On this day in 1973 Jim Croce's album "You Don't Mess Around With Jim", featuring the amazing title track AND "Operator", "Time In A Bottle", "New York's Not My Home" and "Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)", was certified Gold.

Here's the famous title song:

My personal favorite Croce song is "Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)". Here's that one:

Jim would die in a plane crash outside of Natchitoches, Louisiana in 1973. Croce was flying to Sherman, Texas, for a concert at Austin College. He was just 30 years old.

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