Born James Travis Reeves, in Galloway, Panola County, Texas
on August 20, 1923. His father, Tom Reeves, died when he was
almost one year of age, his mother, Mary Adams Reeves was left to care
for the family of nine children. It was very hard for Jim Reeves to grow
up without a father. Thru this hardship and his family's love for country
music that influenced him early on in life. Even with the love of music
he wanted to be a baseball player and achieve fame as an athlete.

Details concerning Jim Reeves' baseball career are vague, but it is believed
that after graduating high school, he attended the University of Texas
at Austin, where he played for his college team. His skills caught the
attention of major league scouts, and the St. Louis Cardinals signed Jim
to a minor league contract . Jim's baseball career was ended in 1947 when
he suffered a injury. This unfortunate injury resulted in Jim Reeves
becoming the greatest country ballad singer of all time.
Soon after his baseball career ended, he married his wife, Mary
White, a schoolteacher, and became a disc jockey at a country
music radio station KGRI in Henderson, Texas. Then, in 1952,
Jim went to work for radio station KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana,
where he was hired to be the host of the Louisiana Hayride . It was only
a short time before his career began to grow. In 1955 Jim became a
member of The Grand Ole Opry. But his struggle was not over. Then
he went two years without a hit, but soon he had three in a row. In the late
fifties things started to change. Rock and roll music was gaining in
popularity, and some people were getting tired of the "hillbilly"
sound of country music. Due to the efforts of Chet Atkins and RCA,
a new kind of music was emerging, called the "Nashville Sound" which
smoothed out country voices and added strings and backing vocals, to
produce a sound akin to easy listening with a touch of country twang,
to please all listeners. The two artists most closely associated with
the Nashville Sound were Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves.
He accomplished this transformation in 1957 with the release of the song
"Four Walls," Next came "He'll Have to Go," which is perhaps the most
popular song that Jim Reeves ever performed. (Playing in background)
It sold over three million copies.

On July 31, 1964, country music singer Jim Reeves was returning home
to Nashville in a single engine aircraft. On its approach to Beery Field,
he came upon a heavy rainstorm. At approximately 5 p.m., his plane
disappeared from airport radar and later crashed into a heavily wooded
area about ten miles south of the city. According to the New York Times
article of August 1, 1964, entitled "Jim Reeves, Country Music Star,
Killed in Tennessee Plane Crash," several hundred volunteers helped
search for the wreckage, which was finally located two days after the crash.
Both Jim Reeves and his friend, Dean Manuel, were found dead at the scene.
Thus was ended the life of one of country music's best performers.

Careful management of his unreleased material by his widow, Mary
Reeves Davis, these songs were "placed alongside previously
issued tracks to make a new album. Such careful release of material
kept the charts full of Jim Reeves' songs during the years immediately
following his death. Due to his continued popularity, Jim Reeves was
added to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967.

New songs kept appearing well into the seventies and eighties. Several
of these songs were duets performed by Jim Reeves with artists, such as
Deborah Allen. And "Have You Ever Been Lonely" and "I Fall To Pieces
with Patsy Cline. Reaching the Top 5, seventeen years after his death.


His memory lives on in the hearts and minds of Jim Reeves fans
across the world.

Jim Reeves Museum

Pioneer house built in 1794
Contains Jim Reeves memorabilia
Guitars, gold records, stage costumes, and more.

Here are a few of the Great Country Songs Jim Reeves gave us:

Adios Amigo
Am I Losing You
Am I That Easy To Forget
Angels Don't Lie
Anna Marie
Billy Bayou
The Blizzard
Blue Boy
Danny Boy
Distant Drums
Don't Let Me Cross Over
Good Morning Self
Guilty
Gypsy Feet
Have You Ever Been Lonely w/Patsy Cline
He'll Have To Go
Home
I Fall To Pieces w/Patsy Cline
I Guess I'm Crazy
I Know One
I Love You Because
I Missed Me
I Thought I Heard A Heart Break Last Night
While He's There
I Won't Forget You
I'd Fight The World
I'd Like To Be
I'm Beginning To Forget You
I'm Gettin' Better
I'm Gonna Change Everything
If Heartache Is The Fashion
In A Mansion Stands My Love
Is It Really Over
Is This Me
It's Nothin' To Me
A Letter To My Heart
Little Ole Dime
Little Ole You
Losing Your Love
Love Is NoExcuse w/Dottie West
Missing Angel
Missing You
Nobody's Fool
Oh, How I Miss You Tonight
Old Tiger
Overnight
Partners
Snow Flake
Stand At Your Window
The Storm
Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me w/Deborah Allen
That's When I See The Blues
Theme Of Love
There's Always Me
This Is It
Welcome To My World
What I Feel In My Heart
What Would You Do
When Two Worlds Collide
When You Are Gone
The Writing On The Wall
You Belong To Me
You'll Never Know
You're The Only Good Thing

Thank you Jim.
We Love and Miss you.

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