ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 Sep 00 - 12:06 AM

Great story!!

I think both Chapin and Croce had strong commitments and relationships to their audience. Both were very "driven" performers. There is still some question about the auto accident that killed Harry. Too much hard work and/or lack of sleep----heart attack or did he fall asleep?

AND Jim Croce had just finised a concert that was a "make-up" date. He had been scheduled there the year before but the concert had been cancelled. The original date was booked at a minimum fee since he had yet to have much popularity. Croce rebooked at the same fee after hitting it pretty big because he felt he owed it to them.

Spaw

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 12:54 PM

I Saw Chapin in 1977 too. He was in Portland Maine. My wife and I went to see him on tickets we had won from a radio contest. We certainly couldn't afford to buy them.

That night a blizzard hit the state. The airport was closed, busses were running late, the interstate was closed. It was no real problem for me and Sandi. We lived within walking distance of the Civic Center.

So there we were, in a "room" that doubles as the home ice for the local hockey team. There were maybe three or four hundred people who showed up. His band was not all there yet. They had been trapped in transit.

It was a great show. He connected, made a big joke of the storm and then apologized for not having all the guys there. Through the evening the band members trickled in as their transportation got them to the show. What an evening! He was already a favorite of mine. After that evening he could do no wrong. I miss him yet.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 11:53 AM

Harry too was unique....and an excellent songwriter. He did "connect" well asn even at the height of his popularity was still doing house concerts.

Spaw

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Susan from California
Date: 22 Sep 00 - 12:33 AM

Man, Spaw, as I was reading this thread about Croce (my 16 yearold daughter has just "discovered him) I was thinking about Harry Chapin. I saw him in 1977 at what was then The Garden State Arts Center. Even in a large venue, he managed to connect with each and every person. His song about kids and school and art ( "Roses are Red" I think) is one of my favorites.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 10:14 AM

Thanks to all of you who responded here. Jim Croce was one of those where you had the feeling that no matter what had been done before, the best was yet to come. Harry Chapin was another.

Spaw

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: GUEST,Mary
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 07:23 AM

His poignant songs about yearning for happiness always touched me most. But then it is good to hear "Hey Tomorrow" and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be A Brighter Day". Thank you for all of these remembrances.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 02:04 AM

Nice thread, Spaw,t hanks. I love Time in A bottle, too, as well as many others. Just generally really loved his voice.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Sep 00 - 12:04 AM

bart, I know of what you speak. Too often the B sides make it and when someone "hits" even the good stuff gets overplayed. The VH1 feature is pretty decent. Among his fans though, there are two distinct camps......The one group likes Ingrid and feel she carried on well, the other dislikes her and feels she tried to make a living from his name. At least both groups agree on the music.

Spaw

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Mbo
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 07:41 PM

"I Got A Name" is my favorite.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: GUEST,Giac, not at home
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 06:52 PM

Thanks for the link, 'spaw. I saw AJ on TV a couple of years back and he is quite good. I'll watch for that CD, it would be good to hear those duets again.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 06:30 PM

Hey Giac!! A lot of the first album and duets are available in a recut CD called, "Bombs Over Puerto Rico."

I loved the duets with Ingrid......she had a great voice for it. A throat problem ended any singing for her a few years after Jim was killed. Too bad really. Their son AJ plays piano at her club, "Croce's" in Sna Diego. She has a really kinda' cool cookbook too.

CROCE'S in San Diego

Spaw

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Jim the Bart
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 06:24 PM

Funny. When I was playing coffeehouses and clubs regularly in the early 70's, it became very bad form to play stuff by John Denver and Jim Croce. I suppose it was some kind of elitism that was in the air. At any rate, I never listened to more than showed up on the radio. Over the years, I have probably denied more requests for songs from those two than anyone else.

I did see a live performance on "In Concert" or one of them shows with Croce and his guitarist that I was really impressed with. And the "Behind the Music" feature about him was quite enlightening. I never realized the depth of his talent and committment. I guess I have some evaluating to do - and some things to learn. Thanks for reminding me.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: GUEST,Giac, not at home
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 05:35 PM

I like the Jim and Ingrid Croce album. Good stuff, interesting voice mix. I've got to fix that turntable. Been too many years since I heard that album.

Thanks for reminding me, 'spaw.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: MK
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 04:53 PM

Time In A Bottle does it for me. Whenever I think of Jim, this is always the one I equate him with.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 04:44 PM

I like that one too Soddy....a lot. I should have left that out, but so many of his "never heards" are great and yet folks lock in on "Photographs and Memories"...an Ok song, or they don't tug on Superman's cape, pretty stupid really, but its got a beat........I just have heard so many that are so much better, but again, that's personal opinion.

"NY's Not My Home" really came from the heart....Living there was one of the worst times of his life.

ALSO....I noticed I went dyslexic on Maury's name....its MUEHLEISEN....small point, but the guy was a tasteful guitarist of considerable skill.

Spaw

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Jim Krause
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 03:08 PM

OK, I'll admit I'm an old softy, and this one was one of Jim's Greatest Hits, but I still like it. And that is I'll Have to Say I Love You In a Song I like the devce of using a one-sided phone conversation, or a letter to make the song go.

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 03:06 PM

Just playing one of his songs in memory. Yeah, we miss his kind. Good TFTD Spaw. Aye. Dave

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Dave Swan
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:55 PM

Spaw,

Thanks for remembering both Jim and Maury. We will not see their like again, and we're better for their music.

Dave

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: mousethief
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:54 PM

I like his slow songs best, I think -- the ones I know, anyway, which are only the ones on the greatest hits album. "New York's Not My Home" is probably my fave.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Jim Krause
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:40 PM

Hear, hear

Subject: RE: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: Naemanson
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:39 PM

In 1974 the ship I was stationed on spent six months in dry dock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. My sister was going to school in Maryland. On weekends we would get together and drive out to explore the Smokey Mountains and the Skyline Drive. We went rock climbing, explored the tourist caverns, visited historical sites, and marveled at the beauty around us.

We only had one 8 track tape to listen to and it was Jim Croce. If I connect anything to his name it is the juxtaposition of loneliness, beauty, family ties, and friendship.

I agree, Spaw, thanks a lot Jim.

Subject: ThoughtForTheDay-JustRemembering-9/20
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Sep 00 - 02:08 PM

I'm a dreamer by nature and I've always been
Tryin' to dream myself out of this world that I'm in.
In my dreams I escape all the troubles around,
And it ain't cost a penny for the pleasures I've found.

The pleasures of his dreams and his songs were lost to us on this day in 1973 when Jim Croce and his close friend (and superb, tasteful, guitarist) Maury Muheleisen, along with four others, died when their chartered plane crashed on takeoff after a concert in Louisiana.

He entered the music world as many of us did during the "folk scare" of the sixties and his early writings reflect that. Many of the songs which have made him famous were not (personal opinion) his best, but he was an excellent songwriter. They say he was planning a Nashville studio recording.....that would have been interesting.

Thanks for all the dreams Jim.

Spaw