If Jim Croce's music were released today, would he be considered a country artist?

[fishwax]

25. He was a crossover -- I always considered him country, because he was in my dad's 8-track collection

His songs were covered by country artists and have gotten airplay on country stations, and he played some straight-up country songs and clearly has influences in that line. But he had a lot of other influences too.

Still, I always considered him a country singer because my dad liked his music. My father, like the patrons of Bob's Country Bunker, was diverse enough in his musical tastes to acknowledge and appreciate both kinds of music that the world has to offer: country and western. So, since the tape box in his truck included Jim Croce's greatest hits, I naturally considered him a country artist. Ditto for John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot. Even as I grew older (and as my dad's tastes relaxed, ever-so-slightly, under the relentless assault of two teenage boys) the association remains strong for me.