James Joseph Croce
(January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973)
was an American
folk and rock
singer-songwriter.
Between 1966 and 1973,
he released
five studio albums
and numerous singles.
During this period,
Croce took a series
of odd jobs
to pay bills
while he
continued to write,
record and perform concerts.
After Croce formed a
partnership with
the songwriter
and guitarist
Maury Muehleisen
in the early 1970s,
his fortunes turned.
Croce's breakthrough came
in 1972,
when his third album,
You Don't Mess Around with Jim,
produced three
charting singles,
including
"Time in a Bottle",
which reached No. 1
after Croce died.
The follow-up album
Life and Times
included the song
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown",
Croce's only No. 1 hit
during his lifetime.
On the evening of
September 20, 1973,
during Croce's
Life and Times tour,
which had
been scheduled
for 45 dates,
and the day before
his single
"I Got a Name"
was released,
Croce and five others
when their chartered
Beechcraft E18S
crashed shortly
after takeoff
from the
Natchitoches
Regional Airport
in Natchitoches,
Louisiana.
Others killed in the crash
were the pilot,
Robert N. Elliott;
Croce's bandmate
Maury Muehleisen;
manager and
booking agent
Kenneth D. Cortese;
road manager
Dennis Rast;
and
George Stevens,
a comedian.
The crash occurred
an hour after Croce
had finished a concert at
Northwestern State University's
Prather Coliseum in
Natchitoches.
They were headed for
Sherman, Texas,
for a concert at
Austin College.
An investigation by
the National
Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB)
identified the
probable cause
as the pilot's failure
to see obstructions
because of
physical impairment
and fog that had
reduced his vision.
The 57-year-old pilot
suffered from severe
coronary artery disease
and had run
three miles
to the airport
from a motel.
He had an
ATP certificate,
14,290 hours'
total flight time,
and 2,190 hours
in the
Beech 18 type airplane
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