Operator - Jim Croce (1972) 2/3/23

Today's "Great Song of the '70s" is Jim Croce's follow-up to his breakout hit, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim."

In 1972, "Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels.)" was a big hit (and the last Jim had before he died in a plane crash), reaching #11 on both Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and Canada's Top 40.

The story behind it is fascinating and sad.

According to Jim's widow, Ingrid, Jim was away from home, serving in the National Guard down south, missing her, good Italian food, and his life in general, when he decided to call home.

It was raining, and there was a line of wet servicemen waiting to use an outdoor phone booth on base. As Jim was waiting his turn, several of the men were making calls to their girlfriends and wives, and asking the operator to help them make the call.

Turns out that many of them had received "Dear John" letters and were calling to find out if it were true.

Unfortunately, many of them discovered it WAS true, and, for others, who thought everything was fine, it suddenly tuned into a "Dear John" phone call.

Jim was amazed at how many of the guys were dumped that evening, and when they left the phone booth, they were wet with both rain and tears.

Jim's call to Ingrid was NOT one of those calls, but the experience lingered in his mind, and the song was born.

Epilogue: After Jim's death, whenever Ingrid would call "information" for a phone number (which was quite common in the '70s), the operator would, of course, recognize the name Croce, and tell Ingrid how much they loved the song. She was always touched by this.

"Operator (That's Not the Way it Feels.)" by Jim Croce: a sad, but "Great Song of 1972." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb85NvjbBm8