Jim Croce

Jim Croce had been knocking about for years, doing a stint in the army and working a series of hardscrabble jobs while trying to make it as a folk singer. He deservedly broke through with this delightful folk-rocker that displayed both his original strengths as a singer-songwriter and his charming, often good-humored delivery (which made his ballads even sadder). It took Croce's tragic 1974 death to take this to No. 1, but with brilliant numbers such as "Operator," "New York's Not My Home," "Time in a Bottle" and the funky title track it was clear that he was already a major artist.