Jim Reeves

I dunno man. This guy recorded for RCA, and he had 23 hits between 1957 and 1966, 13 top 20 singles on the UK chart between 1960 and 1969, though he died in 1964. RCA put out 3 “Best Of” albums, and they couldn’t manage to fit all 23 songs on 3 LPs. Forget the UK hits.

He was gentleman-style country singer, somewhat bland, a follower I guess of the Eddy Arnold school, and he was immensely popular. What I have is The Best Of Jim Reeves, The Best Of Jim Reeves, vol. 2, and The Best Of Jim Reeves, vol 3.

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Jim Reeves:

• He’ll Have To Go – I actually knew this from a Ry Cooder album before I ever knew the original. A great statement of romantic competition, a phone-based showdown. From the winter of 1960. Jeanne Black did an answer song called He'll Have To Stay.
• Four Walls – A man sits at home waiting for his woman to come back, and feels very sorry for himself. From the spring of 1957.
• Guilty – A relationship as a criminal offence. Not the first or last time of using this idea, and not the best. From the summer of 1963.
• Blue Boy – Not the painting. He is sad, obviously. From the summer of 1958.
• I’m Getting Better – What he is recovering from is a broken romance. Surprised? From the summer of 1960.
• The Blizzard – A tragic tale, the sacrifice made for one’s horse. From the fall of 1961 and covered by Burl Ives.
• Am I Losing You? – From late 1960.
• Billy Bayou – An obscure story about an obscure character. From late 1958.
• Anna Marie – From the winter of 1958.
• Stand At Your Window – A bit more up-tempo, but not much happier.
• Adios Amigo – Two friends who compete for the same girl. And of course Jim loses out. From the spring of 1962.
• Danny Boy – He has the voice, but he doesn’t quite have the chops to pull this off.
• Home – What you’d think it is. More of a happy song, except even so, home is where he grew up, not where he belongs now…
• Welcome To My World – This is, if I’m not mistaken, a bit of a country standard. An invitation to romance, but so darn mellow that I’d think twice about accepting. A UK hit in the spring of 1963.
• I Won’t Forget You – From the fall of 1964.
• Then I’ll Stop Loving You – One of those “then” or “till” songs; think No Not Much – same idea.
• Is It Me? – Always question yourself when something goes wrong. Right?
• I Guess I’m Crazy – Another equation of mental illness and love. I dunno man… From the fall of 1964.
• Drinking Tequila – A story of Mexico and debauchery. He whoops it up a bit here, very out of character.
• Penny Candy – The story of a little girl, and her real name, according to Jim, is Penelope (pronounced pen-el-ope) Candace. And the guys try to get her attention, but she is only interested in eating candy. By the time she’s 20 she will undoubtedly be a blimp.
• Mexican Joe
• Yonder Comes A Sucker – The sucker in this song is the other guy; he’s got his gal, and I guess he got himself a winner.
• My Lips Are Sealed – Another tale of romantic loss.
• According To My Heart – Premonitions of good things.
• Distant Drums – He is going off to war. Mary marry me he says. From the fall of 1966.
• I’m Gonna Change Everything – He’s gonna get rid of all traces of her. From the fall of 1962.
• Pride Goes Before A Fall
• It Hurts So Much To See You Go – A UK hit in the winter of 1965.
• The Storm – About a pending romantic disaster.
• That’s When I See The Blues (In Your Pretty Brown Eyes) – How many songs play with eye colour and blues.
• Is It Really Over? – from late 1965.
• My Missing Angel
• A Fallen Star
• Golden Memories And Silver Tears – A bit of mariachi trumpet on this one.
• Could I Be Falling In Love