Editing Jim Croce (section)

== Career ==

=== Early career ===
Croce did not take music seriously until he studied at Villanova, where he became a leader of the Villanova Singers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.library.villanova.edu/2021/08/27/jim-croce/  |title=Jim Croce '65 Image Discovered in Digital Library |last=Proctor |first=Shawn |date=August 27, 2021 |publisher=Villanova University |access-date=July 24, 2023 }}</ref> formed bands, and performed at [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] parties, [[coffeehouse]]s, and universities around Philadelphia. He played "anything that the people wanted to hear: blues, rock, [[a cappella]], railroad music ... anything." Croce's band was chosen for a [[Student exchange program|foreign exchange]] tour of Africa, the Middle East and [[Yugoslavia]]. He later said, "We just ate what the people ate, lived in the woods, and played our songs. Of course they didn't speak English over there but if you mean what you're singing, people understand." On November 29, 1963, Croce met his future wife, [[Ingrid Croce|Ingrid Jacobson]], at the [[Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center|Philadelphia Convention Hall]] during a [[hootenanny]], where he was judging a contest.

Croce released his first album, [[Facets (album)|''Facets'']], in 1966, with 500 copies pressed. The album had been financed with a $500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|500|1966}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars{{Inflation/fn|US}}) wedding gift from Croce's parents, who set a condition that the money must be spent to make an album. They hoped that Croce would abandon music after the album failed and use his college education to pursue a more traditional profession.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://music.yahoo.com/jim-croce/news/jim-croce-release-shows-him-as-young-man--12174841 |title=Jim Croce News |website= music.yahoo.com |date=April 8, 2004 |access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> However, the album proved to be a success, with every copy sold.

=== 1960s ===
Croce married Jacobson in 1966 and [[Conversion to Judaism|converted from Catholicism to Judaism]], as his wife was Jewish. They were married in a [[Jewish wedding|traditional Jewish ceremony]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Elizabeth Applebaum |newspaper=[[The Jewish News (Detroit)|The Detroit Jewish News]] |url=http://www.netporch.com/sa/ |title=Article: Photographs And Memories, A story of love, music and conversion |date=1998 |access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref> Croce enlisted in the [[Army National Guard]] in [[New Jersey]] that same year to avoid being drafted and deployed to [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], and served on active duty for four months, leaving for duty one week after his honeymoon.<ref>{{cite news |work= The Philadelphia Inquirer |date= August 13, 1967 |title= Jim Croce |publisher= }}</ref> Croce, who tended to resist authority, endured basic training twice.<ref>{{cite web |first= Carl |last=Wiser |url= http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/ingrid_croce/ |title=Ingrid Croce: Songwriter Interviews |website= Songfacts.com |date=May 1, 2007 |access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref> He said that he would be prepared if "there's ever a war where we have to defend ourselves with mops."

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Croce and his wife performed as a duo. Initially, their performances included songs by artists such as [[Ian & Sylvia]], [[Gordon Lightfoot]], [[Joan Baez]], and [[Arlo Guthrie]], but they eventually began writing their own music. During this time, Croce secured his first long-term gig, at a suburban bar and [[steakhouse]] in [[Lima, Pennsylvania]] called the Riddle Paddock. Croce's set list covered several genres, including blues, country, rock and roll, and folk.

In 1968, the Croces were encouraged by the record producer [[Tommy West (producer)|Tommy West]], a fellow Villanova alumnus, to move to New York City. The couple spent time in the [[Kingsbridge, Bronx|Kingsbridge]] section of the Bronx and recorded their first album with [[Capitol Records]]. According to Ingrid, over the next two years, they drove more than {{convert|300000|mi|abbr=off}},<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070802142841/http://www.croces.com/croces.shtml Croce's Restaurant – San Diego]. Croces.com. Retrieved July 11, 2011.</ref> playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit to promote their album ''[[Jim & Ingrid Croce]]''.

Becoming disillusioned by the music business and New York, they sold all but one guitar to pay the rent and returned to the Pennsylvania countryside, settling in an old farm in [[Lyndell, Pennsylvania|Lyndell]], where he played for $25 a night (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|25|1970}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars{{Inflation/fn|US}}). To earn additional money, Croce took odd jobs such as [[truck driver|driving trucks]], [[construction worker|construction work]], and teaching guitar while continuing to write songs, often about the characters whom he would meet at local bars and [[truck stop]]s and his experiences at work. These songs included "Big Wheel" and "[[Workin' at the Car Wash Blues]]."<ref>{{cite book |title= Jim Croce Anthology (Songbook): The Stories Behind the Songs |first1= Ingrid |last1= Croce |author-link1=Ingrid Croce |first2= Jim |last2= Croce}} {{ISBN?}} {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

=== 1970s ===
[[File:Jim Croce Wide World In Concert.jpg|thumb|Jim Croce appears on ''[[In Concert (American TV series)|In Concert]]'']]

The Croces eventually returned to Philadelphia and Croce decided to be "serious" about becoming a productive member of society. He said: "I'd worked construction crews, and I'd been a welder while I was in college. But I'd rather do other things than get burned." His determination led to a job at Philadelphia [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] AM radio station [[WHAT (AM)|WHAT]], where Croce translated commercials into "soul". "I'd sell airtime to Bronco's Poolroom and then write the spot: 'You wanna be cool, and you wanna shoot pool&nbsp;... ''dig it''.{{'"}}

In 1970, Croce met classically trained pianist-guitarist and singer-songwriter [[Maury Muehleisen]] through producer Joe Salviuolo, a friend of Croce's since college. Salviuolo had met Muehleisen when he was teaching at [[Rowan University|Glassboro State College]] in New Jersey and brought Croce and Muehleisen together at the [[production office]] of [[Tommy West (producer)|Tommy West]] and [[Terry Cashman]] in New York City. Initially, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar, but gradually their roles reversed, with Muehleisen adding a lead guitar to Croce's music.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

When his wife became pregnant, Croce became more determined to make music his profession. He sent a [[cassette tape|cassette]] of his new songs to a friend and producer in New York City in the hope that he could secure a record deal. After their son, [[A. J. Croce|Adrian James (A.J.)]], was born in September 1971, Ingrid stayed at home while Croce toured to promote his music.

In 1972, Croce signed a three-record contract with [[ABC Records]], releasing two albums, ''[[You Don't Mess Around with Jim]]'' and ''[[Life and Times (Jim Croce album)|Life and Times]]''. The singles "[[You Don't Mess Around with Jim (song)|You Don't Mess Around with Jim]]", "[[Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)]]", and "[[Time in a Bottle]]" all received airplay. That same year, the Croce family moved to [[San Diego]]. Croce began appearing on television, including on ''[[American Bandstand]]''<ref>americanbandstandperformerlist</ref> on August 12, his national debut, ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show]]''<ref>johnnycarson.com</ref> on August 14, and ''[[The Dick Cavett Show]]'' on September 20 and 21.

Croce began touring the United States with Muehleisen, performing in large coffeehouses, on college campuses, and at folk festivals. However, his financial situation remained precarious. The record company had fronted him the money to record, and much of his earnings went to repay the advance. In February 1973, Croce and Muehleisen traveled to Europe, performing in London, Paris, [[Amsterdam]], [[Monte Carlo]], Zurich, and [[Dublin]] and receiving encouraging reviews. Croce made television appearances on ''[[The Midnight Special (TV series)|The Midnight Special]],'' which he cohosted on June 15, and ''The [[Helen Reddy]] Show'' on July 19. His biggest single, "[[Bad, Bad Leroy Brown]]", reached No. 1 on the American charts in July.

From July 16 through August 4, Croce and Muehleisen returned to London and performed on ''[[The Old Grey Whistle Test]],'' on which they sang "Lover's Cross" and "[[Workin' at the Car Wash Blues]]" from their upcoming album ''[[I Got a Name]].'' Croce finished recording the album just a week before his death. While on tour, Croce grew increasingly homesick and decided to take a break from music and settle with Ingrid and A.J. when his ''Life and Times'' tour ended.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jimcroce.com/articles/article-written-by-barry-weber.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807083834/http://www.jimcroce.com/articles/article-written-by-barry-weber.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 7, 2012 |first=Bryan |last=Weber |title=Article |work=Jim Croce – The Official Site |date=2014 |access-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Colin |last=Devenish |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/croces-lost-recordings-due-20030820 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329234258/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/croces-lost-recordings-due-234131/ |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |title=Croce's Lost Recordings Due |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=August 20, 2003 |access-date=November 22, 2024}}</ref> In a letter to Ingrid that arrived after his death, Croce told her that he had decided to quit music and wanted to write short stories and movie scripts as a career and withdraw from public life.<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref>Everitt, Richard:''Falling Stars: Air Crashes that Filled Rock and Roll Heaven'' (2004)</ref>