About Jim Reeves
(1923-1964)
Country Singer - "Gentleman Jim"

James Travis "Jim" Reeves (20 August 1923 - 31 July 1964) was an American country singer known for his warm velvety voice.

Although he started off as a secular singer, he had a 'conversion' experience to Christianity and he switched into religious songs.

His secular songs were remarkable for their simple elegance highlighted by his rich baritone. Songs such as "He'll have to go", "Adios Amigo", and "Am I Losing You" exemplify this. His later Christian songs were more complex. The prime example of this is the album We Thank Thee (1962). Jim Reeves' Christmas songs have been perennial favorites, including songs such as "Silver Bells", "Blue Christmas", and "An Old Christmas Card".

Gentleman Jim Reeves was perhaps the biggest male star to emerge from the Nashville sound. His mellow baritone voice and... and muted velvet orchestration combined to create a sound that echoed around his world and has lasted to this day.

In the early 1960s, Reeves was more popular than Elvis Presley in South Africa. In fact, he was a superstar there. He even recorded a couple of albums in Afrikaans. In 1963 he starred in a South African movie, Kimberley Jim, which was the biggest South African production up to that date. He had a 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 these parts.

“ Reeves was at the height of his career when his private plane crashed outside of Nashville on July 31, 1964. The bodies of Reeves and his manager, Dean Manuel, were found two days later and were buried in his home state of Texas. Though Reeves had died, his popularity did not vanish -- in fact, his sales increased following his death. Throughout the late '60s, RCA released a series of posthumous singles -- including "This Is It" (1965), "Is It Really Over?" (1965), "Distant Drums" (1966), and "I Won't Come in While He's There" (1967) -- many of which hit number one.” -- David Vinopal, All Music Guide

Jim Reeves was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967. In 1998, he was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas, where the Jim Reeves Memorial (http://www.carthagetexas.com/tcmhof/memorial.htm) is located.

Some of the songs he made famous were:

• "Mexican Joe" (number one, 1953),
• "Bimbo" (1953),
• "Yonder Comes a Sucker"
• "Four Walls" (number one for eight weeks, 1957),
• "Anna Marie" (1958)
• "A Fool Such as I"
• "I Love You Because"
• "I Won't Forget You"
• "Adios Amigo" (number two, 1962),
• "Blue Boy" (number two, 1958),
• "Billy Bayou" (number one for five weeks, 1959),
• "Home"
• "If Heartache is the Fashion"
• "Partners"
• "Am I Losing You"
• "Moonlight and Roses"
• "Is This Me"
• "I Missed Me"
• "Blue Side of Lonesome"
• "Welcome to My World" (number two, 1964),
• "Guilty"
• "I Guess I'm Crazy" (number one for seven weeks, 1964).
• "This is It" (1965),
• "Distant Drums" (1966).

He scored his greatest hit with "He'll Have to Go" (number one for 14 weeks, 1960), which earned him a gold record.

Even 40 years after his death, he is still quite famous.

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