Croce Plays Croce And So Much More

On Saturday night, I went to the Wilbur Theatre in Boston to see A.J. Croce pay tribute to his father Jim Croce, who died 50 years ago last month in a plane crash which took his life at the age of 30. 

The concert marked the first time I had been to the Wilbur since May 2017 when I saw The Zombies perform Odessey and Oracle.

Although the younger Croce has been a performer in his own right for more than 30 years, it was the first time I had seen him perform in person. I remember his 1996 appearance on Austin City Limits and remember his piano performing in particular.

Croce's Boston show was the second stop of his Croce Plays Croce 50th Anniversary Tour which commenced on Friday in Springfield, Massachusetts. The show began with an excerpt of Jim Croce on film talking about A.J. saying, "Let's bring him out." Right on cue, A.J. hit the stage and began the show with "You Don't Mess Around With Jim". There were some technical difficulties with the bass player and backup singers getting sound at the beginning of the show, but these were resolved in short order. 

Croce reminded the audience that his Dad's professional career spanned only 18 months. Remarkable considering that his Dad's songs are still played on the radio to this very day. While playing Croce classics like "Roller Derby Queen" and "Operator", A.J. told stories about how he opened for Floyd Dixon when he was a teenager and Dixon told him the story of how Ray Charles would drive him and Sam Cooke home after they had too much to drink. Years later, Charles would confirm this story. 

A.J. reminded me of how great a piano player he is by playing an extended solo before launching into Billy Preston's "Nothing From Nothing". He also did covers of Sam Cooke's "Nothing Can Change This Love and The Faces' "Stay With Me" which he attributed to the late keyboardist Ian McLagan. In fact, "Stay With Me" was co-written by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Interestingly, A.J. told a story about Stewart putting him to bed at the height of his fame in 1978 when he was a mere lad of six years old.

A.J.'s voice is a lot huskier and raspier than his father's. It kind of reminds me of the 2000's version of Bob Dylan's voice. At heart, A.J. is a blues man and he was much more impassioned singing other people's material than that of his Dad whom he lost just a week before his 2nd birthday. The closest A.J. came to imbuing his Dad's spirit was on his song "So Much Fun", the title track of his 2022 album. Written during the pandemic, A.J. revealed he liked being alone. Although it was nice to have parties and entertain friends again, he sings, "It's so much fun to see 'em come/But man it's good to see 'em go."

Of course, A.J. was keenly aware most of the audience was there to hear his Dad's song and he obliged with favorites such as "Car Wash Blues", "These Dreams", "I Got a Name", "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and, for the encore, "Time in a Bottle".

Unfortunately, some of the audience didn't get A.J. and thought he was a name dropper. Although perhaps he might never connect with audiences in the way his Daddy did, he is an accomplished musician in his own right, a world class piano player and a great storyteller. I'm not sure what more they could ask.