Jim Reeves - Welcome To My World (1994) [Bear Family 16CD]


WELCOME TO MY WORLD is exactly the sort of staggeringly huge box set that made the Bear Family label's stellar reputation. This 16-disc set features, in chronological order, every studio track Jim Reeves recorded between his first sessions for the tiny Texas label Macy in 1949 to his death in July 1964. The chronology factor is important here, because it allows the listener to put all of Reeves's songs in their proper context.

Amazingly, although Reeves's career was cut short by a plane crash, producer Chet Atkins had recorded so much material with him between '55 and '64 that Reeves was still having country hits in the US and England (where he was perhaps country's biggest star) until 1984. These somewhat controversial singles were overdubbed by Atkins after Reeves's death to keep them current with country music trends; disc 13 contains all of these altered recordings. From the early honky-tonk sides recorded for various indie labels to the mature ballad material that created the Nashville Sound, it quite literally is all here, including unreleased alternate takes, two full discs of demos, and a book-length set of photos and liner notes