Jim Croce是个传奇性的人物，在他短短三十年的生命中，从玩具店的店员、卡车司机、电台DJ、广告业务员、工人到临时教师，几乎什么样的工作都尝试过。他来自费城，学生时代就对音乐有着一份执着的狂热，曾经组过好几支民歌与蓝调的乐队。大学毕业后，为了生活，他到处打零工，还因为不小心被铁锤伤到手指，自己摸索出一套可以不用到那受伤的指头的吉他弹奏技巧。当然，在打工之余，他也不断的磨练自己的音乐创作能力。1972年，ABC唱片公司把Jim Croce签到旗下，推出了他的第一张专辑《You Don't Mess Around with Jim》，同名的单曲获得了第八名的好成绩，不久，另一首单曲Operator也受到了大众的喜爱。突然之间，大家都注意到这个外型有点其貌不扬，作品风格却很清新、内容很生活化、甚至带着些哲理的新人。 1973年9月20日，Jim Croce第三张专辑的宣传才刚开始，新片还来不及全面上市，他就因为飞机失事而离开了人世，这的确是非常可惜的。在他过世之后，歌迷们纷纷抢购他的遗作，还因而使得他的第一张专辑再度畅销，而夺得连续五周的排行冠军呢。而他在首张专辑里面的单曲Time In a Bottle，也跟着登上冠军宝座。by Barry WeberIn 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 he was.James Croce was born in Philadelphia, PA, on January 10, 1943. Raised onragtime and country, Croce played the accordion as a child and would eventually teach himself the guitar. It wasnt 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 Dont Mess Around with Jim, in 1972. The record spawned three hits: You Dont Mess Around With Jim, Operator (Thats Not the Way It Feels), and Time in a Bottle. The latter would become Croces 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, Croces plane crashed in Natchitoches, LA. Croce and the four other passengers (including band member Maury Muehleisen) were killed instantly. Ironically, Jim Croces career peaked after his death. In December of 1973, the album I Got a Name surfaced, but it was Time in a Bottle, from 1972s You Dont Mess Around with Jim which would become his second number one single. Shortly afterwards, Ill 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.