Jim Croce was an incomparable folk/rock singer and songwriter. He tragically died in a Louisiana plane crash on September 20, 1973, at the too-young age of 30. His heyday of writing and singing smash hits, getting radio airplay, and dazzling audiences only lasted a bittersweet eighteen months.(Croce played for over a decade prior to that but was not earning a living that way,)
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Then came the exquisite ballad "Time in a Bottle." Croce knew then that he and his wife, Ingrid, were expecting a child. It was a heady interlude for them. As Croce's son, A.J., said, "He was really hoping he would get one more chance to follow his dream...."
Croce sang with warmth and heartfelt gusto that made tracks like "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" and "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" simply unforgettable. His music truly defined an era and yet it's achingly timeless as well.
A.J. Croce Pays Tribute to His Dad
A.J., (Adrian James), 54, a seasoned musician in his own right, is ensuring that his father's legacy remains vibrant and accessible by touring and performing his songs, along with his own music. A.J.'s Croce Plays Croce tour will kick off in March of 2026, stopping in places such as Memphis, Oklahoma City, and Austin, just to name a few.
This is not the only way that A.J. has honored his father. He said he spent 30 years behind the scenes "making sure that his music was heard" in films, on TV, and with covers. "It was my side gig in a way for so many years and such an important part of my life."
He Resists the "Cover Band" Approach to His Father's Music
Don't expect an exact live rendition of each song precisely as Jim Croce sang it. As A.J. said in a recent interview with Wide Open Country, "I'm not a cover band." While he performs some of his father's music "faithfully," he said that he also explores his gift for improvising when doing other songs. It's clear that immersing himself in the Jim Croce oeuvre means so much to him. Just eight days after A.J.'s second birthday, Jim Croce lost his life. A.J. loves making music - his own, and his legendary father's.
How 'Croce Plays Croce' Evolved
This is not the first edition of Croce Plays Croce, A.J. said. It has evolved since 2019. That year, he started putting the show together. He "did a few of them just to see how it would work." There was a 50th anniversary tour to commemorate You Don't Mess Around with Jim, the elder Croce's third studio LP. A.J. said there were about eight of those shows. Then came the 50th anniversary celebrations of two more Jim Croce albums, Life and Times and I Got a Name. Little by little, Croce Plays Croce was born.
"Each step of the way, and each leg of the tour, I changed things," A.J. observed. "There's not a set list. There's a song list. I take requests every night." The audience typically consists of grandparents and their kids and their kids, he mentioned. So it's multiple generations including those who were alive during Jim Croce's lifetime and those who are enjoying his music for the very first time.
There Might Be Some New Recordings of Jim Croce's Music in the Future
Shooter Jennings has been working on releasing previously-unreleased recordings made by his dad, Waylon Jennings. Might there be something in the pipeline like that for Jim Croce, orchestrated by his son? Looks like it.
"The answer is yes," responded A.J. when asked about this possibility. "What we have are home recordings. When I finally do a really in-depth boxed set collection, then this material will be part of it. I think as individual tracks, they're interesting but the fidelity is so-so...That said," he continued, "there are a couple of great live concerts that I will release at a certain point and remaster. They were wonderfully recorded in '72 and '73. That will be a lot of fun for me."
