Croce builds on his father’s musical legacy

I’ve got a name, I’ve got a name;

And I carry it with me like my daddy did

In terms of longevity, A.J. Croce’s music career long ago eclipsed that of his father, the iconic rock-folk artist Jim Croce.

A.J. has made quite a career In his own right. He’s shared a stage with a veritable “who’s who” of musical superstars, from Ray Charles, B.B. King and the Neville Brothers to Vince Gill, James Brown and Lyle Lovett.

It was Willie Nelson who raved about A.J.’s music.

“A.J. Croce has wisdom beyond his years,” Nelson said. “With his music, he represents his generation with a profound sense of honesty. … The future of entertainment is safe in his hands.”

But for much of his childhood — and adulthood, for that matter — A.J. purposely avoided comparisons with his father, in order to establish his own musical identity, even if performing covers to such standards as “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown” or “I’ve Got a Name” likely would have brought an even brighter spotlight to his own career.

“It was more important becoming great at what I did than having immediate success, and I was lucky that people dug what I was doing,” A.J. said.

A.J.’s relationship with his father’s music began to change about a dozen years ago — the elder Croce died in a plane crash in 1973, before his son’s second birthday — when A.J. began digitizing his father’s old tapes.

One tape in particular, a bar performance filled with a number of old blues songs, resonated deeply.

“It gave me chills,” A.J. admitted. “He was playing stuff I played myself.”

As he cataloged his father’s music, A.J. — a skilled multi-instrumentalist — began teaching himself some of Jim Croce’s beloved music the old fashioned way: by listening to the tapes and strumming alongside.

Since then, A.J. has begun touring with “Croce Plays Croce,” where he performs his father’s old standards, his own tunes and a number of songs that influenced the two of them.

A.J. Croce will be on the main stage at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center tonight at 7 o’clock. Tickets are still available at www.bowluscenter.org.

ADRIAN JAMES (A.J.) Croce’s musical roots extend beyond those of his father.

His parents, Jim and Ingrid, met in 1963, were married about three years later, and began touring as a duo and promoting their album, Jim & Ingrid Croce.

Dollars were tight, however, and Jim began taking up odd jobs to help pay bills. When Ingrid became pregnant in 1971 with A.J. and decided to give up her performing career to become a stay-at-home mom, Jim Croce became more determined to make music his profession.