Editing Jim Croce (section)

=== 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.