By Margaret Gletherow (nee Cafarelli)
 

The first time I saw Joe Salviuolo he was on TV.   “Evening Magazine” presented a segment remembering Jim Croce on what would have been Jim’s 35th birthday, January 10th 1978.  I watched the show in fascination as the host of “Evening Magazine” spoke to various friends of Jim’s gathered at his gravesite sharing their memories.  This charming short Italian man spoke of how he missed Jim and then shared a song that he had written soon after Jim died, titled “Groundless”.  I thought it was a beautiful song and wanted to know more about it – how can I get a copy of this song, and who are these people?  The host of the show did not identify any of the folks he interviewed.  Were they Jim’s friends, family, fellow musicians?  I had to know.   Being an avid Croce fan, I thought I knew everything about him, but this was new to me.

I immediately wrote to the TV station that aired the show, asking who were these folks gathered at Jim’s gravesite?  I soon got a reply from the segment’s producer with an address and I sent off another letter – this time to these anonymous people I had seen on TV.  About a week later, and to my delight and amazement, I got a personal hand written response from Richard Fagan (who sang “Groundless” on TV) and Sal Joseph who wrote it.  And not only did they send me the lyrics to “Groundless”, but Sal had included a photocopy of his manuscript of the same title.  I was blown away.  When I saw Sal’s name, I immediately knew who he was – the writer of “Thursday” and the man who brought Jim and Maury together.  I only knew him as a “name” on the record album, on the “I Got A Name” album for writing “Thursday”, and a brief mention on the “Faces I’ve Been” album.  I had always been curious as to who this “Sal” was, and now I had a personal hand-written letter from him in my hands!

To make a very long story short – we met in June of 1978, and we’ve been good friends ever since.  I’ve come to know Sal as a brilliant man.  He attended Villanova University where he met Jim and became one of his closest friends.  Being a few years older than Jim, Sal graduated first and went on to earn 2 masters degrees from the University of Pennsylvania – one in Folklore and one in Communications.  He  had jobs in broadcasting and produced “The Miner’s Story” documentary, featuring the music of then unknown singer-songwriter Jim Croce.  Sal went on to become a professor at Glassboro State College, where he designed the communications program.  This is where fate stepped in and the magic began.  Sal met Maury Muehleisen, a student at the time, and immediately recognized the musical genius in him.  Although Professor Salviuolo was up for tenure, he quit his teaching job to manage this new young talent.

In the meantime, Jim was struggling to make it on his own in the music business.  Sal had produced Jim’s first album “Facets” that ended up being sold and given to friends and family, and anyone who was lucky enough to see him perform in local clubs in the Philly area.  Jim had also released an album with his wife Ingrid that was equally unsuccessful.  At the time, Sal was hanging out with Jim, and managing Maury – these two seemed to be destined to meet.  After Maury got a record deal and released “Gingerbreadd” he was looking for someone to back him up.  This is where Jim and Maury hooked up – Jim played back-up to Maury!  Thus the beginning of the team of Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen.  Sal brought them together and was best friends with both of them – giving them support and guidance until their careers took on a life of their own.  You know the rest of the story….

Presented here is the original manuscript of “Groundless” that Sal had sent to me in 1978.  I know you’ll be as touched as I was when you read it.