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I just read that the Beastie Boys have been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Great for them! They ushered the era of rap influence to white kids.
Madonna has also been nominated for the Hall. Great for her! She ushered in the new era of MTV by making provocative, if not controversial videos. She also influenced the future careers of talented women like Christina Aguilerra, Gwen Stefani and Fergie and some not so talented posers like Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson. Many of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees are very deserving. Some..well..I scratch my head.

Now, my point...
I like the Beastie Boys, but have not heard a Beastie Boys song on the radio in 20 years. I like Madonna even though her eccentricities have overshadowed her musical career for, maybe, the past ten years or so.
But...
I just heard a Jim Croce song again today. A 30+ year old song and still as crisp and mood inspiring today as it was when I first heard it on some AM transistor radio. Jim Croce was a singer/songwriter of the 1970s era. He was not only known for being a popular recording artist, but also for possessing a great storyteller stage persona, which has since been forgotten or ignored by the R & R Hall nominating committee members. If you were lucky enough to see a live performance (and a glimpse can be seen on one of the "Midnight Special" rerun shows sold on TV), you were drawn into Jim's stories which he accentuated and punctuated with a song from his soulful repertoire. He had a down to earth, blue collar charm and charisma that put him on a par with, if not transcended him above, the likes of a Steve "City of New Orleans" Goodman, Harry "Cat's in the Cradle" Chapin, Cat "Moonshadow" Stevens and even, dare I say it...the stage personna of a James Taylor.
Side note: Listen to a James Taylor's song like "Damn! This Traffic Jam", and compare it to Jim Croce's "You Don't Mess Around with Jim". You decide who had the real white man folk funk!
Many music aficionados have tried to lump his style in the category of a cross over, country music artist, but that's not fair. He was known for sweet rock ballads like I"ve Got a Name and Time in a Bottle. The popularity of his honky tonk styled songs, like Bad Bad Leroy Brown and You Don't Mess Around with Jim, must have influenced Jimmy "Pencil Thin Mustache" Buffet.
He was an original in the era of the singer/songwriter, when the singer/songwriter was a dime a dozen and could be found almost anywhere on the radio.

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