Jim Croce - Lover's Cross

I have no idea who Lenny is.

My brother, who gave me a framed photo and autograph of Jim Croce, told me that he was a New York City cab driver who ushered many of the rich and famous among us around the Big Apple on a regular basis, becoming a sort of celebrity himself. This is not confirmed, and Lenny may just be one more mystery that goes unsolved.

But if it's true, then maybe there was a connection that Croce felt when he signed that autograph, since he spent some time as a cab driver in the days before his music career took off. He also worked in construction, worked as a welder and even taught at a junior high school in south Philadelphia. I remember him commenting once that his job essentially was to "rotate his students in and out of the sunshine coming through the windows so they would get their chlorophyll."

From the Jim Croce Biography page at Bio:

American folk singer, songwriter and performer Jim Croce was born James Joseph Croce on January 10, 1943, in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Italian-Americans Jim and Flora Croce. Raised listening to ragtime and country music, Croce picked up music at a young age. He learned to play his first song on the accordion, "Lady of Spain," when he was 5. He eventually taught himself to play guitar.

After graduation, Croce worked on construction crews and taught guitar at a summer camp. He also worked as a teacher at a junior high school in South Philadelphia.

Croce met his future wife, Ingrid Jacobson, at a folk music party. They wed in 1966, the same year that Croce released a self-issued solo album, Facets. From the mid-1960s to early 1970s, Croce and Jacobson performed as a duo. At first, they sang covers by musicians like Joan Baez and Woody Guthrie, but were soon writing their own music. Croce landed a regular gig at a steak house in Lima, Pennsylvania.

Croce and his wife became disillusioned with both the music business and New York City, so they sold their guitars and moved to the Pennsylvania countryside of Lyndell, where they had their son, Adrian James, in 1971. Jacobson learned to bake bread and can fruits and vegetables. Croce got a job driving trucks and working construction, and continued to write songs, often about the people he would meet at bars and truck stops while working.

In 1970, one of Croce's former college friends, Joe Salviuolo, also known as Sal Joseph, introduced Croce to Maury Muehleisen, a classically trained pianist, guitarist and singer-songwriter from Trenton, New Jersey. Sal encouraged the duo to get together and record new songs, and to send them to ABC Records. At first, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar, but their roles later reversed, with Muehleisen playing lead guitar to Croce's music. Following Sal's advice, Croce and Muehleisen recorded their songs and sent them to ABC, and soon met with producer Cashman in New York City. In 1972, ABC Records signed with Croce and released his first solo album, You Don't Mess Around With Jim. The record was an instant success, and became a Top 20 album in the United States. The title track reached the Top 10 on the pop charts while "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" reached the Top 20.

From 1972 to 1973, Croce performed in more than 250 concerts, and made appearances on television programs. In early 1973, ABC released his second album, Life and Times, featuring "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." The single hit No. 1 on the American charts in July 1973, and then went gold. That same year, Croce and his wife relocated to San Diego, California.

On Thursday, September 20, 1973, the day before his ABC single "I Got a Name" was released, Croce, guitarist Muehleisen, and four others were killed when their chartered Beechcraft E18S crashed while taking off from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He was 30 years old.

Jim Croce's songs have a warm and personal feel, like a note from a good friend. He told stories about his life that were relatable and so easy to identify with. I miss that sort of songwriting and performance.