Jim Croce 9/1973

September 20, 1973 – Jim Croce was born on January 10, 1943 in South Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He had two Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers at number 1: “Time in a Bottle” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” He died in a plane crash in Natchitoches, Louisiana on September 20, 1973 an hour after he delivered a concert at Northwestern State University on route to a concert at Austin College Texas.

Jim Croce was a fabulous songwriter, who was not enthralled with the road. He wrote his wife from his last tour ‘Life and Times’, that he had decided to take a break from music and touring and settle down with his wife and infant son after the tour was completed.

His intention had been to quit music and stick to writing short stories and movie scripts as a career, and withdraw from public life.
“Time in a Bottle”, originally released on Croce’s first album the year before, hit number one on December 29, 1973, the third posthumous chart-topping song of the rock era following Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and Janis Joplin’s recording of “Me and Bobby McGee”.

Bad Bad Leroy Brown is still a chart topper with numerous bands across the world and a huge legacy for the man who was a very reluctant music star.