Friends of his growing up said he used to sing "Old Rugged Cross" a lot when they'd all get together on somebody's porch and pick and sing. Why he never recorded that for one of his religious albums I don't know. Leo Jackson told me (and the Johnson Sisters who were at Jim's concert in Colorado the night after JFK's assassination), confirm that Reeves also performed "Amazing Grace." Again I ask: WHY did the man never record these songs?
Jim even commented on his Christmas Day 1957 radio show (which VoiceMasters released as a 5 CD set called "The Jim Reeves Show", available on the first page of this site), that "Away In A Manger" was his favorite Christmas song. Although he also told a studio visitor the night he was recording his Christmas album that "Mary's Boy Child" was the favorite one they were doing for the LP.
There were so many missed opportunities. Leo also commented that Jim and the Blue Boys routinely sang A LOT on the bus as they were traveling hundreds of miles between shows. (That and play cards and drink!) Leo said Jim did countless songs that he never did record. And he marveled that even then, Jim never missed a note or sang off-key.
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