CD: Simply Jim Reeves (Last copies then N/A)

With his mellow and assured baritone voice and his way with lushly orchestrated ballads, Jim Reeves was a pop crooner in country clothing, and he became an international star because of his ability to walk the line smoothly between the two genres until what he delivered was recognizable simply as Jim Reeves being Jim Reeves. This 40-track, two-disc set collects several of Reeves' key tracks, 1960s Hell Have to Go among them, in all their Nashville smoothness, but what keeps this from being a truly definitive and concise portrait of the singer is the absence of some of his biggest hits, most notably Four Walls from 1957. Theres still a lot to like here, but the omissions are bothersome. ~ Steve Leggett