# 61 Years Ago Today, Jim Reeves Topped the Country Charts With a Posthumous Album Featuring Just One No. 1 Hit

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/61-years-ago-today-jim-reeves-topped-the-country-charts-with-a-posthumous-album-featuring-just-one-no-1-hit/
- Published: 2026-10-24T22:45:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:08:59+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/61-years-ago-today-jim-reeves-topped-the-country-charts-with-a-posthumous-album-featuring-just-one-no-1-hit/
- Topics: Americas, Art, Culture, World

## Key points

- Jim Reeves’ posthumous album topped the US country chart in 1965.
- *Up Through the Years* featured 12 songs from his first decade.
- The retrospective included one number-one hit, “Bimbo”.

## Summary

Jim Reeves’ retrospective album *Up Through the Years* topped the US Top Country Albums chart on 24 October 1965, more than a year after his death in a plane crash near Nashville. Its posthumous success showed how his recordings continued to reach listeners after his career was cut short.

Released by RCA Victor, the 12-track album covered the first decade of Reeves’ career, mixing hit singles, B-sides and other songs. It included just one of his number-one hits, “Bimbo”, which had also named his 1957 album; his earlier chart-topper was “Mexican Joe”. Reeves had scored more than 30 US country top-ten hits by 1965, including five number ones, and later reached number one in the UK with “Distant Drums” in 1966.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.