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James Travis "Jim" Reeves (August 20, 1923 – July 31, 1964) was an American singer-songwriter of country western and pop music.
Early life and rise to fameJim Reeves was born in Galloway, Texas, a small rural community near Carthage
. He became known as a crooner because of his warm, velvety voice. His songs were remarkable for their simple elegance highlighted by his rich light baritone voice. Songs such as "He'll Have to Go," "Adios Amigo (song)," "Welcome To My World," and "Am I Losing You" demonstrated this approach. Jim Reeves' Christmas songs have been perennial favorites, including songs such as "Silver Bells," "Blue Christmas," and "An Old Christmas Card".
For many years, Reeves mixed college life with baseball and music. Influenced by such Western swing artists as Jimmie Rodgers and Moon Mullican as well as popular crooners Bing Crosby, Eddy Arnold and Frank Sinatra, it was not long before he got a foothold into the music industry. For a time, he was a member of Moon Mullican's band and also worked as a DJ and announcer with local radio stations. He made some early, Moon Mullican-style recordings like "Each Beat of my Heart" and "My Heart's Like a Welcome Mat" in the late 1940s/early 1950s.
After an injury cut short his minor-league baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals farm system, his musical break came while working as announcer on KWKH Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Singer Sleepy LaBeef could not make it on time for a performance on the Louisiana Hayride, according to former Hayride emcee Frank Page, and Reeves was asked to fill in. (Other accounts—including Reeves himself, in an interview later released on the RCA album Yours Sincerely—name Hank Williams as the absentee.) Reeves' singing career was launched.
Initial success in the 1950sHis first country hits included "I Love You" (a duet with Ginny Wright), "Mexican Joe", "Bimbo" and other songs on both Fabor Records and Abbott Records. Eventually, Reeves began to tire of the novelty bracket he had been forced into, and left for RCA Victor.
Indeed, by 1955 it was becoming apparent that RCA was very willing to sign Jim, and offered him a 10-year recording contract. Reeves signed, and the Abbot label had released a singer who was due to become one of country music's biggest and brightest stars. (Incidentally. the man who clinched the deal for RCA, Stephen H. Sholes, produced some of Jim's first recordings at RCA, and later in 1955 he completed a memorable "double" when he signed a young Elvis Presley for the company.)
In his earliest RCA Victor recordings, Reeves was still singing in the loud style of his first recordings, a style considered standard for country-western performers at that time. He sought to soften his volume, using a lower pitch and singing with lips nearly touching the microphone, but ran into some resistance at RCA—until in 1957, with the support of his producer Chet Atkins, he used this new style on his version of a demo song of lost love, written from a woman's perspective (and intended for a female singer). "Four Walls" not only took top position on the country charts, but went to number eleven on the popular charts at the same time. Reeves had not only opened the door to wider acceptance for other country singers, but had also helped usher in a new style of country music, using violins and lusher background arrangements, soon called "The Nashville Sound."
His hits in the 1960sReeves' LP, Golden Memories
In 1959–60 Reeves scored his greatest hit with the Joe Allison composition "He'll Have to Go," which earned him a platinum record. He had a posthumous No.1 hit on the United Kingdom pop charts in 1966 with "Distant Drums," a song written for him by Cindy Walker. Jim Reeves was one of the few Western singers, including music acts such as Boney M and ABBA, who became widely known in the non-European world, including Africa, India and Southeast Asia. To this day he is affectionately referred to as "Gentleman Jim" in those parts.
DeathReeves died when the small aircraft he was piloting crashed during a thunderstorm near Nashville, Tennessee. His business partner and manager Dean Manuel (who was also the pianist in Reeves' backing group) was also killed in the crash. On July 31 1964 Reeves and Manuel left Batesville, Arkansas en route to Nashville, having just secured a deal on some property. He had also unsuccessfully tried to buy property from the LaGrone family in Deadwood, Texas, north of his birthplace of Galloway. While flying over Brentwood, they encountered a violent thunderstorm which proved more than a match for the tiny, single-engined Beechcraft 'Debonair' aircraft. The plane faded from the radar screens at around 1702 hrs, and all radio contact with the craft was lost.
One of the major causes of the crash was deemed to have been that the small airplane had become caught in the centre of the thunderstorm and that Reeves had become disoriented by "spatial disorientation", which would have resulted in his not realizing in which direction the plane was travelling, be it up, down, left or right.
Both Reeves and Randy Hughes, the pilot of Patsy Cline's ill-fated plane, were trained by the same instructor.
It is now understood that Reeves was, in fact, flying the plane upside down and he assumed he was raising the craft some distance in an attempt to clear the path of the storm. This would have explained why, when the wreckage was eventually found some 42 hours later, the engine and nose of the plane were buried deep in the earth due to the tremendous impact of the stricken craft hitting the ground. The crash site is situated in a wooded area NNE of Brentwood roughly at the junction of Baxter Lane and Franklin Pike Circle just east of US interstate 65 and SW of Nashville international airport where he was seeking to land.
On the morning of August 2 1964 the bodies of Jim Reeves and Dean Manuel were found amongst the wreckage of the shattered plane. At 13:00 that afternoon, radio stations across the United States announced to their shocked and stunned audiences that Jim Reeves had been killed in a plane crash.
Many thousands of people turned out to pay their last respects to Jim Reeves at his funeral, which took place on August 4 1964. The coffin, draped in flowers from respectful fans, was driven through the silent streets of Nashville and to Jim's final resting place near his home town of Carthage, Texas.
LegacyReeves' records continued with good sales for both the old albums and a series of new ones. His widow, Mary, combined unreleased tracks with rerecorded previous releases (placing updated instrumentals alongside Reeves' original vocals) to produce a regular series of "new" albums after her husband's death. She also operated The Jim Reeves Museum in Nashville, Tennessee from the early 1980s until 1996.
Indeed, Jim scored a major success when, in 1966, his record "Distant Drums" went to number one in the British singles chart and remained in pole position for a remarkable five weeks - beating off stiff competition from such acts as The Beatles with "Yellow Submarine" and "Eleanor Rigby" (a double-sided "A" release) and the Small Faces' "All Or Nothing". In addition, "Distant Drums" also held off many other songs from living artists who were in the UK charts at that time. In all, "Distant Drums" remained in the UK charts for a staggering forty-five weeks as well as topping the US country music charts. Not bad going for a song which had been recorded by Jim for its composer Cindy Walker only under the impression it was for her personal use only and had been deemed "unsuitable" for general release by Chet Atkins and the RCA record company. "Distant Drums" was named 'Song of the Year' in the UK in 1966 and Jim had the distinction of being the first American artist to receive that particular accolade.
Although he no longer features in the singles charts, Jim Reeves compilation albums containing well-known standards continue to sell well. "The Definitive Collection" reached #21 in the UK album charts in July 2003 and "Memories are made of this" #35 in July 2004. Bear Family Records in Germany produced a 16-CD boxed set of Jim's studio recordings and several smaller sets consisting mainly of radio broadcasts and demos. In 2007, they released a set entitled "Nashville Stars on Tour", containing audio and video material of the RCA tour of Europe in April 1964 in which Jim features prominently. This is a fascinating collection as it enables us to listen to and see Jim at the height of his fame, just a couple of months before his death. Since 2003, the US based VoiceMasters has issued over 80 previously unreleased recordings by Jim, including new songs that fans have not heard, as well as newly overdubbed material. Among them is "I'm A Hit Again," the last song Jim recorded in his basement studio just a few days before his death. VoiceMasters overdubbed this historic track in the same studio in Jim's former home (now owned by another Nashville record producer). These Voicemasters releases are warmly welcomed and appreciated by Jim's legion of fans across the world. Reeves fans have repeatedly urged BMG or Bear Family to re-release some of the songs overdubbed in the years after Jim's death which have never appeared on CD.
He was elected posthumously to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967, and in 1998 he was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas, where the Jim Reeves Memorial is located.
Reeves' inscription at the Country Music Hall of Fame reads -
"The velvet style of 'Gentleman Jim Reeves' was an international influence. His rich voice bought millions of new fans to country music from every corner of the world.
Although the crash of his private airplane took his life, posterity will keep his name alive because they will remember him as one of country music's most important performers."
The inscription on the Jim Reeves Memorial has:
"If I, a lowly singer, dry one tear, or soothe one humble human heart in pain, then my homely verse to God is dear, and not one stanza has been sung in vain."
Blind R&B and Blues artist Robert Bradley (better known as Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise) pays tribute to this singing legend in the album description of his latest studio release Out of the Wilderness. Bradley is quoted as saying, "This record brings me back to the time when I started out wanting to be a singer-songwriter, where the music did not need the New York Philharmonic to make it real...I wanted to do a record and just be Robert and sing straight like Jim Reeves on ‘Put Your Sweet Lips a Little Closer to the Phone.'”
English comedian, Jim Moir takes his stage name "Vic Reeves" from Jim Reeves and Vic Damone, two of his favourite singers.
International successSouth AfricaIn the early 1960s, Reeves was more popular than Elvis Presley in South Africa. During this period, he recorded several albums in Afrikaans. In 1963 he starred in a South African film, Kimberley Jim, which was the biggest South African production up to that date. The film's working title was "Strike It Rich" and was released with a special prologue and epilogue in South African cinemas after Reeves' passing, praising Reeves as a true friend of South Africa. The film was produced, directed and written by Emil Nofal.
Reeves is particularly popular amongst the Zulu population in South Africa and is known amongst this community by the monikers "King Jim" and (because of his 6'1" frame) "Big Jim".
NorwayJim Reeves was very big in Norway throughout the 1960s. His first hit in Norway was "He'll Have to Go" which reached #1 in the Top 10 and stayed in the list for 29 weeks. "I Love You Because", though, was his biggest hit here. It reached #1 in 1964 and stayed in the list for 39 weeks.
Reeves visited Njårdhallen, Oslo on April 16 1964, along with Bobby Bare, Chet Atkins, The Blue Boys and The Anita Kerr Singers. They held two successful concerts. The last concert was filmed and televised by the Norwegian broadcasting network (NRK - Norsk Rikskringkasting). They ran out of tape so the complete concert was not recorded in its entirety and included, unfortunately, some of the last songs of Jim's segment of the show. There are reports that he performed his hit song "You're the Only Good Thing (That's Happened To Me)" in this section of the concert.The show has been re-run many times over the years. In Britain and Ireland there were tributes penned to Reeves after his death, A Tribute to Jim Reeves was written by Eddie Masterson and recorded by Larry Cunningham and The MIghty Avons and in January 1965 it was in the UK Charts and Top Ten in Ireland. In the UK, We'll Remember You was written by Geoff Gerrard but not released until recently on an album by Houston Wells. Reeves had toured in Ireland and England in 1963, and came back to England for some TV and Radio shows while on the European Tour.
In total Reeves had 696 weeks in the Norwegian Top 20 album chart, by far making him one of the most beloved and popular artists in the history of Norway.
IrelandJim Reeves and The Blue Boys were in Ireland from 30 May 1963 to the 19 June 1963 with a tour of US Overseas bases from the 10 June to the 15 June after which they returned to Ireland to complete the tour. Reeves performed in most counties in Ireland and there were occasions when he left the venue early because he was unhappy with the piano, the tour was the subject of an interview with Peter Clark of Spotlight Magazine on the 6 June 1963 in which Reeves expressed his concerns about the tour schedule and the condition of the pianos but said that he was pleased with the audiences and in a number of cases he put on a show for 40 - 45 minutes. He had planned to record an album of popular Irish songs and had three Number Ones here in 1963 and 1964, Welcome to My World,I Love You Because, and I Won't Forget You. In all Jim Reeves had 11 songs in the Irish Charts from 1962 to 1967. He recorded two Irish ballads, Danny Boy and Maureen. He ramains a popular artist in that country today and many Irish singers have recorded tribute albums. A play by author Dermot Devitt Put Your Sweet Lips was based on his appearance in The Pavesi Ballroom, Donegal town on the 7 June 1963 and the reminiscences of the people who were there. This material is included here because the Irish and English tours came between the tour of South Africa and the European tour. Reeves was permitted to perform in Ireland by the Irish Fedaration of Musicians on the condition that he share the same bill with the Irish Show Bands of which there was a growing number in 1963. The British Federation of Musicians would not permit him to play to the public there because no agreement existed for British Show Bands to travel to America in exchange for the Blue Boys playing in England.
India and Sri LankaJim Reeves has a huge fan following in both India and Sri Lanka.Jim Reeves is undoubtedly the all time most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka. Walk around Christian houses in either nation during Christmas season and you are certain to hear Jim's carols. Young and old, Jim has captured them all since the 1960s. Walk into any music store and you will find Jim's CDs or audio cassettes readily available even in 2007. Two of Reeves' songs, "There's a Heartache Following Me" and "Welcome to My World," were favorite songs of Indian guru Meher Baba, leading Baba follower Pete Townshend of The Who to record his own version of "There's a Heartache Following Me" on his first major solo album Who Came First in 1972.
Also, Robert Svoboda in his trilogy on aghora and the Aghori Vimalananda, mentions that Vimalananda, considered Jim Reeves a gandharva, ie. in Indian tradition, a heavenly musician, who had taken birth on earth. Jim's songs were precious to Vimalananda, and he had Svoboda play "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" of Jim Reeves, at his cremation.
Jim was popular not only in these countries, but also in much of the world, being just as popular as Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. Jim's international status as a superstar even often surpassed his popularity in his home country, the United States.
DiscographySelected hit singles
Selected albums
Copyright Citations
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