I was asked to listen to Jim Croce - Operator (First Reaction) 

Funny story, I was in Walmart and I hear a guy with earpods on singing this song out loud while he was shopping and I recognized the song and started singing along with him! 😂😂😂

I’ll soon be 78 years old and I can still remember every word and sing along. Jim Croce was awesome and all of his music. Thanks brother 🙏

He was a master at this stuff. "I've Got a Name", "Time in a Bottle", "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", "Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Working at the Car Wash Blues". All great songs. I've always wondered what else he could have done. Great stuff. Vincent is a great song. Love it.

Props to Maury Muehleisen, Jim's friend and lead acoustic guitarist who at age 24 died with Jim on that fateful day in September of 1973.

Jim Croce was a gem! Beautiful voice taken from us too soon!

You may not get tons of views for reacting to this, but if just a few people get introduced to this great song/artist because of you, then you've done a good thing!

I love the lines "She's living in LA /With my best old ex-friend Ray" because they tell the whole story in 10 words.

Jim Croce was a great story teller.

Croce/James Taylor/Harry Chapin weren't "Folk" music. They were "Singer/Songwriter". Songs that told a story...pure and simple.

This song breaks my heart. I remember when it came out. It still resonates with me. He was such a great singer/songwriter. What a loss, he died much too young. But his work still impacts.

Perhaps the most heart wrenching lyric ever. "There's something in my eyes. You know it happens every time - I think about the love that I thought would save me.

As a guitarist, I remain spellbound by his ability to make it sound/look so easy. This is NOT an easy song. His son now tours.

This man had the most amazing gift for selecting the most perfect words to tell a story. I can’t imagine changing a single word.

Great song by Jim Croce! Nobody today knows what an operator is 😂!

Timeless music. He was one of my dad’s favorites. Time in a Bottle is his most famous and a must-listen if you haven’t heard it. I would also suggest I’ve Got a Name and Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. Cheers!

Yes, that’s what us old folks did….call the operator!!! And the dime he referred to is what a pay phone required. If the call didn’t go through you got the dime back. Thanks so much for your great reaction to Jim. He was very special. Sadly, he died at the young age of 30, in a plane crash. Love your channel. 👏👏🇨🇦

I was a kid in the 70's and this song was everywhere back then. It is a bit of a shame music like this fell outta style, I still love it and vibe really takes me back to simpler times when music was MUCH MUCH better.

True story - this was the 1st piece of vinyl I purchased, with money I had saved up from babysitting. ❤ Jim Croce

You're saying his name perfectly! Jim Croce always told a story. He seemed to be able to tell a story about anyone, anything or anywhere that he'd come across. Operator always gets me as you can imagine someone in this circumstance. One of my favorites of his is another one about love lost called Walking Back to Georgia.

In that same time we had Cat stevens, Jim Croce, Don McLean, Janice Ian, Paul Simon...all single artists with many hits they wrote and performed and if you played acoustic guitar, this was your golden era.

Jim Croce was the GOAT This probably got a lot more views than you expected. He is well loved and truly missed.

Yes you got his number Jim is amazing one of my favorites lots of great songs ! Gone way too soon R. I. P. Jim

I'm 60... grew up on Jim croce...i sang along like i was 12❤❤❤❤

I can remember back in the 10th grade, first period, I would open the bundle of papers ever morning. I lifted the St. Louis Post Dispatch and on the front page, it said Jim Croce had died in a plane crash. My breath just caught in my throat. My teacher saw that I was stunned and asked me what was wrong. Fighting back tears, i showed her the paper. He was my favorite singer.

Polo you are saying his name correct. This music is nostalgic for me bcus it was a time of innocence. When we were a nation of interdependence still. Where the term it takes a village to raise a child was counted on. When neighbors actually cared about each other and helped out if one fell ill. A time of a United nation, not a divided nation. ❤

You are pronouncing his name correctly. Jim Croce is one of my favorite singers. His song "Photographs and Memories" holds a special place in my heart. Thanks for this reaction!

Hey Polo. This is actually the first 'adult' song I ever learned all the words to. Jim Croche has a very special place in my memories, and I love his work. I've said for ages that my favorite love song is Time in a Bottle, and this is likely my favorite heartbreak song. And I'm a metalhead.

Have loved Jim Croce for over 40 years…one of the best!

This is a really great song even after listening to it for 50 years. The lyrics and so packed with subtle information which is one of the things that makes it great. ... "Living in LA, with my best old ex friend ray." Kinda tells you everything about what's going on in the song in a concise way, that the singers girl and his best friend ran off together . Great writing.

I never thought of him as a folk singer (but I guess he was), he blended so well into rock. I think his greatest hits was my the 4th album I owned (still own it actually).

Jim Croce sings to my heart. Thank you for doing all kinds of music.

Jim Croce is a treasure! A voice from my past who was lost way too soon! Will always treasure my memories, which come flooding back to me whenever I hear his magnificent voice. RIP.

Jim Croce was a fabulous songwriter, taken much too soon. He's part of my young adult soundtrack. I never thought of him as folk, just great music.

Yes, Polo, you pronounced Jim’s name perfectly. Beautiful reaction and another artist gone way to soon because of a small plane. I remember when it happened and it was devastating. I remember seeing him and Murray on the Flip Wilson Show. I can’t remember but I believe that was posthumously shown. I went to film school in the late 70’s and for our final project my director was a huge Croce fan also and wrote a script about his before fame life, with Ingrid and working on road crews and playing in local clubs. He cast a guy who with just a little makeup was a ringer for Jim, he also played the guitar and sang. I was getting goosebumps when we shot it, I was the sound guy on the crew. It was up to me to capture his performance. We done did good. This song and Time In A Bottle just tear me apart. I saw a feature report on A.J. His son and his life and playing his dad’s music. But he’s had difficulties. ❤️🙏 Again, wonderful reaction, Polo.

Thanks for this! Jim Croce is one of my absolute favorite singer/songwriters! Please consider reacting to Time in a Bottle, Photographs and Memories, I Got a Name, I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song, Lover's Cross, Thursday, etc.

Jim Croce’s music always touched deep in my soul. Still one of my favorites.

I grew up on this song. Jim Croce was always playing in our house and this song reminds me of Sunday afternoons hanging out with my Mom. Great song. The man was a storyteller.

"you can keep the dime" is such a heavy line. Love this song.

I agree this is a wonderful storyteller and Vincent is also a great song by Don McLean. My fav song of Jim Croce is operator but runner up is “I’d have to say I love you in a song”. Someone mentioned Cat Stevens is also a great story teller! Ultimately though Gordon Lightfoot who just passed is at the top of my heap as well with the Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald, song for a snowy evening, Railway trilogy, Don Quixote. And on……

“My best old ex friend” …. what a great line.

You can find a few audio only recordings of Jim Croce along with Maury Muehleisen, his lead guitarist, doing shows at relatively small venues like junior colleges. They're great musically but Croce is so personable and tells some great stories between songs. It's worth checking out.

Absolutely love Jim Croce! He's voice was amazing and beautiful! A legend taken too soon!

This song brings back so many memories. I love it!!! ❤ His song "Time in a bottle" is also a great song. Cat Stevens is also great to listen too.

The man just needed someone to listen, and the operator was the one who answered. ❤

Taken from us way too soon, like many greats. RIP

That's so funny that you mentioned 'Vincent' by Don Mclean. I feel the same about that song, though the line where he sings "But I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you" always make me get tears in my eyes, even if I have heard it so many times before, I just think he sings that line with such emotion.

Jim Croce is one of those singers, that sings directly to your soul, and you can feel the lyrics to your very core 💓 RIP great one, sadly missed & gone way too soon 💓 Would love you to react to my favorite by Jim Croce, (Time in a Bottle)

Oh how this song brings back memories. I loved listening to him back in the day. I’m going to look up some of his music and bring back the sound of my younger years. Wonderful singer and songwriter. I was so sad when he left us. The world will never have another person like him.

Jim Croce was an amazing talent and put out so many great songs in such a short time before he lost his life. I saw him in concert two weeks before his death and he was so damn good. Hope you get into more of his catalog. I know you will enjoy him.

"Operator... Let's forget about this call.". has got to be one of the wisest lyrics ever sung.

Vincent is one of the most beautiful and saddest songs ever. Thank you for reviewing this today - my day is better for hearing some Jim Croce - I don't think he ever recorded a bad song. Thank you!!

Vincent is heartbreakingly beautiful. Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle is everyone's wedding song.

Great reaction. Jim Croce was so special RIP gone way too soon. ❤🎶

A storyteller, indeed! (I can remember this song, from the early or mid 1970's, while in Highschool,! ... Another one of his, you might enjoy = "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"!! (Talk about a STORY!)

Many musicians can write music, and there are several who can write songs... But when you put them in the same person and then perform it and it touches your soul you know you have listened to something incredible... he was just a perfectionist in his ability to play out a story in a song

Jim Croce is AMAZING. I think it’s more of soft rock or east listening than folk. He has such a beautiful voice. Check out “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim”. Such a cool song. And “Time in a Bottle”. Oh and “New York is not my home”.

How can anyone not love this, right? And Vincent is also on my daily playlist. Just beautiful songs.

You've got great taste in music. Jim Croce is right up toward the top of list as one of the best song writers ever. Thanks for the reaction.

Often overlooked or forgotten MUST HEAR classics,, Jim Croce "Photographs And Memories",, "Workin' At The Carwash Blues",, "New York's Not My Home",, "Rapid Roy",, "One Less Set Of Footprints",, "Lover's Cross",, "Roller Derby Queen" & "The Hard Way Every Time".

I started as a Telephone Operator in 1978. I was 19 years old. I played this to my family when I got hired. The stories I could tell. 😂 I love your reaction videos. There definitely is some great music from my youth. Thank you for always bringing a smile to my face, and digging up another memory for my heart. I appreciate your channel.

You can really feel his pain as he is singing! I’m a child of the 70’s and grew up with his incredible music. As a kid my favorite was Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown!!!

Yes I'm old enough to remember dial 0 for the operator and rotary dial phones. Folk music is a gem. Vincent is one of my favorite sad songs. Jim Croce had some great songs. I remember my dad listening to his music, so his songs will always be nostalgic to me.

The first time I heard this was when I was cruising along in my 1977 Buick Century with an AM radio and a single speaker in the middle of the dashboard. I was 17. I still get "something in my eye" every time I hear that song.

Guy Clark is the Ernest Hemingway of songwriters. All his songs are first class. Some of my favorites are Dublin Blues, Old Friends, Magnolia Wind, Homegrown Tomatoes, etc, etc.

I think Croce's music would be most thought of as soft rock/classic rock or story-telling rock. I think of Bob Dylan or Joan Baez when you venture down the 'folk road.

Here's what is sad. When I was a kid, the radio stations played all kinds of music. You'd here Jim Croce, then the Rolling Stones, then Hendrix, then Glen Campbell, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, and Nash. I love all kinds of music. Today is rock, rap, country, or hip hop, but they are never on the same station. That's made younger people snobs thinking one kind of music is better than another. That is sad.

I'm not only old enough to remember the operator but also when "You can keep the dime." used to be what A call cost❤

I grew up listening to him and never thought of him as a folk singer , he had a style all his own .

I don't believe good music is ever really outdated just forgotten for awhile in all the hustle and bustle of our lives. So glad to see and hear these classics being revived today. Thank you.

🎶🎵💜 Dear Polo, Thank you for this. I hadn't heard Brother Jim Croce for ages, and my heart missed him. My face is wet with tears now, not just with nostalgia...but with feeling.😔🥲 As others have said, you're saying his name perfectly.😊🫡 But I would add that his songs were in more that wonderful, mostly 1970's tradition of a Ballad/Story song. Not so much Folk music, though perhaps the decades are blurring that line. Just a thought! My dear man, I hope that a bazillion old and young lovers of ballads (and good lyrics) come to hear this song. The times may have included currently incomprehensible things like Pay Phones, dialing O for a human Operator and interacting humanely with her (usually a woman, my Aunt and a Sister in Law were Phone Operators in the 50's, 60's and 70's) and placing an Operator-assisted long distance call for a dime...but the situation and emotional arc are timeless.😢 Again, as Jim Croce sang, "Thank you for your time. You've been so much more than kind..."💜😉🎶☎️🎙🎸

Oh. This song is so beautiful. I'm getting a bit ahead of the curve, but you can never go wrong with Jim. Edit; Vincent I was able to see play live by Don in the 90's. - Love, A Metal Head

Other good songs by Jim Croce are "Alabama Rain", "Time in a Bottle", "I'll have to say I love you in a song", and "New York's not my home." Sadly he died in a plane crash when he was only about 30 yrs. old. His son is also a singer, his name is A.J. Croce.

Jim Croche is amazing and you should listen to some of Harry Chapin's music. He was also a storytelling genius. Corey's Coming, The Mayor of Candor Lied, and A Better Place to Be are some of my favorites.

Jim was a master storyteller and singer and songwriter what a masterpiece

My mother listened to Jim when I was a kid. I can still remember his voice in our house and my mom singing along. What a legend he was. Gone too soon.

Legend has it he got screwed by the record/publishing company so his wife was left with very little. She opened a restaurant here in San Diego called 'Croce's' that was successful and round for decades. Closed recently sadly. His son A.J. used to play there and around town and was really talented.

Yes, you're saying his name correctly. A true treasure, wonderful poet/songwriter. Thanks for your reaction.

Glad you found him! Everything he did is a gem. You should try out America's "Ventura Highway" same era of majestic early 70s folk rock!

This is one of the greatest songs that has ever been written. His passing was a great loss.

The 2 BEST STORY TELLERS to ME..... Jim Croce and Ronnie Van Zant

Fabulous song, thanks for the reaction! More of Jim, please! He has no bad songs. Great singer, song-writer & musician. Gone far, far too soon. RIP.

I grew up on Jim Croce and his music always brings me back to those early days. Recommend you check out I’ve Got a Name. This was my anthem through my teens and twenties. Love your reactions!

Just came across your page. My Dad was a rock DJ in the late 60s/early 70s, and he LOVED Jim Croce. Master musician and lyricist. Such a beautiful voice. ❤❤

Hey Polo ~ I started playing guitar in '67 at the age of 8. I was into a lot of folk, rock and pop music of the day. When Jim first came on the radio I was mesmerized. I learned his entire set of music, which was tragically small, very quickly. He became, and still is, one of my all time favorite singer/songwriters. When they announced his & Maury's (his co-writer and stunningly great lead guitarist) deaths, I cried the whole day. Such brilliance, lost. Everything he did, he did with passion and joy. You'll enjoy all of his songs. =)

Hey Polo, Glad you can appreciate Jim Croce, awesome singer songwriter sadly taken from us way too soon! Love Vincent by Don Maclean as well!You should listen to Gordon Lightfoot’s T he Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald! You will appreciate the mood and sadness and loss that the words and music create! Keep up the great work.

Great Song and a Wonderful Writer. We Lost Him Tragically way to Young. Polo You Pronounced his Name Correctly. Thanks for the Wonderful Music.

But that’s not the way it feels. No no no no. That’s not the way it feels. Beautiful transition there in the lyric. ‘Oh just forget about it.’

Jim Croce is, in my opinion, one of the greatest singer-songwriters in history. He's up there with guys like Bob Dylan, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, and others as a true symbol of poetic mastery of the English language and guitar accompaniment. He was taken so soon and even so, the work he left will make sure he's never forgotten.

Croce and Cat Stevens can always touch a nerve in a good way.

Thanks for the reaction Polo. Putting songs like "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" aside, Jim's mellower songs like "Operator" and "Time In A Bottle" showcase the very special vocal quality that is uniquely Croce. He tells you a story about emotional pain that he has gone through, but between the pithiness and clear message of the lyrics and his voice, you could swear it was an experience that YOU went through and Jim is just there to give you a hug and tell you it's OK. If there is the musical equivalent to a hug, it's Jim's voice and I'm forever grateful to him for that.

I have loved Jim Croce ever since the first time I heard him. Masterful artist. I can only imagine how many songs he would have written if he had not died so young.

Such good memories of listening to Jim on the radio back in the day. Thanks for reminding me.

Great song! I’m 62 so I grew up listening to Jim Croce and sadly he passed away way too soon. My favorite lyrics in this song are: “Operator, well could you help me place this call? Well, I can't read the number that you just gave me, There's something in my eyes, you know it happens every time I think about a love that I thought would save me”. I’ve always interpreted the “something in my eyes” as his tears. By the way, you are pronouncing his name perfectly 👍🏻

I've Got A Name

"Tom Dooley" (1958) by the Kingston Trio was a big hit folk song, when you are in the mood for something less friendly, in the mood for a hanging.

I grew up listening to him on FM radio in LA back in the day as a teenager. As a young aspiring musician, he was a huge influence on me. I learned a few of his songs on guitar and it taught me so much. They were seemingly simple but surprisingly complex and they pushed my boundaries. Man, he was so good. He passed away way to young. RIP Jim...

Love jim such a amazing artist. Every song always touches me. He died way to young 😢. What a treasure ❤

Great story telling, excellent melody, and so emotive. Jim was my first favorite artist many, many years ago. Feels like it was a different lifetime...

This is the music that I listen to as a very young child I had parents that were kind of hippies and this song I knew word for word and also Buffalo Springfield Mr soul my stepfather played him on the acoustic guitar brings back a lot of memories for me love it

Two singers touched me deeply when I was young. I lost both to plane crashes. Buddy Holly and Jim Croce. I'm sitting here with tears running down my face.