Jim Croce - "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," Acoustic Guitar Cover

Butch Lacy happens to know "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," a song by the late Jim Croce about an apparent criminal from the south side of Chicago who, due to his size, harbors a reputation as the "baddest man in the whole damn town." One day, in a bar, he makes a pass at a pretty, married woman, whose husband proceeds to beat Leroy brutally in the ensuing bar fight.

His inspiration for the song was a friend he met in his brief time in the Army:

"I met him at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. We were in lineman (telephone) school together. He stayed there about a week, and one evening he turned around and said he was really fed up and tired. He went AWOL, and then came back at the end of the month to get his pay check. They put handcuffs on him and took him away. Just to listen to him talk and see how 'bad' he was, I knew someday I was gonna write a song about him."

Croce explained the chorus reference to Leroy Brown being "meaner than a junkyard dog":

"Yeah, I spent about a year and a half driving those $29 cars, so I drove around a lot looking for a universal joint for a '57 Chevy panel truck or a transmission for a '51 Dodge. I got to know many junkyards well, and they all have those dogs in them. They all have either an axle tied around their necks or an old lawnmower to keep 'em at least slowed down a bit, so you have a decent chance of getting away from them."

The song inspired Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury to write the song "Bring Back That Leroy Brown" for the band's third album, Sheer Heart Attack, released a year after Croce died.

Lyrics:

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 mens just call him sir

And its bad, bad leroy brown
The baddest man in the whole damn 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 everybodys nose
He got a custom continental
He got an eldorado too
He got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe

And its bad, bad leroy brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than old king kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Well friday bout a week ago
Leroy shootin dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named doris
And ooh 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 its 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 fightin
And when they pulled them from the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

And its bad, bad leroy brown
The baddest man in the whole damn town
Badder than old king kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Category:

Music

Tags:

• butch
• lacy
• bad
• leroy
• brown
• jim
• croce
• ragtime
• country
• motown
• folk
• blues
• rock
• acoustic
• guitar
• cover
• classic
• alternative
• with
• lyrics
• and
• vocals

[tabbycatr6]

Awesome!

[aelacy]

Thanks for listening!

[katankitty]

Does anyone know where this was recorded? I was blessed to get to see him play in an old one room schoolhouse in North San Juan, CA. in about 79 or 80 and this reminds me of it.

[kingdavey90]

yeaah leroy!

[fngrpkn06]

Nice job!

[rennebu2]

sounds good :-) like it,nice voice man.if you follow my name you find 2 guys from norway (10 years ) singing the same song .

[acdcs500]

mint nok 1 up *****

[sknarr08]

awesome job bro !  sounds great.

[dureyj28]

Awesome job!

[RedHatChan]

I really enjoyed this! Your voice is unique, and your enthusiasm for playing makes me smile. =)

[Jonathontheone]

@MeaningCorrupted okay i gotcha.... top string third fret... second string muted with ring finger third string second fret.... you can play those three string or kinda hit the ones below it dosent change much.. just the three strings sounds best though.. although i dont know what its called but these arent the original chord shapes the artist used. strum it twice with the third string open and twice with the second fret... hope these helps... comment back if u dont understand

[liftitcj5]

That was great. What bout the last verse???

Good job Bro