - words cannot express feelings that run deep in the hearts of so many people around the world. The people who have had Time In A Bottle sang at their wedding, or heard Photographs and Memories that you share with us.
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Georgia
Hi! My name is XXX XXX, and I'm writing to let you know that Jim's music continues over generations. Though I was not born until 1971, I have always listened to the music of the seventies. I grew up poor, and we didn't have a record player, and our radio only picked up country music. I would walk the couple of blocks to the library where they had a collection of records that you could listen to. So, while all my friends were listening to Culture Club and Michael Jackson, I was spending countless hours at the library listening to Jim Croce and Carole King. Jim's music got me through a difficult childhood, and would take me away from my problems and into the stories of his music. The other day, my nephew that is 15, came for a visit, and asked me who I was listening to. I replied it was Jim Croce. Of course he had no idea who that was, but told me that he really liked it. Later that day we were at the mall, and my nephew bought a Jim Croce CD. He said that he had to get his friends to hear it. I just thought you might like to hear this story, and to know that Jim is continuing on through generations. His music will never die.
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Just a few thoughts as I spend much time these days going back in time. I lost my husband last October. He was 59. Listening to the words and music of Jim has brought me a great deal of comfort. I graduated high school in 1968 and Jim Croce was my favorite and always will be. Time In A Bottle has really become meaningful to me. I was lucky as I appreciated all the time I had with my husband, even during the daily grind of just living. But Time In A Bottle always brings to light the need to appreciate our loved ones! Somehow Jim had the ability to say the words most people feel and then make the music to bring the words to life!
On the lighthearted side, my favorite is Working in the Car Wash Blues. The story he tells captures the dreams of anyone in a low level job that knows they can do better! And he says it with style!
My 12 year-old grandson has an interest in the guitar and is now taking lessons. I have told him he MUST come over and just listen to my Jim Croce CD. Of course, he doesn't understand at this point just what a talent this is, but I'm working on that!
I just wanted the family to know what a special place in my heart there has always been for Jim Croce. I was devestated when the news came of his death. Even though I was young, I recognized what the world had lost.
Thank you for having a place for me to say these words.
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North Carolina
I was about 14 when the first album came out and I became crazy about Jim's music; I was known all over my school as "The Fan of Jim Croce." I even convinced my skeptical parents, who had not long ago endured the likes of Alice Cooper blasting from my downstairs room, to listen to him and they still quote him sometimes and loved the music. I saw Jim in an auditorium concert in 1973 in Winston-Salem, NC, on what turned out to be exactly 6 months to the day before his death. I still have that ticket stub.
After the concert, my friends and I gravitated to the stage where he was shaking hands and chatting with the audience members. When he got to me, my mouth froze up and all I could do was shake his hand. I wanted to say so much about what his music meant to me.
Six months later, on that awful day, after waking up to the headline proclaiming Jim's and Maury's deaths, I made it to school, but not to my classes. I stood at a hall window or sat outside at a picnic table all day - reflecting. School staff left me alone, knowing why, and other students sometimes gave condolences like he was a family member. Jim Croce's music filled my life for several years and left a giant voide in it with his death that I still sometimes feel, along with the lump in my throat, that I got even upon finding this site. Thanks for letting me share.
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New Hampshire
I live up here in New Hampshire. I was born in 1959 and I couldn't have been more than a teenager when I first saw Jim on the "Midnight Special" and/or Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Always on late Friday nights, I turned on one of the shows after "hoofing" it home from a high school dance wishing I could have wished that I was getting the girly attention like the guitar player in the band. Then there was Jim Croce on TV. I said to myself, wow this guy is good!
I don't remember any of the girls of that time making a fuss over Jim per se. For me personally, I was moved at a young tender age by Jim's music. "Operator" of course, has to be the signature, the quintessential Croce song. All these years later at the age of 47, I still feel the same emotions that I felt 30 plus years ago.
Like everybody else, I've suffered heartbreak, felt despair. Jim's music taught me to embrace all that, and find the splendor in the human condition. In the last 5 years or so, I am teaching myself to twang the guitar, and I am proud to say, and happy to inform you that the first song I can play from beginning to end without error is, "New York's Not My Home." I haven't quite mastered that little twangy fill part. Appropriate for a twanger, I suppose... It's by far my favorite Jim Croce song.
Well, I still miss him. He was and is a great guitarist, a great lyricist. I'm sure he's up there with all the greats we've lost. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.
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