Search - Jim Reeves :: Anthology

Definitive American hits collection

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 10/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Please note that this collection has been re-packaged and re-issued with a different title (Essential Jim Reeves) but an identical track listing. The new title is accurate but may cause confusion as there is also a single CD also titled Essential Jim Reeves.



Jim's hit career was more complicated than most, because he had different hits in different countries. So, depending on which country you live in, the tracks you regard as essential will vary. This particular collection appears to be the definitive American hits collection, beginning with his earliest hillbilly music (the first eight tracks) and ending with the pop crossover music that everybody remembers him for (the remaining thirty two tracks). Of course, Jim had far more than forty hits so plenty of minor hits are missing but all of Jim's big American country and pop hits are here.



Everybody has their own favorites, but here you will find Distant drums, He'll have to go, I won't come in while he's there, I guess I'm crazy, Snowflake, Welcome to my world, Adios Amigo, Is it really over, This is it, Blue side of lonesome, Bimbo, Mexican Joe, Yonder comes a sucker and so much more. Eighteen of the twenty tracks from Essential Jim Reeves (the best American single CD compilation) are here, the exceptions being I love you because (a minor American hit) and Suppertime (not a hit in America).



Brits and expatriate Brits thinking of buying this collection should note the omission of three UK top ten hits (There's a heartache following me, I love you because, It hurts so much) and three other UK top twenty hits (You're the only good thing, Not until the next time, But you love me daddy). If you are looking for these tracks, you'll find them on a British compilation. This compilation was released for the American market so there is no reason for any of these songs to be included here.



Some songs turn up regularly on Jim Reeves compilations but others are occasional visitors. I was particularly pleased that they included Love is no excuse, a duet with Dottie West. Dottie was struggling for recognition until Jim persuaded RCA to sign her. She stayed with RCA for fourteen years so it was clearly good for all concerned but might have been even better. Love is no excuse, together with its B-side, was intended to be the primer for an album of duets. The rest of the album was never recorded because Jim died in a plane crash while the single was in the country top ten. It must have been particularly hard for Dottie to come to terms with as she had lost another friend (Patsy Cline) the year before in a different plane crash.



But I digress. For American fans of Jim Reeves, this is the hits collection that you've been waiting many years for."

At Last, A Worthy Collection!!!!!

Robert L. Henry Jr. | Paden City, WV United States | 06/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After years and years and years of trying, RCA/BMG has finally came out with a good collection that includes all the hits. In the past, other collections have left off "The Blizzard, one of my favorities, or the early classics, from pre-RCA days, but Masters owned by RCA, Mexican Joe or Bimbo. These 3 songs are found here on this great collection. Only one song I can think of is not here and it was the orginal flipside of the 45, "He'll Have to Go", "In a Mansion Stands My Love" but I don't believe it was a hit so it's not here, it can be Found on the "Welcome to My World", 2 CD Box which is a good collection with Alternate takes but some hits missing. Also, I believe, "In a Mansion" is on the BIG Jim Reeves Box Set from Bear FAmily. This 2 CD SET, Anthology, is the best Reeves Collection Available , and IT is a MUST, IT took years for RCA/BMG to get it right with this late Legend's hits but it is here now, The RCA Country Legends CD and "THE Essential" Collections are worthless and are a Embarrassment, The Anthology collection is the way to go, because ALL the hits are here!!!!!"

THIS IS THE ONE!

Eclectic Reviewer | Tucson, AZ. | 10/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I don't see "Missing Angel", but oh, well. Even if you like Gentleman Jim's early hokey stuff (like "Yonder Comes a Sucker") before he switched to tales of love that didn't work out, you'll find it here. You can hear an anonymous Floyd Kramer playing on some of these great tunes, all or many of them produced by Nashville great Chet Atkins and arrangements by Anita Kerr whose group backed up many-a country singer. But Jim Reeves wasn't a mere country singer; he had a style more like a Perry Como but with heartfelt passion. He was not the bumpkin type nor like the pop musician that passes for country musician so much today. He was unique. I saw Jim and his back up group, the Blueboys, as a child, at the Humboldt, Tenn., "Strawberry Festival". I still remember that teenage girl next to me with the tears in her eyes from the sheer beauty of it all. By all means, get this work--then go looking for "Missing Angel"."