Jim Reeves Biography

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Jim Reeves
Country Music | 3 CD Set
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James Travis Reeves got his start in country music as the announcer of the Louisiana Hayride but in the classic manner of achieving stardom, he replaced the show's star and, as the clichÈ goes, the rest is history. Future Country Music Hall of Famer Jim Reeves put his announcer's voice aside when Hank Williams failed to arrive for the show one night in 1952. And it just so happened that the owner of Abbott Records was in the audience and liked what he heard. Signed to a contract, Reeves eventually turned his roots country style into a country-pop ballad style and just two records into his new deal had a No. 1 hit with "Mexican Joe" and took on the lead role on the Hayride. His deal with Abbott put more than 35 discs on the market, including at least two gold records for sales of 500,000. Born in 1923 in Galloway, Texas, Reeves was one of nine children raised by his mother. His father had died when Jim was ten months old. At 5, he picked up a guitar owned by his brother and by 9 had managed to acquire his own instrument, learning from an oilfield cook. But music was in the background and remained so when he attended the University of Texas on a baseball scholarship. In fact, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals but an ankle injury ended his potential career as a pitcher. His college studies included phonetics and pronunciation - to aid him (successfully) in curing a longtime stammer - and he then looked into radio. He and his wife, Mary, moved to Henderson, Texas where he began work in radio at a station that he eventually bought years later. They next moved to Shreveport, where he became an announcer for KWKH, which owned the Hayride. In 1955, Reeves signed with RCA and also joined the Grand Ole Opry after Ernest Tubb and Hank Snow recommended him. A long string of country hits elevated him to star status and by the tragic end of his career in 1964 he had some 50 albums and a large number of country and pop hits under his belt. He went to No. 2 in pop in early 1960 with the hit "He'll Have To Go." But his 1957 hit, "Four Walls," put him on both country and pop charts (No. 11) and resulted in his third gold disc. By this time, he was softening his vocal style and at the same time was becoming a major artist in the pop field, too. Before a plane crash near Nashville ended his life in 1964, Jim Reeves had taken his lush ballad voice to Europe and South Africa as well as all 50 states. Though gone for nearly 35 years, his catalog of hits is still in demand and Jim Reeves' music can today be ordered over a number of TV commercial channels.

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