Play the Jukebox Top Ten: Lonely Music (#4)

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For the next two days it’ll be cawntree music. You’ve been warned. And, as you look at the position on the countdown, then look at the artist, you wonder what’s wrong with me. I mean, it’s my favorite singer, so why’s he only at #4? See, I can be objective in my obsessions! Here’s today’s song. #4: Lonely Music - Jim Reeves Yes, Friday is the 62nd anniversary of Jim Reeves’ death, but I didn’t think about that when making the list. No, the only thing I took into account was people saying, “Hey, didn’t he mention a jukebox in ‘He’ll Have to Go’? So why aren’t you using that??” Why, yes, he did (“I’ll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low”). If you’re wondering, I simply like this better. It’s a hard-driving shuffle. Plus, most people of a certain age have heard “He’ll Have to Go,” given that it was the fourth-biggest song of the entire 1960s in country music. It was #1 for fourteen weeks (including the week I was born; and, given that the pop #1 song the week I was born was “Theme from A Summer Place,” I claim THIS one as my “birthday #1 song ). You’ve had ample time to hear “He’ll Have to Go.” This one? Not so much. I’ve told this story before, but here we go again. The success of “Four Walls” and “He’ll Have to Go,” along with many other “Nashville Sound” hits by other artists, prompted Nashville record producers to relegate formerly die-hard country singer into the role of “pop” singer. Owen Bradley did it with Patsy Cline: compare her Four Star version of “A Poor Man’s Roses (Or a Rich Man’s Gold)” to the Decca rendition for a sterling example of what went on in messing with great singers’ styles. Anyway, Reeves had enough clout to insist that he be able to continue to record country music. While RCA boss Chet Atkins agreed, he put the country stuff out on RCA’s budget Camden label (which was normally reserved for reissues of artists who’d either had a resurgence in their career [Eddy Arnold] or found fame on a different record label [Roger Miller]). This was one of those cases. So enjoy the rarity of Jim Reeves doing a 4/4 shuffle…along with that marvelous voice of his. Lonely Music Written by Johnny Elgin Recorded by Jim Reeves From Good ‘n’ Country, 1964 JUKEBOX LYRICS: An empty glass, another coin in the jukebox