One of my earliest childhood memories would be the sound of a big heavy voice reverberating in big magnificent buildings, beautiful compounds, tiny but well-maintained huts and the neighborhood houses. I became acquainted with this voice right from my early Sunday school years. And even through my school and college years, this big heavy voice always found its way to make its presence heard and felt in many nooks and corners of Kohima. Especially during the festive season of Christmas, this voice is heard singing majestically in almost all colonies of Kohima. Of course, from the very early years itself, I had come to know that this voice was Jim Reeves’.
As I was growing up, I developed an insatiable taste and a deep liking for the old western songs and music belonging to the era of the 1960s and 1970s. My personal and all-time favorite has always been the songs and music of Elvis Presley. Besides Elvis, I also developed an interest in the songs, lives and musical careers of Elvis’s contemporary musicians like Jim Reeves, the Beatles and the CCRs. And it was this interest that drove me to search for books and reading materials written on these musical legends. And I was able to lay my hands on many books that provided information about the likes of Elvis, Lennon and Fogerty.
However, for many years, information about Jim Reeves eluded me. Even by the time I finished my college, I literally knew nothing about this country singer as I was unable to come across any book written on him. Thus, I remained totally ignorant and illiterate as far as the story of Jim Reeves was concerned. During the 1990s, I searched many bookstalls here in Kohima to find a book on Jim Reeves which could provide information about him. But none of the bookstalls in our capital city could provide me with any such reading material.
It was only during my post-graduation years in Delhi that I was able to lay my hands on a book which contained almost all the information about Jim Reeves which I had always wanted to know. I happened to come across this book in the Daryaganj secondhand-book market situated in Old Delhi area. (I do not know whether this market still operates. During my years in Delhi (1999-2004), this secondhand book market used to open every Saturday at Daryaganj (Old Delhi area) and books of all kinds used to be available. As such, it was the most happening and interesting place for book–lovers).
This book on Jim Reeves (which I bought at Daryaganj) was a small one and it was simply titled ‘Jim Reeves’. But the book was able to reveal to me almost everything that I wanted to know about Jim Reeves. The story of Jim Reeves goes like this:
Jim Reeves was born on 20th August 1923 at Galloway, Texas, USA. He was a baseball player during his youthful years. However, his athletic career ended when he severed his sciatic nerve while pitching. Thereafter, Jim Reeves began to work as a radio announcer and he even sang live between songs. In the late 1940s, Jim Reeves tried to launch his musical career by collaborating with some music companies in Texas but was not successful.
It was only during the 1950s that Jim Reeves tasted success as a musician. Some of his early successful songs were ‘I Love You’, ‘Bimbo’ and ‘Mexican Joe’. He developed his own style of singing. He decreased his volume, used a lower pitch and started to sing with his lips nearly touching the microphone. He became known as a crooner because of his rich light baritone voice. Songs like ‘Adios Amigo’, ‘Welcome to My World’ and ‘Am I losing you’ demonstrated this. To this day, his Christmas songs have remained as perennial favorites. Christmas songs like ‘C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S’, ‘Blue Christmas’ and ‘An Old Christmas Card’ have already proved their eternal worth.
Another contribution was that Jim Reeves was also responsible for popularizing many gospel songs like ‘We Thank Thee’, ‘Across the Bridge’, ‘Take My Hand- Precious Lord’ and ‘Where We’ll Never Grow Old’.
However, Jim Reeves earned international fame only in the 1960s. It was his song ‘He’ll Have to Go’ which gave him international fame and even won him a ‘Platinum Record’. After this song became popular and famous, many people began to refer to Jim Reeves as the singer with the velvet touch. And it was in 1963 that Jim Reeves released his well proclaimed ‘Twelve Songs of Christmas’ album. Another noticeable phenomenon was that Jim Reeves’ international popularity in the 1960s surpassed his popularity in the United States. In other words, Jim Reeves was more popular outside the USA. For instance, it was said that during the early 1960s, Jim Reeves was more popular than even Elvis Presley in countries like South Africa.
In fact, the year 1963 was a year of non-stop activity for Jim Reeves as he also toured Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Europe during the year. Jim Reeves planned to record an album of popular Irish songs and three of his songs - ‘Welcome to my world’, ‘I love you because’ and ‘I won’t forget you’ were immensely popular in Ireland. He also recorded two Irish ballads ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Maureen’. He was one of the most popular recording artists in Ireland after Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Cliff Richard. Jim Reeves also performed for British television and radio. And besides South Africa and Ireland, Jim Reeves was also immensely popular in Norway where he performed on 16th April 1964 at the sports arena, Njardhallen.
The last recording session of Jim Reeves for the RCA Victor produced unforgettable ballads like ‘Missing You’, ‘Is It Really Over’, ‘Make the world go away’ and ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’. Jim Reeves made his last recording ‘I’m a Hit Again’ at the little studio in his home using just an acoustic guitar for accompaniment.
Jim Reeves was killed in an air-crash on 31st July 1964 along with his business partner and manager Dean Manuel. While flying over Brentwood, Tennessee, the private airplane which Reeves and his partner were flying encountered a thunderstorm and they lost control of the plane. It was only two days later on 2nd August 1964 that the bodies of Reeves and Manuel were found and by 1:00 pm that day, American radios across the USA announced the death of Jim Reeves in an air-crash.
Many songs of Jim Reeves were released posthumously after his death and went on to become big international hits. Jim Reeves has many fans here in India and Sri Lanka and it is said that he is the all-time most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka. Two songs of Jim Reeves – ‘There’s a Heartache Following Me’ and ‘Welcome to My world’ were also the personal favorites of Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba.
Jim Reeves was an American country singer but he was much more popular outside the USA than he was on American soils. In the early 1960s in South Africa, Jim Reeves was more popular than even Elvis Presley and he remains to this day as the all time most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka. And he had enjoyed immense fame and popularity in certain countries like Ireland, Norway, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Then what about our own Nagaland? If Jim Reeves was more popular than Elvis in the 1960s in South Africa, can we say the same thing about him here in Nagaland? If you ask me, I would say “yes, many a times it does appear like Jim Reeves is more popular than any other singer especially during festive seasons like the Christmas”.
And if Jim Reeves is actually the all-time most popular English language singer in Sri Lanka, then what about Nagaland? Here, I would say that Jim Reeves has been a part and parcel of many Naga families since the 1960s. Many Nagas (including myself) grew up listening to his songs. And many (especially the senior and mature ones) still love to hear his voice and songs.
As for myself, even though I grew up listening to his songs, I won’t say that I am a big fan of Jim Reeves. However, I still love listening to his songs and many of his songs hold a special place in my heart because these songs take me back to a time when my young mind was filled with all the wildest fantasies and impossible dreams. And yes, listening to his songs always makes me nostalgic, emotional and very young at heart.
And now, with the 2012 Christmas season soon approaching, the voice and songs of Jim Reeves will once again literally come alive in many nooks and corners of Kohima and Nagaland……….and I can’t wait till this happens again……
