REEVES, JAMES TRAVIS (1923-1964). James Travis (Jim) Reeves, country and popular singer, was born in Galloway, Texas, on August 20, 1923, the son of Tom and Mary (Adams) Reeves. After graduation from Carthage High School in 1942 he attended the University of Texas and played for the university baseball team. He pitched briefly for Marshall and Henderson in the Class C East Texas League but retired from baseball in 1946 after a leg injury. In 1947 he was an announcer and disc jockey at KGRI in Henderson and began singing locally under the name Sonny Day. He recorded first in 1949 for Macy, a small Houston company, but had no real success until 1952, when he signed a contract with Abbott records. His second Abbott recording, "Mexican Joe," brought him national popularity and led him in 1953 to employment as an announcer for KWKH, Shreveport, Louisiana, and subsequent appearances on the "Louisiana Hayride." After his second successful recording, "Bimbo," Reeves joined the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1955 and began recording for RCA Victor. His most successful recordings were "He'll Have To Go" and "Four Walls." Reeves and his pianist, Dean Manuel, were killed on July 31, 1964, when his private plane crashed near Nashville. He was buried in a two-acre memorial plot near Carthage, Texas, on the road to Shreveport. At the time of his death Reeves owned KGRI in Henderson and three music-publishing companies. He had made three European tours and two trips to South Africa, where he starred in a film, Kimberley Jim, which was released the year after his death. He was survived by his wife, Mary, whom he had married in 1946. They had no children. In 1967 Reeves was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Linnell Gentry, A History and Encyclopedia of Country, Western, and Gospel Music (Nashville: McQuiddy Press, 1961). Bill C. Malone, Country Music U.S.A. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Bill C. Malone