Gentleman Jim

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He had the greatest voice ever in country music. And that beautiful voice transitioned quite well to the pop charts in the early days of crossovers. And, to this day, he was, is, and ever shall be my favorite singer. He is Gentleman Jim, better known as Jim Reeves. Born in Texas in 1923, Reeves was the youngest of nine children who grew up in poverty. His father died when Jim was less than a year old, so he knew plenty of hard times. When he was a child a relative brought a record player and a Jimmie Rodgers 78 to the Reeves house. "I couldn't understand how they could get so many people inside that suitcase," Reeves recalled later in describing how he was fascinated by the boxed-up record player with the crank on the side. The music of Jimmie Rodgers inspired him to take up the guitar (he would later cover Rodgers' song "Waiting for a Train"). Reeves was destined to play music. He failed his Army induction physical during World War II, and a stint as a minor-league pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals farm team resulted in an injury that ended his baseball playing career. He worked as a radio announcer, and would frequently sing if a scheduled performer was late. Signed to a small, independent label, Reeves recorded a song by fellow Texan Mitchell Torok (who'd later hit the pop charts with "Caribbean") called "Mexican Joe." The fun, lighthearted song about a Spanish playboy shot to #1 and became such a sensation that it inspired a number of "answer" songs (such as "The Marriage of Mexican Joe" and "When Mexican Joe Met Jole Blon") and, as a true testament of its popularity, a Homer & Jethro parody ("Mexican Joe #6 7/8"). Reeves went from being an announcer on the Louisiana Hayride to a featured performer almost literally overnight. From there, things only got better. Reeves moved to Nashville and joined the Grand Ole Opry, with hit after hit. In 1957 he recorded the song "Four Walls" (if that looks familiar, yes, that's where my name comes from), considered the first song of the "Nashville Sound" era. It was a #1 country hit and top 15 pop hit. That success was dwarfed three years later with the release of "He'll Have to Go." That song reached #2 on the pop charts, was #1 for fourteen weeks, and eventually sold over three million copies. Fifty two years ago day, July 31, 1964, Reeves, who was a licensed pilot, was flying back to Nashville after looking at some real estate in Arkansas. His piano player and manager, Dean Manuel, was flying with him. Just outside of Nashville Reeves encountered a thunderstorm and became disoriented in the blinding rain. His plane crashed, killing him and Manuel. Reeves was three weeks shy of his 41st birthday. Reeves' legacy continues to this day. For an "old-time" country singer who died over half a century ago his records continue to sell quite well. His records, which were overdubbed demo tapes he had recorded in his home studio over the years, continued to be released and chart well into the 1980s. When Bear Family Records released his entire recorded output, it took sixteen CDs to hold it all. In honor and memory of the fabulous singer they called "Gentleman Jim" I'm starting a new countdown, which will run from now until the 93rd anniversary of Reeves' birth, which is August 20. I hope you'll enjoy it and discover some new music (or new-to-you music) in the process. Here's one that didn't make the cut. This was never released on an album, but was the B-side of "Four Walls" (not that I ever had the 45 or anything ):