The Gentleman Jim Reeves Centennial

Gentleman Jim Reeves (1923-1964) was born 100 years ago this day.

Reeves had dozens of charting country hits from 1953 through his untimely death a little over a decade later, though only one made a dent in the U.S. pop charts, “He’ll Have To Go”, which went all the way to #2 in 1959. If you’re my age you may remember it from those TV ads for mail order albums of Reeves’ music. It’s the one with the opening lyric: “Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone…”

A native Texan, Reeves was known by his middle name “Travis” throughout his youth, same as this correspondent. He played semi-pro baseball as a young man, then finally got a radio job that allowed him to sing on the air. In the late ’40s, he sang with Moon Mullican’s band, which led to bookings on Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry, and then to a recording contract. His influences included Mullican, Jimmie Rodgers and Eddy Arnold, and some none country singers like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. He made TV appearances on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show, The Dick Clark Show,The Jimmy Dean Show, as well as lots local Southern shows, and even the British show Tops of the Pops (like many country artists he had a big following in the U.K.). He also starred in one movie, Kimberley Jim (1963).

In July 1964, just shy of his 41st birthday, Reeves was flying his small plane back to Nashville when he ran into a heavy thunderstorm. He ignored an air traffic controller’s advised flight path and inadvertently flew deeper into the weather, where he quickly became disoriented. The plane stalled and went into a spin straight into the ground. It was in a wooded area. It took searchers over two days to find the wreckage and the bodies of Reeves and his passengers.

Astoundingly, Reeves was so popular that posthumously released records by him continued to chart for the next TWENTY YEARS.

For more on show biz history consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.