Jim Reeves: The Velvet Voice That Outsold Elvis Overseas

Elton John once played his songs in smoky English pubs to win over crowds, and in South Africa he outsold Elvis Presley himself. Jim Reeves, the velvet-voiced Texas balladeer known as Gentleman Jim, became one of country music's most improbable global superstars and a defining architect of the 1960s Nashville Sound.

From novelty-act beginnings to the close-mic crooning that crossed over to pop radio, Reeves swapped harsh steel guitar and fiddle twang for lush strings and smooth background vocals — then died in his prime, leaving producers to engineer new hits from his master tapes for decades. His story raises haunting questions about who recorded music really belongs to.

• "Four Walls" topped the country chart and crossed over to number 11 on pop radio

• "He'll Have to Go" ruled the country charts for 14 straight weeks and earned platinum

• Reeves remains the most popular English-language artist in Sri Lanka to this day

• Posthumous studio duets paired his voice with Patsy Cline long after both singers died