Croce was a chart-topping musician who had performed over 300 concerts in the previous year. He had been in Natchitoches to play that evening at Northwestern State University, making up for a concert canceled the previous spring because he had a sore throat. Croce had performed for an enthusiastic if small audience. Many people had stayed home to watch the televised broadcast of the \u201cBattle of the Sexes<\/a>\u201d tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King.<\/p>\n In her 2012 book \u201cI Got a Name: The Jim Croce Story<\/a>,\u201d Croce\u2019s wife, Ingrid, recounted that night: a pilot, Robert Elliott, with a heart condition helming a small Beechcraft E18S; a flight trajectory possibly not accounting for some tall pecan trees; a phone call bearing horrible news.<\/p>\n The crash also killed Croce\u2019s performing partner Maury Muehleisen, comedian George Stevens, manager Kenneth Cortese and tour manager Dennis Rast.<\/p>\n Aircraft crashes have claimed the lives of other popular music acts before and after Croce: Glenn Miller, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, The Bar-Kays, members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Randy Rhoads, Ricky Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Denver and Aaliyah. Croce, like all those musicians, left the world abruptly and far too early, yet his music endured, and fans grew to view him as having achieved a measure of immortality.<\/p>\n Croce was an Italian American from Philadelphia and a participant in the 1960s folk music revival<\/a>. In 1966, he recorded the solo album \u201cFacets<\/a>,\u201d which revealed to the few people who heard it that Croce was a compelling singing storyteller who could personalize songs composed by others. In 1969, Jim and Ingrid Croce, who toured as a duo, made an album together for Capitol Records. That album, simply titled \u201cCroce<\/a>,\u201d showcased both Croces as evocative songwriters.<\/p>\n Three years passed. Jim Croce worked various blue-collar jobs to support his family while trying to advance a solo music career. Eventually his management secured a recording deal, and Croce entered a New York City studio, the Hit Factory, to make his third album, \u201cYou Don\u2019t Mess Around With Jim<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/736x99_Banner.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFrom obscure folkie to national star<\/h2>\n