"Mexican Joe" is 1953 single by

Jim Reeves James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. One of the earliest pioneers and practitioners of the Nashville sound, he played a central role in the sonic development of country music in th ...

. Accompanying Jim Reeves on "Mexican Joe" were the Circle O Ranch Boys and was Jim Reeves' debut single on the country charts. "Mexican Joe" hit number one on the country charts for six weeks with a total of twenty six weeks on the chart.

Song background

Featuring "Big" Red Hayes on the fiddle and

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "whole-step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

on the piano, "Mexican Joe" was a rollicking, Western swing-influenced tale of a bandito and drifter who engages in a lifestyle of women, carousing and gambling. Reeves — an announcer on KWKH-AM in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

in the early 1950s — had released several singles prior to "Mexican Joe," but none attained the level of national success needed to reach any of ''Billboards country music component charts in use at the time. "Mexican Joe" became Reeves' first major success nationally and would eventually pave the way to superstardom. As was the case with several of Reeves' early national hits, "Mexican Joe" differed greatly from the smooth ballads — recorded in the style of the Nashville sound, in contrast to those early novelty hits — that he later recorded and made famous, including " Four Walls" and "

He'll Have to Go "He'll Have to Go" is a song recorded on October 15, 1959, by Jim Reeves. The song, released in the fall of 1959, went on to become a hit on both the country and pop charts early in 1960. Background The song is about a man who's talking by teleph ...

References

1953 singles Jim Reeves songs 1953 songs Abbott Records singles Songs written by Mitchell Torok {{1960s-country-song-stub