This week in 1954: President Dwight Eisenhower proposed stripping Communists of U.S. citizenship; IBM displayed the first use of a machine as a translator; Ted Mack's "Amateur Hour" was broadcast in color; and one of country music's early duets had their first and only hit record.
Back in the 40's and 50's, most recording sessions were done in radio station studios and according to Ginny Wright, her 1954 duet hit "I Love You" with Jim Reeves was such a record.
Ginny commented "Record man Fabor Robinson picked me up in Cleveland, Ohio, then drove to Detroit, Michigan to pick up Jim Reeves, who was doing a shop at a club that night. We left Detroit right after his show and drove all the way to Shreveport, Louisiana. Fabor would drive while and Jim would sleep, then they would swap."
"We got into Shreveport about 1 a.m. KWKH Radio went off the air at 1 a.m. until daylight. So we recorded until daylight that day. Jim Reeves and I recorded "I Love You." Jim recorded "Bimbo" that same night. Recording was quite different back in those days. We all sat around one microphone and recorded. Jim Reeves played rhythm guitar, Jimmy Day played steel, Floyd Cramer played piano and Jerry Rowley played fiddle."
The Ginny Wright / Jim Reeves Fabor Records duet "I Love You" came on the country charts January 9, 1954 and peaked at NO. 3. It was on the charts for 22 weeks.
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