A day the music died. 20 Sept 1973

Jim Croce - Requiesce in pace. 

Jim Croce died 50 years ago in Louisiana: Here's what happened on that fateful night (msn.com)

I live about a mile from the farmhouse he rented when he wrote a bunch of songs in Chester Co, PA. In fact, this out-building with this window is still on the property and people stop by for pics.  The county finally put up a historical marker last year.  

Jim Croce was the second time I fell in love with music (the first was Raffi). Dad got the 50th anniversary (meaning his would-have-been 50th birthday) compilation double album, and I bet that I listened to those 2 CDs about 200 times. 

He's still in my top 3 of all time. 

Wow.  If I'd ever known any of the details surrounding his death, I'd long since forgotten them.  His sweet music however, lives on in my mind, and always will.  RIP.

Hurry up-itis; one of the major factors common in plane crashes. Very sad.

Wasn't he killed before his debut album came out?  Meaning he never had an inkling how famous he would be.

Old_Town said:

I live about a mile from the farmhouse he rented when he wrote a bunch of songs in Chester Co, PA. In fact, this out-building with this window is still on the property and people stop by for pics.  The county finally put up a historical marker last year.  

Don't you find those places special?  I do.  A few years ago a recording studio / house was listed for sale outside Minneapolis in disrepair.  It was the former Pachyderm Studios where a lot of really cool albums in the '90s were recorded including my all time favorite - Live's Throwing Copper.

It has since been purchased and restored.  I just get goosebumps thinking about living in a house where those tracks first came into being.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachyderm_Studios

For some reason, this anniversary really resonated with me. In a tribute to Jimmy Buffett there was a mention of his friendship with Jim Croce and how Jim's death had an impact on him. I grew up listening to JC and can probably sing along with every song on his 1974 Greatest Hits (Photographs and Memories) album. His music hasn't been in heavy rotation on my playlist for some time and I'll have to remedy that. His lyrics are so pure and concise and can paint such a vivid picture of a person, event, or feeling. To have such clarity of life at the age of 30 is a beautiful thing. His wikipedia page has a nice overview of his life and career.

I never realized how much of his work was actually duets with Maury Muehleisen and how losing his talent was such a loss as well. Thankfully they did a number of TV performances so you can see and hear the connection they had together.

In a tribute article, there was a mention that he, like many other singer/songwriters of his time, may have gone into the country genre as it was blossoming at the time. Whatever he did I know it would have been memorable.

Here's a final bit of lyrical joy.

First album I was given as a gift from my Mom.  We usually bought "45's".

A 401 CJ said:

Wasn't he killed before his debut album came out?  Meaning he never had an inkling how famous he would be.

Not quite - he died right before things blew up, partially because of the death. He had a few albums out and 1 or 2 top 10 hits - maybe 3 or 4 top 40 - when he died. 

So, misheard lyrics: Actual lyric is "one day I look into my my rear-view mirror". When I was a little kid - probably 5 or 6 - I thought it was "one day I looked into my real Camaro".

It made perfect sense to me - I was a burgeoning car kid, and my dad at that time had an Austin Healey. There were a few Sebring kit cars around, and Dad told me once that they weren't "real" Healey's. So I had in my head that there were "real" cars and kit cars. I assumed he was just saying that his Camaro was a real one, and not a kit car. 

Ah well, while a song about a Camaro would be cool, the song about having a broomstick on the truck throttle to keep your feet dancing was cooler.

I thought it was when buddy holly died?

camopaint0707 said:

I thought it was when buddy holly died?

It was when Don McLean wrote that godawful song about it.

While I feel for these guys and their families let it be known I don't really like Jim Croce's music.....................I'd already heard an older neighbor kid playing The Stooges.............no turning back.

I am hugely familiar with his stuff because my brother loved his music and would play it all the time. 

Very tragic the guy never got to see the level of his success.

Appleseed said:

camopaint0707 said:

I thought it was when buddy holly died?

It was when Don McLean wrote that godawful song about it.

If you can remember all the lines to that masterpiece, you've done something

In reply to Appleseed :

woah.....bold words there