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

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.