Jim Croce : The Way We Used To Be (The Anthology)

 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 September 20, 1973,

 at the height 

of his popularity 

and the day before

 the lead single

 to his fifth album, 

I Got a Name, 

was released, 

Croce,

 Muehleisen, 

and four others

 died in a plane crash.

 His music continued 

to chart throughout

 the 1970s

 following his death. 

Croce's widow 

and early

 songwriting partner,

 Ingrid, 

continued to write 

and record

 after his death. 

Their son, 

A. J. Croce,

 became a

 singer-songwriter

 in the 1990s.