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Jim Croce


jimmyjazz

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Speaking of 70's folk/pop artists who died in plane crashes (John Denver), I heard Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" today and thought "there's a guy who seems to never get included in the 'greatest American songwriters' discussions, and man does he deserve to be in that conversation".  

Honestly, he's up there with Springsteen, Simon, you name it.  SO many incredible songs over such a short period of time.  What a shame.

 

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10 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Speaking of 70's folk/pop artists who died in plane crashes (John Denver), I heard Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" today and thought "there's a guy who seems to never get included in the 'greatest American songwriters' discussions, and man does he deserve to be in that conversation".  

Honestly, he's up there with Springsteen, Simon, you name it.  SO many incredible songs over such a short period of time.  What a shame.

 

Bad Bad Leroy Brown was probably the first song I remember really liking.  We were on our way to Disney World staying at some shitty motel made from cinder blocks.  We are walking out the door, and Bad Bad Leroy Brown came on the TV/Radio (remember those?  I tv with a little radio in it?) and I made them and the Mouse wait while I listened to Jim Croce.  

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I'll apply what Bob Dylan once said about Gordon Lightfoot (also a bad MFer): "when I hear (Jim Croce) sing a song I wish it would go on forever."

Such a smooth and honest delivery. He told his stories without pretension or overwrought lyrics. If there was an artist I'd love to sit down next to at a campfire when they had their guitar and just felt like playing man he'd be right up there.

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8 minutes ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

I'll apply what Bob Dylan once said about Gordon Lightfoot (also a bad MFer): "when I hear (Jim Croce) sing a song I wish it would go on forever."

Such a smooth and honest delivery. He told his stories without pretension or overwrought lyrics. If there was an artist I'd love to sit down next to at a campfire when they had their guitar and just felt like playing man he'd be right up there.

. . . and yet his lyrics, and his storytelling, were first rate.  It's really astonishing how compact his use of the language was, he could paint pictures in very few words that most songwriters couldn't paint in twice the time.

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32 minutes ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

I'll apply what Bob Dylan once said about Gordon Lightfoot (also a bad MFer): "when I hear (Jim Croce) sing a song I wish it would go on forever."

Such a smooth and honest delivery. He told his stories without pretension or overwrought lyrics. If there was an artist I'd love to sit down next to at a campfire when they had their guitar and just felt like playing man he'd be right up there.

Lightfoot is another legit dude.

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  • 6 months later...

Weird, I had forgotten I started this thread.  The irony is that I've had "Operator" going through my head in my sleep for a few nights now.  This is pretty common, I hear a song in my sleep over and over most nights, I've gotten used to it.  Usually my brain just dials in on a few lines.  In this case "she's living in LA, with my best old ex-friend Ray".

Now THAT's writing.  Tells a long sad story in very few words.

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I read an article the other day and this song has been in my head since then.    Neither of these were his 'hits' but two of my favorites.   I LOVE the rhyming structure of the verses.   I still play Roller Derby Queen and Dreaming Again.   (I LOVE the bridge of that song) 

Dreaming Again.  (In the lemon scented rain...   What a great line)

 

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9 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Weird, I had forgotten I started this thread.  The irony is that I've had "Operator" going through my head in my sleep for a few nights now.  This is pretty common, I hear a song in my sleep over and over most nights, I've gotten used to it.  Usually my brain just dials in on a few lines.  In this case "she's living in LA, with my best old ex-friend Ray".

Now THAT's writing.  Tells a long sad story in very few words.

Well now it's in my head.

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I don't think he's all that underrated. He gets some pretty serious props for being a major dude. He just didn't have time to release that many songs in the short time he was in the limelight. It's a lot of the others that get overrated because they've been around so long, pumping their old hits over the decades.

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