American singer-songwriter Jim Croce was born on this day in 1943. Jim Croce released 3 solo studio albums in his life and all 3 of them made the Top Ten on the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts. He had 8 Top 40 singles, including two which hit #1 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “I Got A Name.” Croce was a very talented songwriter/singer. He could write upbeat songs, he wrote a lot of funny songs and he could also write songs that were full of emotion and feeling. He wrote songs of great honesty and was a great storyteller.

Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash at the peak of his fame following a concert in Louisiana in September 1973. A tremendous loss. I have no doubt had he lived he would have had a long and successful career. Jim Croce was only 30 years old.