If there is a stack of vinyl in a charity shop it is a physical impossibility that it does not contain at least one Jim Reeves album.
Most are absolute twaddle - cheap and nasty compilations cashing in on his untimely death in July 1964 following a plane crash.Like so many artists who have passed on early he has sold far more records dead than alive.Seemingly, his widow Mary was down the middle of a lot of this keeping the industry going
Not so the two albums from which these songs are taken from He'll Have to Go from 1960 and Gentleman Jim from 1963 were recorded prior to his death and my copies are the RCA Victor originals in fantastic condition picked up for a pound a piece in a St Andrew's charity shop. They unlike much of which followed are quality records.
He was a pretty unlucky guy in that he only turned to singing when a leg injury put pay to his baseball career.
And just to set the record straight he is not Vic Reeves dad!
Jim Reeves - He'll Have To Go
Jim Reeves - I Love You Because
Great songs, but I hope you were not upsetting your wife by singing along to them
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid so
DeleteAre you sure he's no Vic's da?
ReplyDeleteAye right enough - stick on a pair of Greggs and there is a certain resemblance
DeleteI was just thinking the same.
DeleteAnd yes it seems Jim Reeves vinyl albums are compulsory in all charity shops, along with Daniel O'Donnell CDs, oh and any CD by ex-X Factor contestants. Eoghan Quigg, anybody?
PS A pair of "Greggs"??! Do you mean Bins? :-)
DeleteGregory Pecks - Specks!
DeleteC - All Saints, the Corrs, ex SPice Girls and Robbie Williams also feature prominently
DeleteHate to be pedantic but when you say "the two albums from which these songs are taken... were recorded prior to his death" - surely all of them were recorded prior to his death? Not released, maybe, but recorded. Even Jim wasn't that good...
ReplyDeleteOn a more positive note, "He'll Have To Go" is one of the greatest records ever made. That and "Little Old Wine Drinker Me"
But do you think they are better than Jungle Rock or The Monster Mash, Ernie?
DeleteI like 'Jungle Rock' but I'm not sure it would even come top of my chart of "best rockabilly songs about rockin' in Africa". That would go to "Ubangi Stomp"
DeleteGood point well made Ernie
ReplyDelete