August 20, 2017

20 August– birthday of Jim Reeves (20 Aug 1923 – 31 July 1964), one of the greatest voices in country music who achieved widespread fame not only in the US but worldwide, especially following his 1960 hit He’ll Have To Go. He scored big hits in the early 50s with his up-tempo recordings of Mexican Joe and Bimbo,  but by the mid to late 60s his voice had deepened and matured, producing a string of beautiful ballads, his deep baritone much emulated but never equalled. BACM have not yet issued a dedicated Reeves CD but several of his hits pop up on our Country Music Chart Hits series (the series features the Top 100 Country Hits each year; we have so far completed three years: 1962, 1961 and 1960.)