Barbra Streisand kept the music coming once she released her debut in February of 1963. She dropped The Second Barbra Streisand Album in August of that same year, then The Third Album in February of 1964.
These records were similar to her first, featuring her takes on Broadway show tunes. Rather than mining more obscure songs as she did on the debut, her third album found her tackling standards such as ‘It Had to Be You,’ ‘As Time Goes By,’ and ‘Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered.’
One of the most rewarding projects on this blog — for me, anyway — has been the Deep Dive. I love digging through an artist’s discography, album by album, to understand the historical context and explore all the connective tissue.
So far I’ve given the Deep Dive treatment to Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Madonna, Bob Marley, Lana Del Rey, The Rolling Stones, and Jim Croce.
Jim Croce finished recording his fifth album, 1973’s I Got a Name, just a week before his death. On September 20, he and friend Maury Muehleisen (and four others) died in a plane crash while flying between gigs in Louisiana and Texas.
He died a day before the title track of the new album was released. One of the few covers he recorded since his debut album, the track reach #10 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The album made it to #2, right behind You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, which saw a resurgence in sales following his death.
Jim Croce released his fourth album, Life and Times, in July of 1973. The record was split pretty evenly between sentimental love songs and rollicking tracks about colorful characters inspired by people he’d met on the road.
Among the latter were ‘Roller Derby Queen’ and ‘Speedball Trucker,’ but the one that caught fire was ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.’ The song became Croce’s first #1 hit and was nominated for two Grammys, including Record of the Year. Based on a friend Croce met during a brief stint in the National Guard, the song had a similar structure to his early hit ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,’ in which the tough-guy protagonist is ultimately humbled.
After moving back to Pennsylvania with his wife Ingrid, Jim Croce met fellow singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen, a professional affiliation that would have a profound effect on his career.
Croce joined Muehleisen’s gigs as a second guitarist and took some cues for his own songwriting by supporting his friend’s. Muehleisen ended up returning the favor and became a staple on Croce’s albums and a key part of his touring band. Every Jim Croce song I know well post-dates his partnership with Muehleisen.
Meet Me In Montauk 