Search - Del Reeves :: Del Reeves - His Greatest Hits

We REALLY Need A Comprehensive Del Reeves Compilation

Dave Cormier | 08/08/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Surprisingly, there isn't a whole lot available covering the hits of Del Reeves. What's listed is either out of stock or cheap re-makes and, for the most part, confined to 10 or 12 tracks. Like this one which, coming from Razor & Tie, you will at least be assured are originals and all were hits. That is, if you can find one.



Born Franklin Delano Reeves on July 14, 1933 in Sparta, North Carolina, he grew up the youngest of 11 children and learned to play a guitar at a young age. Indeed, he was playing on the radio when he was just 12 years old. Following a stint in the services he settled in Sacramento where, from 1958 to 1961, he was a regular on The Chester Smith Show.



A relocation to Nashville and a recording contract with Decca led to his first hit single, Be Quiet Mind, which was a pretty fair debut, reaching # 9 in late 1961. It would, however, be a full year before he had his second hit, He Stands Real Tall, which also did well, hitting the # 11 Country slot in December. Nothing else worked at Decca, though, and 1963 found him with Reprise where his only hit was The Only Girl I Can't Forget [# 13 in June]. Another year and another label [Columbia] later he reached # 41 with Talking To The Night Lights.



By now, however, he and his wife were also churning out hits for others as songwriters, among them Rose Maddox, Roy Drusky, Carl and Sheb Wooley. He then linked up with United Artists and came up with a # 1 with Girl On The Billboard. His only # 1, it also became his only Billboard Pop Hot 100 crossover, reaching # 96 in May 1965.



Even so, this time he had found a home, and from there to 1978 would chalk up another 44 hit singles. In addition to Girl On The Billboard, this little package gives you 11 more of those United Artist hits all of which, with two exceptions, were Top 20. The exceptions are Crying In The Rain, a # 54 cover of The Everly Brothers 1962 hit which, in a duet with Penny DeHaven, made it only to # 54 in summer 1972, and But I Do, a 1975 cover of the Clarence "Frogman" Henry hit which peaked at # 65 in April.



The inclusion of these two calls into question the title "His Greatest Hits" since there were many more in his United Artists years which fared better. For example, Wild Blood, a # 18 in early 1968, Land Mark Tavern, a more successful duet with deHaven which reached # 20 in summer 1970, two # 22s - Right Back Loving You Again in 1970 and Lay A Little Lovin' On Me in 1973, and two # 29s - The Best Is Yet To Come from 1972 and On The Rebound, a 1976 duet with Billy Jo Spears. Even the # 31 duet with Bobby Goldsboro in 1969, Take A Little Good Will Home, would have been a good choice.



After leaving United Artists, Del would have five more charted hits for the Koala label, and in 1986 closed out his chart career with Playback.



This isn't a bad offering from Razor & Tie. It just doesn't go deep enough."