Next week, this would become another posthumous #1 on the country charts for Jim Reeves. Later in the year it topped the British pop charts for five weeks. This was originally a B-side for Roy Orbison, although Roy made it a Top 5 in Australia. Jim cut a demo of the song as a personal favor to the writer, Cindy Walker, never intending it for release. RCA had a copy in their archives and added an orchestral arrangement to the demo and issued it after Jim's passing.
Jim Reeves - Distant Drums
2 comments:
Never heard Orbison's original version, but this version is one of the best singles from 1966.
Even though it fared way better on the country charts than it did the pop charts.
Just for the record: I don't remember ever hearing this song on the radio at the time it came out. Probably has more to do with the region I grew up in more than anything.
Lots of tape hiss at the beginning, because it was just a private recording and lacked polish. RCA made boatloads of cash from posthumous Jim Reeves releases.
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