"The Essential Jim Reeves"
As much as any performer this side of
Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves exemplified the Nashville Sound. Chet
Atkins's lush production fit like a cardigan sweater around Reeves's
cozy baritone; it was a sound traditionalists believed was antithetical
to true country music. Record buyers, however, begged to differ--in
droves. The so-called countrypolitan movement produced its share
of schlock, but Reeves had much going for him, most notably a
knack for finding apropos material, including "Welcome to
My World," "Four Walls," and "He'll Have
to Go." This 20-track overview features 20 trademark tunes
cut between 1957 and his death in a 1964 plane crash. For refined
rural Romeos and Juliets, these are the cozy tunes that established
the country crooner as something of a Nat King Cole in cowboy
boots. --Steven Stolder |
