Jim Reeves

Early life and education

Reeves was born at home in Galloway, Texas, a small rural community near Carthage. He was the youngest of 8 children born to Mary Beulah Adams Reeves (b. 1884) and Thomas Middleton Reeves (b. 1882). He was known as Travis during his childhood years. Winning an athletic scholarship to the University of Texas, he enrolled to study speech and drama, but quit after only six weeks to work in the shipyards in Houston. Soon he resumed baseball, playing in the semi-professional leagues before contracting with the St. Louis Cardinals "farm" team during 1944 as a right-handed pitcher. He played for the minor leagues for three years before severing his sciatic nerve while pitching, which ended his athletic career.

Early career

Reeves' initial efforts to pursue a baseball career were sporadic, possibly due to his uncertainty as to whether he would be drafted into the military as World War II enveloped the United States. On 9 March 1943 he reported to the Army Induction Center in Tyler (Texas) for his preliminary physical examination. However, he failed the exam (probably due to a heart irregularity), and on 4 August 1943 an official letter declared his 4-F draft status. Reeves began to work as a radio announcer, and sang live between songs. During the late 1940s, he was contracted with a couple of small Texas-based recording companies, but without success. Influenced by such Western swing-music artists as Jimmie Rodgers and Moon Mullican, as well as popular singers Bing Crosby, Eddy Arnold and Frank Sinatra, it was not long before he was a member of Moon Mullican's band, and made some early Mullican-style recordings like "Each Beat of my Heart" and "My Heart's Like a Welcome Mat" from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.

He eventually obtained a job as an announcer for KWKH-AM in Shreveport, Louisiana, then the home of the popular radio program the Louisiana Hayride. According to former Hayride master of ceremonies Frank Page, who had introduced Elvis Presley on the program in 1954, singer Sleepy LaBeef was late for a performance, and Reeves was asked to substitute. (Other accounts—including that of Reeves himself, in an interview on the RCA Victor album Yours Sincerely—name Hank Williams as the absentee.)

Initial success in the 1950s

Jim Reeves was a country music singer who had success early on in his career with hits such as "I Love You" (a duet with Ginny Wright), "Mexican Joe", and "Bimbo" which reached Number 1 on the U.S. Country Charts in 1954. In addition to those early hits, Reeves recorded many other songs for Fabor Records and Abbott Records. In 1954, Abbott Records released a 45 single with "Bimbo" on side-A which hit #1 and featured Little Joe Hunt of the Arkansas Walk of Fame. Jim Reeves and Little Joe Hunt met at the Louisiana Hayride which was Louisiana's equivalent to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. After performing at the Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana, Reeves and Hunt traveled & performed together for several years in the dance halls and clubs of east Texas and rural Arkansas. Reeves became the headliner with Hunt as the backup performer. Due to his growing popularity, Reeves went on to release his first album in November 1955, Jim Reeves Sings (Abbott 5001), which proved to be one of Abbott Records' couple album releases. Reeves' star was on the rise because he had already been signed to a 10-year recording contract with RCA Victor by Steve Sholes. Sholes went on to produce some of Reeves' first recordings at RCA Victor. Sholes signed another performer from the Louisiana Hayride that same year (1955), Elvis Presley. Most of the talented performers of the 1950s such as Reeves, Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jim Ed Brown & Maxine Brown, The Wilburn Brothers and Little Joe Hunt got their start at the Louisiana Hayride. In addition to the Hayride, Jim Reeves joined the Grand Ole Opry also in 1955. Reeves also made his first appearance on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee in 1955. He was such a hit with the fans that he was invited to act as fill-in host from May thru July 1958 on the popular program, Ozark Jubilee.

From his earliest recordings with RCA Victor, Reeves relied on the loud, east Texas style which was considered standard for country and western performers of that time. However, he developed a new style of singing over the course of his career. He said, "One of these days.....I'm gonna sing like I want to sing!" So, he decreased his volume and used the lower registers of his singing voice with his lips nearly touching the microphone. Amid protests from RCA but with the endorsement of his producer Chet Atkins, Reeves used this new style in a 1957 recording, a demo song of lost love that had originally been intended for a female voice. It was titled "Four Walls" which not only scored No. 1 on the country music charts, but scored No. 11 on the popular music charts as well. Jim Reeves was instrumental in creating a new style of country music which used violins and lusher background arrangements which soon became known as the Nashville Sound. This new sound was able to cross genres which made Reeves even more popular as a recording artist.

Reeves became known as a crooner because of his light yet rich baritone voice. Because of his vocal style, he was also considered a talented artist because of his versatility in crossing the music charts. He appealed to audiences that weren't necessarily country/western. His catalog of songs such as "Adios Amigo", "Welcome to My World", and "Am I Losing You?" demonstrated this appeal. Many of his Christmas songs have become perennial favorites including "C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S", "Blue Christmas" and "An Old Christmas Card".

Reeves is also responsible for popularizing many gospel songs, including "We Thank Thee", "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", "Across The Bridge", "Where We'll Never Grow Old". He was given the name Gentleman Jim. an apt description of Jim Reeves both on stage & off.

Early 1960s and international fame

Reeves scored his greatest success with the Joe Allison composition "He'll Have to Go", a success on both the popular and country music charts, which earned him a platinum record. Released during late 1959, it scored number one on Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs chart on February 8, 1960, which it scored for 14 consecutive weeks. Country music historian Bill Malone noted that while it was in many ways a conventional country song, its arrangement and the vocal chorus "put this recording in the country pop vein". In addition, Malone lauded Reeves' vocal styling—lowered to "its natural resonant level" to project the "caressing style that became famous"—as why "many people refer to him as the singer with the velvet voice." In 1963 he released his "Twelve Songs of Christmas" album, which had the well known songs "C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S" and "An Old Christmas Card". During 1975, RCA producer Chet Atkins told interviewer Wayne Forsythe, "Jim wanted to be a tenor but I wanted him to be a baritone... I was right, of course. After he changed his voice to that smooth deeper sound, he was immensely popular."

Reeves' international popularity during the 1960s, however, at times surpassed his popularity in the United States, helping to give country music a worldwide market for the first time.

South Africa

During the early 1960s, Reeves was more popular in South Africa than Elvis Presley and recorded several albums in the Afrikaans language. In 1963, he toured and was featured in a South African film, Kimberley Jim. The film was released with a special prologue and epilogue in South African cinemas after Reeves' death, praising him as a true friend of the country. The film was produced, directed, and written by Emil Nofal.

Reeves was one of an exclusive trio of performers to have released an album there that played at the little-used 16⅔ rpm speed. This unusual format was more suited to the spoken word and was quickly discontinued for music. The only other artists known to have released such albums in South Africa were Elvis Presley and Slim Whitman.

Britain and Ireland

Reeves toured Britain and Ireland during 1963 between his tours of South Africa and Europe. Reeves and the Blue Boys were in Ireland from May 30 to June 19, 1963, with a tour of US military bases from June 10 to 15, when they returned to Ireland. They performed in most counties in Ireland, though Reeves occasionally abbreviated performances because he was unhappy with the available pianos at concert venues. In a June 6, 1963 interview with Spotlight magazine, Reeves expressed his concerns about the tour schedule and the condition of the pianos, but said he was pleased with the audiences.

There was a press reception for him at the Shannon Shamrock Inn organized by Tom Monaghan of Bunratty Castle, County Clare. Show band singers Maisie McDaniel and Dermot O'Brien welcomed him on May 29, 1963. A photograph appeared in the Limerick Leader on June 1, 1963. Press coverage continued from May until Reeves' arrival with a photograph of the press reception in The Irish Press. Billboard magazine in the US also reported the tour before and after. The single "Welcome to My World" with the B/W side "Juanita" was released by RCA Victor during June 1963 and bought by the distributors Irish Records Factors Ltd. This scored the record number one while Reeves was there during June.

There were a number of accounts of his dances in the local newspapers and a good account was given in The Kilkenny People of his dance in the Mayfair Ballroom where 1,700 people were present. There was a photograph in The Donegal Democrat of Reeves' singing in the Pavesi Ball Room on June 7, 1963, and an account of his non-appearance on stage in The Diamond, Kiltimagh, County Mayo in The Western People representing how the tour went in different areas.

He planned to record an album of popular Irish songs, and had three number one songs in Ireland during 1963 and 1964: "Welcome to My World", "I Love You Because", and "I Won't Forget You". The last two are estimated to have sold 860,000 and 750,000 respectively in Britain alone, excluding Ireland. Reeves had 11 songs in the Irish charts from 1962 to 1967. He recorded two Irish ballads, "Danny Boy" and "Maureen". "He'll Have to Go" was his most popular song there and was at number one and on the charts for months during 1960. He was one of the most popular recording artists in Ireland, in the first ten after the Beatles, Elvis and Cliff Richard.

He was permitted to perform in Ireland by the Irish Federation of Musicians on the condition that he share the bill with Irish show bands, becoming popular by 1963. The British Musicians' Union would not permit him to perform there because no agreement existed for British show bands to travel to America in exchange for the Blue Boys playing in Britain. Reeves did, however, perform for British radio and TV programmes.

Norway

Reeves played at the sports arena Njårdhallen, Oslo on April 16, 1964 with Bobby Bare, Chet Atkins, the Blue Boys and the Anita Kerr Singers. They performed two concerts; the second was televised and recorded by the Norwegian network NRK (Norsk Rikskringkasting, the only one in Norway at the time). The complete concert, however, was not recorded, including some of Reeves' last songs. There are reports he performed "You're the Only Good Thing (That's Happened to Me)" in this section. The program has been repeated on NRK several times over the years.

His first success in Norway, "He'll Have to Go", scored No. 1 in the Top Ten and scored the chart for 29 weeks. "I Love You Because" was his greatest success in Norway, scoring No. 1 during 1964 and scoring on the list for 39 weeks. His albums spent 696 weeks in the Norwegian Top 20 chart, making him one of the most popular music artists in the history of Norway.

Last recording session

Reeves' last recording session for RCA Victor had produced "Make the World Go Away", "Missing You", and "Is It Really Over?" When the session ended with some time remaining on the schedule, Reeves suggested that he should record one more song. He taped "I Can't Stop Loving You", in what was to be his final RCA recording. He made one later recording, however, at the little studio in his home. In late July 1964, a few days before his death, Reeves recorded "I'm a Hit Again", using just an acoustic guitar as accompaniment. That recording was never released by RCA (because it was a home recording not owned by the label), but appeared during 2003 as part of a collection of previously unissued Reeves songs released on the VoiceMasters label.

Personal life

Jim Reeves married Mary White on 3 September 1947. They never had any children as Jim Reeves was believed to be sterile, due to complications from a mumps infection.

Death

On Friday, July 31, 1964, Reeves and his business partner and manager Dean Manuel (also the pianist of Reeves' backing group, the Blue Boys) left Batesville, Arkansas, en route to Nashville in a single-engine Beechcraft Debonair aircraft, with Reeves at the controls. The two had secured a deal on some real estate (Reeves had also unsuccessfully tried to buy property from the LaGrone family in Deadwood, Texas, north of his birthplace of Galloway).

While flying over Brentwood, Tennessee, they encountered a violent thunderstorm. A subsequent investigation showed that the small airplane had become caught in the storm and Reeves suffered spatial disorientation. The singer's widow, Mary Reeves (1929–1999), probably unwittingly started the rumor that he was flying the airplane upside down and assumed he was increasing altitude to clear the storm. However, according to Larry Jordan, author of the 2011 biography, Jim Reeves: His Untold Story, this scenario is refuted by eyewitnesses known to crash investigators who saw the plane overhead immediately before the mishap, and confirmed that Reeves was not upside down. Fellow friend and legendary musician Marty Robbins, recalled hearing the wreck happen and alerting authorities to which direction he heard the impact. Jordan writes extensively about forensic evidence (including from the long-elusive tower tape and accident report), which suggests that instead of making a right turn to avoid the storm (as he had been advised by the approach controller to do), Reeves turned left in an attempt to follow Franklin Road to the airport. In so doing, he flew further into the rain. While preoccupied with trying to re-establish his ground references, Reeves let his airspeed get too low and stalled the aircraft. Relying on his instincts more than his training, evidence suggests he applied full power and pulled back on the yoke before leveling his wings—a fatal, but not uncommon, mistake that induced a stall/spin from which he was too low to recover. Jordan writes that according to the tower tape, Reeves ran into the heavy rain at 4:51 p.m. and crashed only a minute later, at 4:52 p.m.

When the wreckage was found some 42 hours later, it was discovered the airplane's engine and nose were buried in the ground due to the impact of the crash. The crash site was in a wooded area north-northeast of Brentwood approximately at the junction of Baxter Lane and Franklin Pike Circle, just east of Interstate 65, and southwest of Nashville International Airport where Reeves planned to land.

On the morning of August 2, 1964, after an intense search by several parties (which included several personal friends of Reeves including Ernest Tubb and Marty Robbins) the bodies of the singer and Dean Manuel were found in the wreckage of the aircraft and, at 1:00 p.m. local time, radio stations across the United States began to announce Reeves' death formally. Thousands of people travelled to pay their last respects at his funeral two days later. The coffin, draped in flowers from fans, was driven through the streets of Nashville and then to Reeves' final resting place near Carthage, Texas.

Legacy

Reeves was elected posthumously to the Country Music Hall of Fame during 1967, which honored him by saying, "The velvet style of 'Gentleman Jim Reeves' was an international influence. His rich voice brought 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."

In 1998 Reeves was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas, where the Jim Reeves Memorial is located. The inscription on the memorial reads, "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."

Posthumous releases

Reeves' records continued to sell well, both earlier as well as new albums, issued after his death. His widow, Mary, combined unreleased tracks with 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 from the mid-1970s until 1996. On the fifteenth anniversary of Jim's death Mary told a country music magazine interviewer, "Jim Reeves my husband is gone; Jim Reeves the artist lives on."

During 1966, Reeves' record "Distant Drums" hit No. 1 on the British singles chart and remained there for five weeks, beating competition from the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" and "Eleanor Rigby" (a double-sided "A" release), and the Small Faces' song, "All Or Nothing". The song stayed in the UK charts for 45 weeks as well as taking the No. 1 on the US country music chart. Originally, "Distant Drums" had been recorded merely as a "demo" for its composer, Cindy Walker, believing it was for her personal use and had been deemed "unsuitable" for general release by Chet Atkins and RCA Victor. During 1966, however, RCA determined that there was a market for the song because of the war in Vietnam. It was named Song of the Year in the UK during 1966 by the BBC and Reeves became the first American artist to receive the accolade. That same year, singer Del Reeves (no relation) recorded an album paying tribute to him.

In 1980, Reeves had another two Top Ten posthumous duet hits along with the late country star Patsy Cline, who featured on Have You Ever Been Lonely? and I Fall to Pieces. Although the two had never recorded together during their tragically short lives, producers Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley lifted their isolated vocal performances off their original 3-track stereo master session tapes, resynchronized them and re-recorded new digital backing tracks.

Reeves' compilation albums containing well-known standards continue to sell well. The Definitive Collection scored No. 21 in the UK album charts during July 2003, and Memories are Made of This scored No. 35 during July 2004. Bear Family Records produced a 16-CD boxed set of Reeves' studio recordings and several smaller sets, mainly radio broadcasts and demos. During 2007, the label released a set entitled Nashville Stars on Tour, including audio and video material of the RCA European tour during April 1964 in which Reeves features prominently.

Since 2003, the US-based VoiceMasters has issued more than 80 previously unreleased Reeves recordings, including new songs as well as newly overdubbed material. Among them was "I'm a Hit Again", the last song he recorded in his basement studio just a few days before his death. VoiceMasters overdubbed this track in the same studio in Reeves' former home (now owned by a Nashville record producer). Reeves' fans repeatedly urged RCA or Bear Family to re-release some of the songs overdubbed during the years after his death which have never appeared on CD.

A compilation CD The Very Best of Jim Reeves scored No. 8 on initial release in the UK album chart during May 2009, to later score its maximum of No. 7 during late June, his first top 10 album in the UK since 1992.

India and Sri Lanka

Reeves had many fans in both India and Sri Lanka since the 1960s, and is probably the all-time most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka. His Christmas carols are especially popular, and music stores continue to carry his CDs or audio cassettes. There was a Muslim school girl in Kegalle, Sri Lanka who wore only white sari to the school for three months from the date of his untimely death. Two of his songs, "There's a Heartache Following Me" and "Welcome to My World," were favorites of the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba. A follower of Meher Baba, Pete Townshend of the Who, recorded his own version of "Heartache" on his first major solo album Who Came First during 1972. During Christmas season his versions of "Jingle Bells", Silent Night" or "Mary's Boy Child" are the most sought after songs/albums in Sri Lanka.

Robert Svoboda, in his trilogy on Aghora and the Aghori Vimalananda, mentions that Vimalananda considered Reeves a gandharva, i.e. in Indian tradition, a heavenly musician, who had been born on Earth. He had Svoboda play Reeves' "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at his cremation.

Tributes

Tributes to Reeves were composed in the British Isles after his death. The song "A Tribute to Jim Reeves" was written by Eddie Masterson and recorded by Larry Cunningham and the Mighty Avons and during January 1965 it scored on the UK Charts and Top Ten in Ireland. It scored the UK Charts on 10 December 1964 and was there for 11 weeks and sold 250,000 copies. The Dixielanders Show Band also recorded a 'Tribute to Jim Reeves' written by Steve Lynch and recorded during September 1964 and it scored on the Northern Ireland Charts during September 1964. The Masterson song was translated later into Dutch and recorded.

In the UK, "We'll Remember You" was written by Geoff Goddard but not released until 2008 on the Now & Then: From Joe Meek To New Zealand double album by Houston Wells.

Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra, a Canadian alternative rock band whose musical style blends elements of surf music, gospel music, rockabilly, garage and punk released the song entitled "Jimmy Reeves" on their 1992 album "Don't Mind If I Do"

Reeves remains a popular artist in Ireland and many Irish singers have recorded tribute albums. A play by author Dermot Devitt, Put Your Sweet Lips, was based on Reeves' appearance in Ireland at the Pavesi Ballroom in Donegal town on 7 June 1963 and reminiscences of people who attended.

Blind R&B and blues music artist Robert Bradley (of the band Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise) paid tribute to Reeves in the album description of his release, Out of the Wilderness. He said, "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.'"

British comedian Vic Reeves adopted his stage name from Reeves and Vic Damone, two of his favorite singers.

In the United States, Del Reeves (no relation) recorded and released a 1966 album entitled Del Reeves sings Jim Reeves.

Reeves' nephew, John Rex Reeves, appears occasionally on RFD-TV's Midwest Country, singing Reeves' songs, as well as other popular country songs.