Jim Croce (1943-1973)

-

Jim Croce (1943-1973)

James Joseph Croce was born January 10th, 1943 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to James and Flora Croce. He Grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, graduating from Upper Darby High School in 1960. Croce went on to continue his education at Villanova University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in German in 1965. While attending college he was a member of the Villanova Singers, Villanova Spires, and was a student Disc Jockey at WKVU.

Croce didn’t get involved much with music until he began his studies at Villanova. While there he formed many bands that performed really anywhere and played music that the crowds wanted to hear. In 1966, he released his first album Facets with money that was a wedding present from his parents. They hoped that the record would fail and that failure would lead him to get a more conventional job that embraced his college studies. This wasn’t the case, the record was very successful; selling every copy. In later years, Croce would perform with his wife singing cover songs originally, but then they began to write their own music. They were persuaded to move to New York, but they didn’t succeed, so they moved back to Pennsylvania. After the move they were not making enough money performing, which led Jim to get a job at the radio station WHAT. Then, in 1972, he signed a 3-record contract with ABC Records.

Achievements:
1974: American Music Award for favorite pop/rock male artist.

The album I Got a Name was released on December 1, 1973. The posthumous release included three hits: "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues," "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song," and the title song, which had been used as the theme to the film The Last American Hero which was released two months prior to his death. The album reached No. 2 and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" reached No. 9 on the singles chart.

A greatest hits album entitled Photographs & Memories was released in 1974. Later posthumous releases have included Home Recordings: Americana, The Faces I've Been, Jim Croce: Classic Hits, Down the Highway, and DVD and CD releases of Croce's television performances, Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live. In 1990, Croce was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

On July 3, 2012, Ingrid Croce published a memoir about her husband entitled I Got a Name: The Jim Croce Story.

In 1985, Ingrid Croce opened Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar, a project she and Jim had jokingly discussed over a decade earlier, in the historic Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. She owned and managed it until it closed on December 31, 2013. In December 2013, she opened Croce's Park West on 5th Avenue in the Bankers Hill neighborhood near Balboa Park. She closed this restaurant in January 2016.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Joel Rundell (1965-1990)

-
Image
Joel Rundell (1965-1990) Joel Fronk Rundell was born on September 26th, 1965 and is best known as one of the 4 original members of the band Better Than Ezra. He and the other members formed the band while attending Louisiana State University. Nearly a year after the formation of the band they released their first album Surprise.  Achievements: Better Than Ezra circulated a demo cassette tape later in 1988, the Chimes Street Demo. While not an official release, this demo is sought-after by the band's fans, and traded by collectors. In 1990 the band released a cassette-only album, Surprise. Charity: Better Than Ezra Foundation
Read more

John Holohan (1973-2005)

-
Image
John Holohan (1973-2005) John Holohan, better known as John Beatz, was drummer in Long Island, New York based punk band Bayside. Born March 15, 1973. Achievements: Bayside was formed by Anthony Raneri and Mike Kozak in October 2000[2] in Queens, New York City. The band got its name when on their way to a New Found Glory show on Long Island, with the intention of giving New Found Glory a demo CD, and they were trying to think of a name to write on the CD. They passed the Bayside train station, and decided to write "Bayside" on the CD simply as a name for New Found Glory, but the name became permanent.[3] The group self-released a 5-song demo and signed to Dying Wish Records to issue their first release, Long Stories Short EP in 2001. In 2003 the band released a split EP with Name Taken, entitled Bayside/Name Taken, with Dying Wish Records. Later in 2003, Bayside signed to Victory Records, where the band resided for the next six years. Bayside's debut full
Read more

Rust Epique (1968-2004)

-
Image
Rust Epique (1968-2004) Charles Lopez better known by his stage name Rust Epique, was an American guitarist and painter, who performed with the bands Crazy Town and pre)Thing. In 1999, Rust Epique joined Crazy Town, a rap metal band from Los Angeles. Despite his success with Crazy Town, Epique quit the band as a result of various disagreements with his bandmates. In 2003, V2 Records signed Epique to work with a band called Pre)Thing. They released their debut album, 22nd Century Lifestyle, in 2004. Accomplishments:  After cutting some demos Rust signed with V2 Records in 2002. He then reassembled and re-formed an ensemble called Rustandthesuperheroes. Soon after, they began playing clubs in the Los Angeles area. Due to a trademark conflict with Hanna-Barbara, the band couldn't use a moniker with the phrase "Superheroes" in it, so they used a name that Rust had created years earlier in Modesto. "pre)Thing". At the Dragonfly in January 2003, they
Read more