| God Be with You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1959 | |||
| Genre | Country, gospel | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Chet Atkins | |||
| Jim Reeves chronology | ||||
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God Be with You is an album of sacred songs recorded by country singer Jim Reeves and released in February 1959 on the RCA Victor label (catalog no. LPM-1950).[1][2]
The album was Reeves' first of sacred songs.[3] He recorded the album shortly after signing a five-year extension of his contract with RCA Victor. In a single three-hour session on September 9, 1958, he recorded six standards: "God Be With You", "A Beautiful Life", "In the Garden", "Precious Memories", "Whispering Hope", and "The Flowers, the Sunset, the Trees".[4]
At the September 9 session, Reeves was backed by a woman guitarist Velma Williams Smith. At that time, there were no women working as session musicians in Nashville, and Smith later recalled that when she showed up at the September 9 session, Reeves gave her a look as if to say, "I bet this is gonna be good."[4] Smith went on to work on many of Reeves' records.[4]
On the album's release, Billboard wrote: "He does a top notch job. Performances are sincere and skilled, and the recording job by Chet Atkins is excellent."[5]
Biographer Larry Jordan wrote that Reeves was at his "most moving" when singing sacred songs, citing "Evening Prayer" and "God Be With You" as prime examples.[6] Of the songs recorded at the September 9, 1958 session, Jordan wrote: "The religious songs he mastered that day have been enjoyed countless times by legions of his fans in the ensuing decades.[4]
Side A
Side B
