Jim Reeves

Once in a while, someone comes along with good looks, charisma and an undeniable ability to entertain an audience. Once in a lifetime � maybe � he�ll have a voice that even approaches that of Jim Reeves. He was using that velvet voice not as a singer, but as an announcer on the Louisiana Hayride when, in 1953 he released his first two records, "Mexican Joe" and "Bimbo." They both hit number one on the charts and the Hayride realized he�d serve them better as a performer. Coming out of the honky tonk tradition of his native Texas and, being a product of his times, he could easily have been categorized as one of the plentiful crop of Hank Williams clones that were on the scene in those days. The voice had not yet shown its true potential.

In �55 he signed with RCA and joined the Opry. The purity of his voice was coming into its own by that time and shows up in the still very country song of that year, "Yonder Comes A Sucker." But by 1957, when he began appearing on the Sunday Down South radio show, he insisted on being billed as a pop singer. He proved claim to that title when he released "Am I Losing You" and a bit later, his classic, "Four Walls." The velvet voice was now being used to its fullest and his appeal grew to mass proportions. How could anyone not feel touched by the soft and gentle way he sang of staring at the walls of his room, still loving the girl who had run out on him and waiting eternally for her return? And a few years later, how could even the most hardened two-timer ignore his admonition to "Put (her) sweet lips a little closer to the phone" There was many a sweet lass who, if Jim Reeves said of her lover, "He�ll Have To Go," would have sent the bum packing without a second thought.

In today�s world, where traditionalists like myself rile at the pop "takeover" of Nashville and one "country" star after another "selling out" to cash in on the broader appeal of the pop market, Reeves� transition would have been looked upon by many with regret, if not disgust. But, in the fifties, the boundaries were not as clearly defined as they are today. While pure "hillbilly" music was looked down on by a great many people, pop music was not seen as an evil by those who loved and appreciated country music. Those people saw little distinction. They liked good music, whoever made it and in whatever style they chose to make it in. It wasn�t at all uncommon to find people who were avid fans of Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Jim Reeves. Also, in those days, country fans were far more loyal to their idols than most people seem to be today. People who went over to the pop side like Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves will always be remembered as "country" artists and the country listeners, while they may have been at first rebuffed, embraced the new music of these greats as much as they had their earlier, more down-home works.

This loyalty and the strength of this legendary entertainer are borne out by the fact that, even long after his death, Jim�s wife, Mary continued to release "new" records from his backlog of studio work and the fans continued to snap them up. He was killed in a plane crash while returning to Nashville in July, 1964, just three weeks before he would have turned 41. His life was tragically cut short but, nearly forty years later, his memory lives on and there is yet to be a voice that could rival him.

Cal Adams

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