An Interview with Ingrid and A.J. Croce
Ingrid Croce, widow of the late Jim Croce, and A. J. Croce, son of Jim Croce share memories and anecdotes from the new special , The Legacy of Jim Croce
Q: Is this the first television special about Jim Croce? Why did you choose public television as a venue for this special, and why so long after his accident?
A: Ingrid: We've done "Behind The Music" with VH1 and "Life and Times" with TNN, but this is the very first live performance footage of Jim Croce from our new DVD, "Have You Heard Jim Croce Live." It's in honor of the 30th anniversary of Jim's passing. We're very excited to share this live footage with Jim's fans and we believe they are also fans of public television.
A.J.: I think that we both felt that the audience of public television was Jim Croce's audience. It was the people who would be interested in hearing his music and seeing his performance.
Ingrid: The show, The Legacy of Jim Croce, shows a portion of the new and only Jim Croce live DVD. A.J. and I put this together last year, but it's been a process of gathering the footage for over 30 years. There's never been a project before this one that's been put out of Jim Croce performing live in concert. So many people who have come to visit us at Croce's Restaurants and Bars and who have met A.J. performing his music on the road, have asked when and if a live performance DVD would ever be available. Now they have the opportunity to see what Jim was like when he performed. And for all those who never got to see Jim Croce in concert, this is their opportunity to share Jim Croce live.
Q: It's now been over 30 years since Jim's passing, and his music still has the ability to touch people's lives. What kind of audience do you think will tune-in to this special and why?
A: A.J.: I think that my dad's audience was very broad. It went across a lot of different boundaries — both social and economic. I think it didn't matter where you were from or what you did for a living, there was something in his music that people could identify with. Public television in general has a unique audience in that it goes across the boundaries like my father did.
Q: Ingrid, how did Jim's music affect you when he was alive? How has it changed since his passing?
A: I think Jim's music speaks to the heart and not to the head. It's an emotional response — his voice, his words and his music touch you in a place that's real. It did that from the moment I first met him and it still does when I hear his music now.
Q: A.J., your father passed away when you were two years old. Did your father's music help you get to know him after he passed away? If so, how?
A: Absolutely, I think that I was very fortunate to have his music teach me about who he was. A lot of people who lose one of their parents as a young child don't have any way to learn about them. I was very fortunate to have not only his music catalogued, but he was fanatical about recording all kind of things — from writing things, to all kinds of conversations to listening to music while he taped it and making comments. He was always taping something. It allowed me to get to know him in a way that makes me feel very lucky.
Q: Do you both think that Jim's music held your family together after his passing?
A.J.: I think we held our family together! It was a definite unifying factor. It became sort of a common identity, I suppose.
Q: Ingrid, you opened up restaurants in memory of Jim. Tell us how these restaurants have helped Jim's music to live on and how the restaurants have personally helped both of you.
A: Ingrid: First of all, the last weekend that I spent with Jim, we had just moved to San Diego, California. We were walking around in the downtown (which was hardly a downtown at the time). We recognized that there really was no place to have a good dinner or to listen to live music. We kind of joked throughout the evening that we should open a restaurant and bar in the Gaslamp District of San Diego because we were so hungry for live music to listen to and good food to eat.
About 20 years ago, with that idea in mind, I felt it would be a wonderful tribute to Jim to have a place with generous hospitality, great food and live music nightly, which was the Croce's family way. I feel very happy that over the last 20 years so many people have come to be part of our "Croce Community," so to speak — not only the people who work at Croce's, but the musicians who play here live every night, and the guests who are so generous with their stories about how they first heard Jim's music and how much it means to them. Those stories help keep his music alive and they pass from one generation to the next.
It's truly become a wonderful tribute to have Croce's Restaurants and Bars as a home base where people who love Jim's music can enjoy the memorabilia and their memories. It's also a place where people who have never heard of Jim can come and hear him for the very first time and make their own memories.
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*This interview is available for use in the marketing and/or promotion of The Legacy of Jim Croce(program guides and/or Web sites). No part of this interview may be used relating to any product or service, other than the program.
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