It was several months ago that I was reading my Sport Illustrated magazine (yes, this 'ol boy still turns the pages) when I heard Willie Nelson on my TV. Looking up, it turned out to be Willie singing during a Subaru commercial. Now, I don't know that Subaru slaes went through the roof, but it was a pretty little ditty that Willie was singing.

And now it's happened again.

Being a huge fan of the songwriters, one of my all-time favorites was the late great Jim Croce. I would guess that most people would recognize Jim from his worldwide hit 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown'. Well, as it turns out, his great classic 'Time In A Bottle' has been teamed up with none other than the Cookie Monster to sell iPhone 6's!

To be honest I have mixed feelings about this...about using what I consider some of the greatest songs of the past half century and using them to sell cars or phones or pizza or athletic shoes or whatever.

On the other hand, perhaps it does introduce a new generation (or two or three) to what I consider the greatest music ever recorded. So it's the proverbial 'six of one, half dozen of the other'.

Jim Croce was one of those singer/songwriters that touched my heart and soul. I had virtually everything Jim ever recorded, from the rousing 'Roller Derby Queen' to the absolutely beautiful 'I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song' and 'Operator'. He's one of those people that, I know exactly where I was when I heard the news Jim was killed in a small plane crash. September 20, 1973. The following morning I was 18 years old and driving out of a mobile home park in Austin, Minnesota, going to the vocational school that I had just enrolled in earlier that month. The radio said Jim Croce had been killed. He was just 30 years old.

So here it is in full, the beautiful 'Time In A Bottle'. I don't know if you should buy an iPhone 6, that's up to you. But if you want some amazing music, pick up Jim Croce's 'Photographs And Memories' album...and turn it up.

More From KXRB