Jim Croce was a master story teller - "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Time in a Bottle," "Operator," "Roller Derby Queen" (this one is fun!) - all gold.
My grandmother used to play the hell out of this song on the piano when I was little. She passed years ago. Feeling like she’s stopping by to say hello to me personally😊
@@bigsmoke5105 Well, I have been a paramedic for 24+ years, I have seen more than a few people that resembled "A jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone". My favorite description of a DOA was: (Motorcycle accident, high speed, rider thrown from the bike while wearing a low profile helmet) The cop walked up to our rig as we arrived, we asked where the patient was and what condition he was in, the cop replied "He's over there. And his face is did a fair impression of jello being scraped across pavement."
This guy didn't make a bad song. Rest in peace Jim taken way to soon but he lives through his music 🎶 and hopefully future generations carry him through time 🙏.
His career was just taking off when, tragically he was killed in a plane crash in Natchitoches, La in 1973. His other hits include "Operator" "I Gotta Name" "Time In A Bottle" "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song"
@@WanderingWriter Jim Croce's was one of the dumbest. He'd agreed to do the concert before he got famous, and because he was an honorable man he still did it at a rate he didn't make any money off of. Add to that, the airfield inexplicably had a row of trees planted across the end of the runway, and that's what they hit. He shouldn't have been there. The trees shouldn't have been there. It never should have happened.
"The two men got to fightin', and when they pulled them from the floor, Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone!" - For my money this is one of the best lyrics in all of music.
I always liked songs where someone gets shot. Like in Marty Robbins' El Paso, "I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle, I feel the bullet go deep in my chest". But Jim's line here has all that graphic brutality, softened by the clever joke. Agreed, one of the best lyrics ever.
Mom has a record with Leroy Brown on it and it came with a picture of his son inside on the opposite side is the song's and lyrics It's sad he left his little boy behind 😢
Or possibly, there’s always someone more motivated. Someone might not be tougher and meaner, but the insanity and adrenaline rush of jealousy might make them fight harder.
It doesn't matter how big the guy is, you fight a guy who has better training, a dirtier fighter, or able to use a big man's size and muscle to their own advantage, those are the folks you don't ever want to mess with. Beware the man with only one gun. He probably knows how to use it.
When I was a kid, I remember every time this came on the radio, I would dance in the back seat of my moms car. It was this song along with "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" and Stealers Wheel - "Stuck in the Middle with You." All three of those songs were my favorites! This was in the early 70s, before car seats and seat belts were a thing. My normal spot in the car, was standing on the back seat with my arms stretched across the back seat head rests. Those were the days.
fugu pinkeye Right! I was thinking that a major part of this song was missing. I was like “What The F**k?!” “Where’s Slim G’damnit!?”. So, yeah, then I read your comment and it all came back to me and I immediately chilled tha funk out. Thanks for that, chief. You did me a solid😉
Any time I hear Jim it automatically takes me back to the late 70s and my dad kicking me out of the house hearing his "house cleaning music" as I rode away on my bike.
I like all of Jim Croce’s songs, but my favorite one is, “Operator”. Jamel, please do a reaction to “Operator”! Thanks, again for sharing YOUR gift with us!🌹
Jim Croce's songs are from his heart. Always loved I've Got a Name. I carry it with me like my daddy did. But I'm living the dream that he kept hid. I never knew my dad - he died at 37, more than a month before I was born.
I’ve always had an all over music taste and I just discovered this song recently. This song is easily my top 10 of all time. So ahead of its time, R.I.P. Jim Croce he should still be here.
Always felt Time in a Bottle's tempo adjustments that changed the feeling of the song were what made the song beautiful. The funny thing is how hard it can be to put into words what seemed so simple when I thought about it. Peace.
I love, love, love seeing younger generations appreciating older music. You can understand the lyrics, and sing along, while they were complimented with good music.
My husband can sing and was in a band when we started dating. After we married, my Mom asked him to sing this song for her. She passed before she could attend a show of his, and after, he sang it for her and cried almost all the way through. She was my very best friend, and she loved my husband so much. I think of her every time I hear this. Thanks for the reaction.
Amen..... I was in the 2nd Grade on the monkey bars, in my elementary school play ground when I heard the terrible news.. Actually went behind a school building and balled my eyes out...R.I.P. Mr. Legend..Jim Croce..💛🧡❤😇🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I love how I heard this song 45 years ago and seeing Jamal really hear it for the first time brought me back to that moment...Jim C always paints a great picture with his musiscianship and genuineness. I also love seeing your reaction to new music in all of your videos. Music brings us together. Jim Croce once did a tour in Yugoslavia with this college band. All the songs were in English, but as Jim said, everyone understands music. Eveyrone had a good time. Keep up the good work Jamal.
Jim Croce was one of the best story tellers next to Tom T. Hall. Jim could make you feel something through his music. It's like he was writing his songs for the listener in particular opposed to a massive audience. I keep hoping that one day there will be another Jim Croce.
Dude, totally! I was a little kid and got tired of listening of listening to my father's John Denver cassette tapes, so I searched through his collection, found Him Croce's Greatest Hits, put it on, and started to dig this!
Fun memories of my mom and dad laughing at me singing this in the backseat of the car when I was 4 years old. Apparently I used to belt out that Leroy was "baddest man in the whole DOWNtown" and "had a raisin in his shoe" One of my first favorite songs! Thanks for this video, Jamal. You make my day🤓❤️
Awww, that's SO cute! The innate innocence of children is very amusing & adorable. When I was little, I LOVED the song "Delta Dawn" (sung by Helen Reddy) to the point of suggesting it to my Sunday School church class teacher when she asked for a song recommendation! Well? it SOUNDS a bit like a soulful song that a church choir might sing! (to me at least) I had NO idea what it was "actually" about. Nor the very "adult" nature of the primary character in the song.
When I was 7 or 8, my dad would wait until my mom wasn't home and play this record while we sang and danced around the room. My dad died about 6 months after Jim did, and I never hear this song without the fun we had. The memories we have around music are with us forever 🎵♥
Cuz said he got a 32 just for fun and his pocket and a razor and a shoe and he's 6'4 ain't nobody messing with Leroy thank you for making me cry laughing I'm literally crying now
That stunned look of amazement when you heard "Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone" 😅 Classic song, amazing reaction as always.
I think the 70s was the best decade of music ever. There was so many different types and genres of music. And agree with you 100%. Storytelling Songs Like This, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, wildfire, I'm not in love, oh what a night etcetera etcetera etcetera
Yeah they dont make them like this anymore. The 70s was deff the peak of musical expression. So many were making such good music. Then the 80s came and were just terrible some of the worst music ever produced 90s was good again and today its trash again
Anything and everything by Jim Croce there's not a lot of songs by him but every one of them is a masterclass of Storytelling you can't go wrong with Jim Cro
I heard Jim wrote his songs based on true life experiences/people he came across. Thank you Jamel for your reaction on this one. He was a favorite in the day. Sad he had such a short life here. So talented. 💖
Jim was ready to quit when his career started taking off. Unfortunately, he never got to see the fruits of his years of suffering because he was tragically killed in a plane crash at the age of just 30yrs. He left behind a wife and a very young son. But we will always have his great songs.
Hard to imagine how legendary songwriters come up with these magic lyrics at such young ages. I'm about 30 now, and can't imagine writing anything as clever as this. Then you got guys like John Prine and Dylan who write incredible songs in their early twenties. It's so weird to think about.
Clyde Barrow He had actually written a letter to his wife and told her he thought he was giving it up when he got home. He mailed it. He was killed before the letter arrived. At least that’s the story I read once.
Unfortunately Croce's career never really took off. He was never able to be a full time musician. He always had to retain a day job. Soft rock's popularity did not last long.
Zenhael Cero Paul Simon wrote something pretty bizarre lyrics at a young age to. If you really listen to the words, it blows your mind how a 20 year old even thought that way.
I was so young when this came out, but it was my first favorite song. We had a converted basement where our record player was and I remember dancing and trying to sing along to this song as a kid. I was like 4 or so. Jim Croce will always be one of my touchstone musicians until I die, and this song was my introduction to him.
Oh my mom looooved him and played this album constantly. She even bought some of his sheet music and tried to play it on guitar. The best was Time in a Bottle .. then he died 😭😭😭
@@lauramariebrumm5131 just learned something new, .....since hearing this as a young teenager when it first came out, I always thought it was " under everybody's nose !
I love your reaction videos, I'm now 61 and going through your lists helps me remember all of the great songs of the past I haven't heard in decades. Keep it up, you're the best.
"You Don't Mess Around With Jim" by Jim Coroce is an even better story IMO. It was almost the plot of the 80's Keanu Reeves movie "The Night Before" - made years later, of course. 😉
There were a lot of storytelling songs back then, like Roger Whittaker's "The Last Farewell," Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," etc. Good times, even as a kid, in the 70s.
I love the expression from you especially because you like the older music. Great taste in music, I grew up listening to this classic this is my 92 year old mother's favorite song from Jim. My oldest brother used to play this for my mother RIP big brother.
A long time ago, when I was a little kid (grade 2-4) we did a thing every morning after the anthem called the health hustle. It was this song, and another called 'Popcorn' (th-cam.com/video/vL2TYoBYsnY/w-d-xo.html ) the teacher would stand at the front of the class as this played over the PA system and we'd all do a 1970's version of aerobics before class started for the day. Everytime I hear this song...
Glen, as a fellow Ontarian of your generation, this song will be forever in my head because of the health hustle! I don't remember Popcorn being the song it was paired with, though, I think there was another popular song of the day we listened to, but not that one.
Ah, I found an article about it. The other songs were "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Together" - www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00971170.1978.10617843?journalCode=ujrd19
Another song of my childhood... dang we'd dance and sing song on radio barbaqueing in the back yard, cruising with windows down I love every Jim Croce Song RIP JIM CROCE HE'S SINGING WITH ANGELS NOW
My kids love Jim Croce! They know every word to the songs on this CD we play in the car. Yes. We have a hooptie but it works great! No need to download the songs when we have a disc. And First.
I was a young girl when this was out. One of my cousins used to sing, “ bad, bad Lee Boy Brown”. I think back now laugh about it. So funny. Back then we just danced around and had fun.
Some of the funniest story telling music. The whole song builds up Leroy as this giant mountain of a man with his fancy clothes and weapons. But he ends up losing the fight at the end. Hilarious
![POLYCAT - ข้อความรูปยิ้ม [Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lBhIgPGCgbI/mqdefault.jpg)
Jim Croce was a master story teller - "You Don't Mess Around with Jim," "Time in a Bottle," "Operator," "Roller Derby Queen" (this one is fun!) - all gold.
I know he wrote, "Roller Derby Queen" about a women he actually met. Always reminds me of the old Bay City Bomber , Ann Calvello
"master story teller" doesn't even begin to describe him. 😀
It's a shame we lose Jim far too soon, but we're stuck with Jackass Bieber.
i would also throw in Rapid Roy the Stock Car Boy to this list. :)
🙂
Yes storyteller perfect description of Jim.
Jim Croce was one of the best storytellers in music history.
I wouldn't go that far..
I would. He was great!
@Adam Godfrey you don't mess around with Jim
Charlie Daniels is also pretty far up there
Yes.. Jason Isbell
My grandmother used to play the hell out of this song on the piano when I was little. She passed years ago. Feeling like she’s stopping by to say hello to me personally😊
She definitely is.🥰
HUGS
Yup! That's the stuff! Her influence is alive and well... in you.
That must have been something to experience, your grandma playing the heck out of the piano. Sounds like good times and good memories.
Your grandmother had a badass music taste!
"Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone" is legit in my top five music lyrics ever. You could just picture it.
How?
@@bigsmoke5105 Well, I have been a paramedic for 24+ years, I have seen more than a few people that resembled "A jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone". My favorite description of a DOA was: (Motorcycle accident, high speed, rider thrown from the bike while wearing a low profile helmet) The cop walked up to our rig as we arrived, we asked where the patient was and what condition he was in, the cop replied "He's over there. And his face is did a fair impression of jello being scraped across pavement."
@@RLKmedic0315 damn
I was annoyed that Sinatra skipped it in his cover
I also love the lyric "and he loved to wear his ring on everybody's nose" this song is full of good descriptions. XD
This guy didn't make a bad song. Rest in peace Jim taken way to soon but he lives through his music 🎶 and hopefully future generations carry him through time 🙏.
His career was just taking off when, tragically he was killed in a plane crash in Natchitoches, La in 1973. His other hits include "Operator" "I Gotta Name" "Time In A Bottle" "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song"
What is it about all these legends going down in plane crashes
All these songs you list are amazing.
Joey Robison master story teller
@@WanderingWriter Jim Croce's was one of the dumbest. He'd agreed to do the concert before he got famous, and because he was an honorable man he still did it at a rate he didn't make any money off of. Add to that, the airfield inexplicably had a row of trees planted across the end of the runway, and that's what they hit. He shouldn't have been there. The trees shouldn't have been there. It never should have happened.
@@rileyandmike 😄
Now you have to do "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" by the same artist.
Yes, I like that one even more than this one.
@@alrivers2297 me too
Yep, got to do this one as well.
Exactly!
Came here to post the same thing. Also, It's A Great Day to Whoop Somebody's Ass by Paul Thorn.
"The two men got to fightin', and when they pulled them from the floor, Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone!" - For my money this is one of the best lyrics in all of music.
I always liked songs where someone gets shot. Like in Marty Robbins' El Paso, "I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle, I feel the bullet go deep in my chest". But Jim's line here has all that graphic brutality, softened by the clever joke. Agreed, one of the best lyrics ever.
Songs that tell a story, just stick around longer imo.
Man
@@richpeltier9519 Marty Robbins " Big Iron"
My favorite line is "All the downtown ladies call him Treetop Lover; all the men just call him sir"
Listen to “Don’t mess around with Jim” if you haven’t yet. You will like the story if you haven’t.
“My man looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces gone. WHAT HAPPENED LEROY?” 😂 the way you said that man
I guess that razor must have cut a hole in his shoe and fell out.
Nobody could tell a story in their songs like Jim Croce. He was gone too soon, killed in a plane crash just as his career was starting to take off.
d.m. sleeker I would add Marty Robbins in a story teller singer as well “El Paso”
Harry Chapin would like a word....But he died too soon also.
so many died that way.
I'd recommend Harry Chapin. Every song he wrote tells a story.
Mom has a record with Leroy Brown on it and it came with a picture of his son inside on the opposite side is the song's and lyrics
It's sad he left his little boy behind 😢
Moral: There is ALWAYS someone tougher and meaner
Qui-Gon: There's always a bigger fish
Or possibly, there’s always someone more motivated. Someone might not be tougher and meaner, but the insanity and adrenaline rush of jealousy might make them fight harder.
It doesn't matter how big the guy is, you fight a guy who has better training, a dirtier fighter, or able to use a big man's size and muscle to their own advantage, those are the folks you don't ever want to mess with. Beware the man with only one gun. He probably knows how to use it.
Moral: don't fuck with another man's girl, especially in front of him
Survival Of The Fittest. Nature is the ultimate bitch.
Moral of the story: no matter how big and bad you think you are, there will be someone if not bigger, but they certainly will be badder. RIP Jim
When I was a kid, I remember every time this came on the radio, I would dance in the back seat of my moms car. It was this song along with "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" and Stealers Wheel - "Stuck in the Middle with You." All three of those songs were my favorites! This was in the early 70s, before car seats and seat belts were a thing. My normal spot in the car, was standing on the back seat with my arms stretched across the back seat head rests. Those were the days.
I always say this was the first song I knew by heart. Sitting in the back seat of my mom's 73 Duster. Lol
I remember those days. Standing in the floor of the back seat straddling the hump. 😁
This & Linda Ronstadt’s cover of When Will I Be Loved.
Jim Croce had a ton of range. You Don't Mess Around With Jim, I Got a Name, and Time in a Bottle are all amazing!
Matt S Roller Derby Queen
And Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels)!! Don't forget about that too :)
I've always been fond of Workin' at the Carwash Blues
marshmello3455 oh I forgot that one! I’m old and had head and neck radiation, bleh not goin there!
@@apathy9990 honestly, i'm not convinced Jim Croce made any bad music. You name any of his songs, you name a classic.
I'm so glad he's being remembered. He was one of the best.
1973 released date,,
The partner to this one is "Don't Mess Around With Jim", another great story kind of song by Jim Croce
Yeah, but at least Leroy just took a massive beatdown. Big Jim, on the other hand, left the bar in a box.
Yes, have to do this song
@@rodneymontgomery1324 absolutely, lol
fugu pinkeye Right! I was thinking that a major part of this song was missing. I was like “What The F**k?!” “Where’s Slim G’damnit!?”. So, yeah, then I read your comment and it all came back to me and I immediately chilled tha funk out. Thanks for that, chief. You did me a solid😉
This guy was great, such a talent. Died way too young.
Any time I hear Jim it automatically takes me back to the late 70s and my dad kicking me out of the house hearing his "house cleaning music" as I rode away on my bike.
Moral of the story: Dont matter how "big and bad" you are, don't go messing with another man's woman.
That's right most of us will put up a bigger fight for our woman than anything else! May bite off more than you can swallow...
@Brian Hensley That too!!
True
The point for me is being ok takeing a beat down he had a gun and a blade never used it!
Got his ass beat and he's still bad bad Leroy Brown!
I like all of Jim Croce’s songs, but my favorite one is, “Operator”. Jamel, please do a reaction to “Operator”! Thanks, again for sharing YOUR gift with us!🌹
Operator is the best!
Jim Croce's songs are from his heart. Always loved I've Got a Name. I carry it with me like my daddy did. But I'm living the dream that he kept hid. I never knew my dad - he died at 37, more than a month before I was born.
Id do Karaoke to 'operator' sometimes.
Yes the best song!
He didn't have a bad song
I think you'd really like "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" same kinda lesson but even more story driven
Jerry Reed's Version is the best!!!
I was thinking about "Don't Mess With Jim"...
Gotta love Croce!
Yep
Please react to this!
And a cool twist at the end. The main title lyric changes from Jim to Slim!
I’ve always had an all over music taste and I just discovered this song recently. This song is easily my top 10 of all time. So ahead of its time, R.I.P. Jim Croce he should still be here.
Oh, Jim was taken away from us way too early. What a great storyteller, singer, musician. Wonderful music!
Such a classic! Queen even wrote a song in homage to this called "Bring back that Leroy Brown."
Oh shit, really? I'll have to check that out! Way cool!
If you don't have a tear in your eye while listening to Time In A Bottle, then you have no soul.
I love this song, but my favorite Jim Croce is "Time in a Bottle."
Always felt Time in a Bottle's tempo adjustments that changed the feeling of the song were what made the song beautiful. The funny thing is how hard it can be to put into words what seemed so simple when I thought about it.
Peace.
Mine too
Jamal: "Ain't nobody messing with Leroy!"
Plays rest of song....
I love, love, love seeing younger generations appreciating older music. You can understand the lyrics, and sing along, while they were complimented with good music.
My husband can sing and was in a band when we started dating. After we married, my Mom asked him to sing this song for her. She passed before she could attend a show of his, and after, he sang it for her and cried almost all the way through. She was my very best friend, and she loved my husband so much. I think of her every time I hear this. Thanks for the reaction.
I grew up listening to Jim Croce because of my Mom. I lost her 2 years ago. She was my best friend as well.
When Jim Croce was charming us with his music on the airwaves, his sudden death made you feel like you'd just lost your best friend 💔
Amen..... I was in the 2nd Grade on the monkey bars, in my elementary school play ground when I heard the terrible news.. Actually went behind a school building and balled my eyes out...R.I.P. Mr. Legend..Jim Croce..💛🧡❤😇🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
@@luisbohorquez7096 💞🌹❤
So very true. I was devastated to hear of his death. I was in high school. He was and still is my all-time favorite artist.
I couldn't believe he died so young, he was so amazing with words. Honestly, the best story telling artist out there.
My wife and I met his wife 20 years ago in San Diego at her restaurant called Croce's. Great night.
I love how I heard this song 45 years ago and seeing Jamal really hear it for the first time brought me back to that moment...Jim C always paints a great picture with his musiscianship and genuineness. I also love seeing your reaction to new music in all of your videos. Music brings us together. Jim Croce once did a tour in Yugoslavia with this college band. All the songs were in English, but as Jim said, everyone understands music. Eveyrone had a good time. Keep up the good work Jamal.
Jim Croce was one of the best story tellers next to Tom T. Hall. Jim could make you feel something through his music. It's like he was writing his songs for the listener in particular opposed to a massive audience. I keep hoping that one day there will be another Jim Croce.
Not to take away from Jim at all, but another performer who is exceptional at that is Alan Jackson 🤠 A living legend in country music!!!
And, might I just add Gordon Lightfoot? Thank you!
Tom T. Hall just passed away. RIP
"Time in a Bottle" will bring a tear..beautiful..
The ultimate sing a long song, been doing it since I was a kid.
Yup me too on 8 track lol
For years I had You don't mess around with Jim stuck in my head and finally about two years ago figured out the artist and now I can't get enough
Dude, totally! I was a little kid and got tired of listening of listening to my father's John Denver cassette tapes, so I searched through his collection, found Him Croce's Greatest Hits, put it on, and started to dig this!
Fun memories of my mom and dad laughing at me singing this in the backseat of the car when I was 4 years old. Apparently I used to belt out that Leroy was "baddest man in the whole DOWNtown" and "had a raisin in his shoe" One of my first favorite songs! Thanks for this video, Jamal. You make my day🤓❤️
At least baddest man in the whole downtown makes sense. I bet your parents were happy you did use the real word lol
Awww, that's SO cute!
The innate innocence of children is very amusing & adorable.
When I was little, I LOVED the song "Delta Dawn" (sung by Helen Reddy) to the point of suggesting it to my Sunday School church class teacher when she asked for a song recommendation!
Well? it SOUNDS a bit like a soulful song that a church choir might sing! (to me at least) I had NO idea what it was "actually" about. Nor the very "adult" nature of the primary character in the song.
@@sharkdentures3247 Haha thats funny! I remember singing that one too😆
When I was 7 or 8, my dad would wait until my mom wasn't home and play this record while we sang and danced around the room.
My dad died about 6 months after Jim did, and I never hear this song without the fun we had. The memories we have around music are with us forever 🎵♥
Cuz said he got a 32 just for fun and his pocket and a razor and a shoe and he's 6'4 ain't nobody messing with Leroy thank you for making me cry laughing I'm literally crying now
That stunned look of amazement when you heard "Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone" 😅
Classic song, amazing reaction as always.
RIP Jim
😢😢😢😭😫😭😫
Growing up, my mom rarely listened to or talked about music, but she told me Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle was her favorite song.
Poor Leroy. "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." ~Mike Tyson
Thanks for the memories brother! He was an AWSOME storyteller!
RIP Jim 🙏🏽
Jim Croce did another similar tune "Don't mess around with Jim". Another cool story along these lines
Between Jim and Leroy, I prefer Jim. Well, actually Slim. LOL
Please do this song, it’s really good!
The early to mid 70s was a great time for the storytelling songs and songwriters.
I think the 70s was the best decade of music ever. There was so many different types and genres of music. And agree with you 100%. Storytelling Songs Like This, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, wildfire, I'm not in love, oh what a night etcetera etcetera etcetera
Yeah they dont make them like this anymore. The 70s was deff the peak of musical expression. So many were making such good music. Then the 80s came and were just terrible some of the worst music ever produced 90s was good again and today its trash again
Check out "I got a name" by Croce.
Fuck that do EVERY Jim Croce song ever! How bout it
@@Leftylobber good thinking.
I second "I got a name"
Kyle Coultas Yeah you can’t really go wrong with any of them lol.
Anything and everything by Jim Croce there's not a lot of songs by him but every one of them is a masterclass of Storytelling you can't go wrong with Jim Cro
I heard Jim wrote his songs based on true life experiences/people he came across. Thank you Jamel for your reaction on this one. He was a favorite in the day. Sad he had such a short life here. So talented. 💖
My dad would use this song as a lesson. No matter how big and bad you are there is someone bigger and badder than you. Always
'I Got A Name' is a must as are 'Operator', 'Time In a Bottle', and "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song'.
When I was a kid, there was a wrestler called Leroy Brown. They used to play this song when he came out.
Aslo had one called Junkyard Dog
That was Bad News Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn music game, is Jim Croce! PLEASE DO EVERYTHING FROM JIM CROCE 1000/10
Kyle Coultas yes!! All Jim’s songs are amazing!
Weirder still... I learned this song in grade 4 music. We did it as a choir, for an assembly. The parents loved it! Lol!
One of the more underrated bass lines of all time. This song is just great all around. Nice to see young people getting in touch with great music.
Jim was ready to quit when his career started taking off. Unfortunately, he never got to see the fruits of his years of suffering because he was tragically killed in a plane crash at the age of just 30yrs. He left behind a wife and a very young son. But we will always have his great songs.
Hard to imagine how legendary songwriters come up with these magic lyrics at such young ages. I'm about 30 now, and can't imagine writing anything as clever as this. Then you got guys like John Prine and Dylan who write incredible songs in their early twenties. It's so weird to think about.
His son sings very well. Like father like son.
Clyde Barrow He had actually written a letter to his wife and told her he thought he was giving it up when he got home. He mailed it. He was killed before the letter arrived. At least that’s the story I read once.
Unfortunately Croce's career never really took off. He was never able to be a full time musician. He always had to retain a day job. Soft rock's popularity did not last long.
Zenhael Cero Paul Simon wrote something pretty bizarre lyrics at a young age to. If you really listen to the words, it blows your mind how a 20 year old even thought that way.
He wrote most of his songs while he was in the Army at Ft. Jackson in North Carolina. Leroy Brown was a man he served with.
Pretty sure Ft. Jackson is in South Carolina though.
😂"Treetop Lover"! I knew that line would resonate!😅
I was so young when this came out, but it was my first favorite song. We had a converted basement where our record player was and I remember dancing and trying to sing along to this song as a kid. I was like 4 or so. Jim Croce will always be one of my touchstone musicians until I die, and this song was my introduction to him.
Oh my mom looooved him and played this album constantly. She even bought some of his sheet music and tried to play it on guitar.
The best was Time in a Bottle .. then he died 😭😭😭
I loved the flash of joy that hit you when the opening bars started, yeah this is the song you thought it was
"He liked to wear his diamond rings on everybody's nose" is the most poetic description of a gangster I've ever heard.
I believe it is: "He likes to wave his diamond ring in front of everybody's nose" but your response is hysterical lol
@@lauramariebrumm5131 just learned something new, .....since hearing this as a young teenager when it first came out, I always thought it was " under everybody's nose !
"He likes to wear his diamond ring up under everybody's nose"... fact 😉😘
Yeah
@@lauramariebrumm5131 Nah, he punches them out while wearing it, thus "on everybody's nose".
Love this song. It's one of those songs that really feel like the 70s.
"I Gotta Name" "You Don't Mess Around With Jim"
Murder ballads done modern style!
This song always makes me think also of Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Gimme Three Steps" 😀
and Stevie Ray Vaghn's "you better leave my little girl alone"
I love your reaction videos, I'm now 61 and going through your lists helps me remember all of the great songs of the past I haven't heard in decades. Keep it up, you're the best.
This brought a smile to my face. Thank you Jamel!
Blood Sweat and Tears "Spinning Wheel" "You've Made Me So Very Happy" , "And When I Die"
A great cover of Spinning Wheel was a duet done by Engelbert Humperdinck and Gene Simmons.
"You Don't Mess Around With Jim" by Jim Coroce is an even better story IMO. It was almost the plot of the 80's Keanu Reeves movie "The Night Before" - made years later, of course. 😉
You got to do you don’t mess around with Jim!!! It’s a companion to this song in many ways.
This song was inspired by an Army buddy that Jim had while he was in the Army. So there really was a 'Leroy Brown'.
My fav Jim Croce song is Time in A Bottle. I used to play the Heck out of that song on our organ when I was 8yrs old. Lol...✌✌✌
There were a lot of storytelling songs back then, like Roger Whittaker's "The Last Farewell," Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," etc. Good times, even as a kid, in the 70s.
I love the expression from you especially because you like the older music. Great taste in music, I grew up listening to this classic this is my 92 year old mother's favorite song from Jim. My oldest brother used to play this for my mother RIP big brother.
Everyone of Jim's songs are great.
"Time in a Bottle"; "Operator"; "I Got a Name"; ...
LiLSuzQ32 My 3 favorites of his!
@@darlanilsen879 💖💖💖💖💖 ... then of course, there's *THIS* one, ROFLMFAO!!! th-cam.com/video/8NNwOScmSQk/w-d-xo.html
LiLSuzQ32 I have never heard this one (thankfully lol) 🥰 but thank you for the laugh!
Yes, you have to hear his "Don't mess around with Jim" now. You'll love it.
A long time ago, when I was a little kid (grade 2-4) we did a thing every morning after the anthem called the health hustle. It was this song, and another called 'Popcorn' (th-cam.com/video/vL2TYoBYsnY/w-d-xo.html ) the teacher would stand at the front of the class as this played over the PA system and we'd all do a 1970's version of aerobics before class started for the day. Everytime I hear this song...
Glen & Friends Cooking I’m subbed to your channel as well!
I bet you're in shape.
Pop Corn was one of my favorite songs to play on the xylophone in my high school band.
Glen, as a fellow Ontarian of your generation, this song will be forever in my head because of the health hustle! I don't remember Popcorn being the song it was paired with, though, I think there was another popular song of the day we listened to, but not that one.
Ah, I found an article about it. The other songs were "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Together" - www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00971170.1978.10617843?journalCode=ujrd19
"Don't Mess Around With Jim". Is another one of his songs that is Amazing.
Thanks for playing the best selling song of 1973 .
This is it!!! Jim Croce is to good! Operator, you don’t mess around with jim, time in a bottle, it goes on and on!
Still here for some Zappa.
Arlo Guthry-Alice's restaurant. It's about 20 minutes but I'd recommend at least a listen. It's a well told story.
It's spelled Guthrie. Sorry I messed that up.
@@brianbyers4439 Go sit on the group W bench.
A Thanksgiving tradition!
Love ur reactions man keep up the good work
"all the men just called him 'sir'" LMAO
Another song of my childhood... dang we'd dance and sing song on radio barbaqueing in the back yard, cruising with windows down
I love every Jim Croce Song
RIP JIM CROCE
HE'S SINGING WITH ANGELS NOW
My kids love Jim Croce! They know every word to the songs on this CD we play in the car. Yes. We have a hooptie but it works great! No need to download the songs when we have a disc. And First.
"There's always a bigger fish." - Qui-Gon Jinn
Boot to the head!!!!!!
"Hmm... yousa point is well seen. Dis way, hurry!" - Jar Jar Binks
Thought you were suggesting a song...
Yesah
"I've got a name" by Jim Croce is my favorite
I agree! That’s my personal theme song. I love that song. He was an amazing artist and a super sexy man. And I love the Roller Derby Queen.
Mine too!
One of my favorites. Jim Croce is gold,. I still have an 8 track of Jim and Ingrid Croce. Songs of my youth.
YOU MAKE ME LAUGH JAMEL!! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR REACTIONS!!
Jim Croce had some great stuff out there..Great writer...gone too soon!
“Badder than ol’ King Kong! Meaner than a junkyard dog!”
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."- Mike Tyson, who is "only" 5'10" remember
I just spit out my beer lmfao!!
5'10" and 4 feet wide and all of it muscle.
I would happily step in the ring with Mike Tyson. Then run so fast the ropes couldn't contain me 🤣
I have that t-shirt
"You Don't Mess Around With Jim" goes hand in hand with this one the great Jim Croce all the greats leave us early.
LUV this guy, and this song.
I was a young girl when this was out. One of my cousins used to sing, “ bad, bad Lee Boy Brown”. I think back now laugh about it. So funny. Back then we just danced around and had fun.
Look up “Roller Derby Queen”. Jim Croce
Mary Tuggle that’s just such a great rhythm. Definitely for me, a classic Croce song
To co-sign many others here; you wanna get into the lyrics check out “Operator”
Heavy stuff
But that's not the way it feels.
Some of the funniest story telling music. The whole song builds up Leroy as this giant mountain of a man with his fancy clothes and weapons. But he ends up losing the fight at the end. Hilarious
Jamel, my dad and I love your videos. You have to do "You don't mess around with Jim" by CROCE. PEACE AND LOVE BROTHER MAN💗