12 SONGS OF CHRISTMAS-JIM REEVES

When Jim Reeves died tragically in that July 31, 1964 airplane crash at age 39, his legion of fans simply refused to let go. From that point to 1984 no less than 34 of what would ultimately total 80 nationally-charting singles would make the Country charts from 1953 to 1984. Not even the great Hank Williams or Elvis Presley received that ultimate honour. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1967.Just looking at his singles (his albums also sold in the millions) over the years he would post 11 # 1s on the Country charts and see 66 of the 80 make it into the Top 20. Some 23 would cross over to the Billboard Pop Hot 100 (7 posthumously) and 6 to the Adult Contemporary listings after their introduction in 1961 (5 of them posthumously), and even had one (He'll Have To Go) score high on the R&B charts (# 13 in May 1960).It should therefore go without saying that his Christmas recordings were also well-received. The CD you see here first came out as the 1963 vinyl LP RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2758 and in this reformatted release from BMG Special Projects the 12 tracks delivered in his patented soft dulcet tones never sounded better. I re-list the sides here showing the time lengths of each for your added information: Jingle Bells (2:46); Blue Christmas (3:05); Señor Santa Claus (2:20); An Old Christmas Card (2:44); The Merry Christmas Polka (2:16); White Christmas (3:10); Silver Bells (2:54); C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (2:45); O Little Town Of Bethlehem (2:16); Mary's Boy Child (3:05); O Come, All Ye Faithful (2:02); Silent Night (3:07).The only lament is that BMG did not see its way clear to make it a Baker's Dozen by adding in one "bonus" side to include Snow Flake, now a seasonal standard, which, as a single, reached # 2 Country and # 66 Hot 100 in Dec 1965-Jan 1966 as RCA Victor 47-8719 (the flipside, Take My Hand Precious Lord, is a traditional hymn not considered a "Christmas" offering). But the album does include one of my all-time Jim Reeves favorite - the poignant An Old Christmas Card.Just a great (and essential) addition to any Christmas music library.