I just played this one two years ago, March 4, 2021, but I was reading Mick Canning’s post tonight and his words made me think of this song. An hour later, it’s still stuck in my head, and since it is one that I love, I’m playin’ it again today!!!
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 
Love this one. It’s one of the great crimes of the British record-buying public that we never put one of his records – singles or albums – into our charts.
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I still don’t understand how he never made the charts in the UK! Still … I’m glad you liked this one!
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Nor do I. I remember when he died that got him some radio coverage on the more enlightened shows, but not enough to translate into sales. A real shame. I like this one, but I’d put Time In A Bottle and I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song ahead of it.
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Oh yes, I’d definitely put those two ahead of this one, but this one has some … fun … that the other two lack, and besides, I have played the other two too recently to redux them just yet. 😉
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I know you have, but I like them anyway!
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Duly noted!
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Jill, it is one of Croce’s more popular songs, but he has so many good ones. His body of music can take a couple of hours out of a long car ride. Thanks for the ear worm. Keith
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I’m sure! I’d probably be so wrapped up in the music I’d forget to get off the highway and miss my destination! YAY … ’bout time I gave you an earworm!
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A very funny song! Thanks for sharing, Jill! xx Michael
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I’m glad you liked it, Michael!!! xx
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