Happy Birthday Jim Croce

http://www.jimcroce.com/

I've always disliked Croce's pseudo honky tonk rockers like Leroy Brown and Rapid Roy. Irritating stuff. But his sad and sweet ballads are a near perfect encapsulation of loss. Alabama Rain, Photographs & Memories, Walking Back To Georgia - classics all. And when the narrator of Operator says that she can keep the dime, it's a wonderful symbol of how pathetic we can get when romance doesn't work out. These are tunes for a Winter day that's too grey, or a summer night that's too humid. Jim was an underestimated poet of longing.