Jim Croce was a folk singer who was taken from us too soon. He struggled with his music career until finally getting a #1 hit. That hit was 1973’s ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’ on his album ‘Life and Times.’
In this live performance, Jim performs ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.’ Before he begins, he regales the audience with a story. He tells them about his time working in the military.
With a smile, Jim describes a memorable fellow he met during his duty. That man was named Leroy Brown. As Jim tells Leroy, this was a man who didn’t understand the word ‘no.’
As a man from Chicago, Leroy would do things his way. Jim brings up a conversation with Leroy: ‘You know, Jim, I don’t like this place, and I’m going to go home.’
Jim then says that Leroy packed and left without telling anybody. Leroy went AWOL. He would return later for a paycheck when he was arrested.
Jim remembers Leroy most as the man who could make everyone smile. He has dedicated this song to him. Jim then starts playing the music on a guitar with another guitarist next to him.
Jim sings with great reverence for Leroy. He describes the Chicago citizen as a towering man of authority and assertion. As the other guitarist joins in, the lyrics reinforce that Leroy was the baddest guy in town.
As he sings to the camera, you can see a smile come across Jim’s face. He describes Leroy as better than King Kong and meaner than a junkyard dog.
Jim closes the song by getting a little playful with the final lyrics. He gives the last twang of his guitar, and the song closes with a beautiful silence.
Jim Croce would sadly die in a plane crash in 1973. Jim’s legacy lived on through his music. Not long after his death, Croce’s ‘Time in a Bottle’ would also hit #1 on the charts.
While ‘Time in a Bottle’ certainly has more of a lasting legacy, it’s hard not to be won over by ‘Bad Bad, Leroy Brown.’ Jim’s sympathetic yet playful singing makes for such a memorable song.
