He had quite a bit of success, but for me, this was the ultimate "The songs aren't that great but they're not awful either" sort of singer songwriter guy who certainly didn't offend you, even if he was in my view miles behind, say, a Randy Newman or a Tim Buckley. In other words, he's okay, fair, middling, decent, etc... Super Mario ( he resembled Super Mario) Croce died in a plane crash and that's tragic. It's too bad that Super Mario crashed in Mississippi or Louisiana or some such place and not into Jann Wenner's house.

Probably not R&R HOF...more of a folk singer (which admittedly is a sub-genre of rock)...

There's no telling how many more great songs he would have written and recorded but for his untimely death, but he was sure off to a good start.

If time is the factor as some people are suggesting, Buddy Holly shouldn't be there.
My 6 year old nephew knows Jim Croce. He has survived the test of time.
He was one of the most original Artists. What would he have done if he hadn't passed away so early?

Fabian is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Is he really R&R? no. Is he that talented, no.

Madonna is not rock and roll.
Grandmaster Flash? Not R&R.
Issac "Chef" Hayes, is he more deserving than Croce, not a performer.

Michael Jackson is so not Rock and Roll. King of POP. He's in.
He's huge but not R&R.

Croce has influenced a lot of people and even though he died young, his music is still played on the radio to this day, and people know who he is.

DJ Fontana?

Metallica is in and Motorhead isn't?
No Bad Company either.

Let's just say, the wrong people are making the decisions with some strange unknown criteria.

Jim Croce was never your typical rock and roller. But considering he did so much in so little time, I see no reason why he shouldn't be in. His albums You Don't Mess Around With Jim, Life And Times and I Got A Name were all successful in their time and still classic. He had a gift for writing and performing story-songs like "Bad Bad Leroy Brown," "Roller Derby Queen," and "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" as well as sensitive ballads like "Time In A Bottle" and "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song." Jim influenced many in his short career but nobody really replaced him (and it's doubtful anybody ever will).

"I wouldn't have done it any other way."

after Cat Stevens

I've played all his songs for ages and I really do have a tattoo on my arm that says HEY

I grew up listening to Jim Croce. It's a shame that he was taken from us in his prime, but the fact that over 35 years after his death people of my generation know his music (Time in a Bottle, Don't Mess Around with Jim, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Operator... I could go on) is proof that this man needs to be in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. An amazing songwriter and a unique voice.

Wonderful singer/songwriter who should be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

One of the great singer songwriters of his time and his time for the rock and roll hall of fame is long over due.

Operator, why is he not in yet?

one word, NO!

I loved Jim Croce in the day and his passing was a great tragedy, but....... While he was at the top of the craft as a singer-songwriter he wasn't an innovator, or particularly influential, just very good and an excellent representative of the form and its era.  Maybe the song-writers hall of fame could find a place for such a good story teller.  He also wasn't particulalrly Rock and Roll.

I had to say I hate you n a poll.

he's got a name, but no HoF Cred.

great man but after DEEP PURPLE

He was a change to this music at the time he came and we did need it and that is why the world loved him and we wished he could have stayed longer!

..-- ..-- ..--

he had some nice songs and sadly, died way too young. I wonder what other songs he could have created if he were still around. I have a couple of his albums. I like Time in a Bottle. and others he made.

Great lyrics and excellent guitar work. "I'll Have to Say I Love You in A Song," "Time in a Bottle," and "Operator" are classics. Croce deserves to be remembered.

Great artist but not HALL material

This guy was taken way to soon and wrote some very nice stuff but he is more folk than Rock.

he had classic lyrics was a great writer and should be recognized by the hall

He was a crown jewel of the early 70's singer songwriter movement. His songs are fabulous. Nothing like sitting in a dark dive bar drinking a Lager and hearing a Jim Croce song on the jukebox alongside a bunch of old drunks.

It is not in the number of years or albums you come up with but the quality of songs you make and the number of people you touch. Jim may have only been in the music scene for a couple of years but it is obvious that the music has been in him for a long time. He did not have one bad song and he made eight great ones. Operator, Time in a bottle, and I got a name are timeless classics that others who are already in the hall can only dream of.

Didn't know his songs at all

His strength was his cleverly written songs. One of the few singer-songwriters that had a sense of humor. Just wish he could have stuck around longer.

doesn't do much for me

i really like Croce a lot. i think Operator is a wonderful song. but unfortunately due to an early death, a rock and roll HOF distinction will never come for him.

He's kind of like Thurman Munson in baseball. Would have been a sure-fire hall-of-famer had he not died in a plane crash. Croce was great. Though I didn't care for his ballads, Bad Bad Leroy Brown and Don't Mess Around with Jim are classics.

This guy's not in??? You have to be kidding me. Time in a Bottle is a classic... along with Bad Bad Leroy Brown and I've Got a Name... this guy should have been in a long time ago.

It seems to me that he's one of those that should be there already. What do you have to do to get in this place anyway?