Reeves started singing, playing guitar and writing songs in high school in 1956 and formed the Nighthawks (original band by this name) in 1957 with high school friends Bob Venable, Mike Hinton and John Thompson. The band recorded two singles at
Norman Petty Recording Studios in Clovis, New Mexico with only "When Sin Stops" b/w "All’a Your Love" commercially released by Hamilton Records (subsidiary of
Dot Records) on November 17, 1958, Reeves' 19th birthday. After college, he returned to Amarillo where he worked for two years in his father's retail building materials, residential construction, and real estate businesses. and the following year Reeves was hired by
United Artists Music where he signed an exclusive recording artist and songwriting contract. In 1968, United Artists sent him to Hollywood to set up a West Coast office and during a seven-year tenure at United Artists he worked with
Mac Davis,
Jackie DeShannon,
Jimmy Holiday,
Sharon Sheeley,
Delaney & Bonnie,
Billy Ed Wheeler, Alex Harvey,
Buddy Buie,
Andy Kim,
Paul Leka and
Kenny Young amongst others. In 1972, he signed an exclusive recording artist and songwriting contract with ABC Dunhill Records. In 1974 he accepted a job as the West Coast vice-president of
Chappell Music, then the world's largest music publishing company. During his years at Chappell Music, he signed and helped launch the careers of
Kim Carnes, the
Sanford Townsend Band,
Jules Shear and hired the young record producer
Jim Ed Norman, with whom in later years he would share success with at
Warner Bros. Records. In 1977, Reeves started his own music publishing and personal management company, working with Carnes, Shear (
Jules and the Polar Bears) and
Slow Children. In 1980, Reeves returned to his hometown of
Amarillo, Texas, where he managed real estate properties for four years. In 1984, Reeves was hired by
Jim Ed Norman as general manager of
Warner Bros. Records where he spent sixteen years – the last ten as Executive Vice President and general manager, until retiring in 1999 at age 60. While at Warner Bros., Reeves shared in the success of launching and developing the careers of
Faith Hill,
Randy Travis,
Dwight Yoakam,
Travis Tritt,
Little Texas,
Jeff Foxworthy,
Bill Engvall,
David Ball, and
Take 6; whilst promoting the continued success of
Hank Williams, Jr.,
Emmylou Harris,
John Anderson, and
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. ==Books==