Jim Croce died in a plane crash on September 20, 1973 when he was only 30 years old. A few days after his death, his wife Ingrid received a letter from him telling her that he had decided to quit music and stick to writing short stories and movie scripts as a career, and withdraw from public life. Bad Bad Leroy Brown hit #1 on the charts just two months before his death.
The song was inspired by a tough private he met while in the army. Croce and Brown used to hang out and sing together … until one day when Leroy Brown went AWOL.
Jim Croce
Well the South side of Chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named Leroy Brown
Now Leroy more than trouble
You see he stand ’bout six foot four
All the downtown ladies call him “Treetop Lover”
All the men just call him “Sir”
And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog
Now Leroy he a gambler
And he like his fancy clothes
And he like to wave his diamond rings
In front of everybody’s nose
He got a custom Continental
He got an Eldorado too
He got a thirty two gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe
And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog
Now Friday ’bout a week ago
Leroy shootin’ dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
And oo that girl looked nice
Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
And Leroy Brown learned a lesson
‘Bout messin’ with the wife of a jealous man
And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog
Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled them off the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone
And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog
And it’s bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog
Songwriters: James Croce
Bad Bad Leroy Brown lyrics © BMG Rights Management US, LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Filosofa's Word 
What a wonderful but also melancholic song. I love em, since first time i had listened too. Thank you for remembering and sharing, Jill!
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Awesome … I’m always happy when you like a song I play!
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:-)) I love all your song recommendations, Jill! Thank you!
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Another rock tragedy. There seem to be so many of them.
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There really do seem to be a disproportional number of them, some by their own actions.
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Another one taken from us at a ridiculously young age. I don’t think he ever made either the singles or album charts here – shame on us.
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Yes, the abrupt end to his career is heartbreaking. I’m surprised, though, that he never made it to the charts over there. Not even after his death?
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It was a sad loss. No, nothing. I double checked with Wikipedia and our chart company archive, and there’s nothing. That surprised me too.
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I wonder what his writing would have looked like by this time?
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Good question! I’ve no idea, but he surely did have talent. Sigh.
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Jill, what a wonderful story teller and songwriter. He wrote many great songs like this. This is one of his most popular, but there are many to choose from. Keith
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I agree … I think he’s in my top 15, maybe my top 10 all-time favourite artists. Glad you enjoyed this one, my friend.
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Super song. Jim had a number of hits. It was a shame about the plane crash.
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I’m glad you liked it! He’s probably in my top 15 artists, maybe even top 10. Why is it that the ones I like always die young? Rather like Lays Potato Chips! I found one I really, really loved, New York Reuben, and don’t you know they discontinued them? I’m a jinx!
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😁
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