Ray Charles - No Use Crying (mp3)
Sunday, October 2, 2011
WFMU Silent Fundraising
Help a sister out and make a tax-deductible pledge to WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban during our Shock & Awetober silent fundraiser. There's a special spot for you in Hillbilly Hades (Texas Bill Strength) if you tell 'em Ichiban sent you. Thanks!!!
Two More Things About Jim Reeves
(1) This didn't really fit into my previous piece, but I didn't want to abandon it: Reeves was and remains a HUGE star in certain other countries, including Great Britain, Germany and Norway, but especially so in South Africa, India, and Sri Lanka. If I may quote from Wikipedia:
"Robert Svoboda, in his trilogy on aghora and the Aghori Vimalananda, mentions that Vimalananda considered Reeves a gandharva, i.e. in Indian tradition, a heavenly musician, who had been born on Earth. He had Svoboda play Reeves' "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at his cremation."
(I'd like to note that this was entirely unsolicited, unlike Stephen Seagal's promotion to "reincarnated lama" status. I don't anticipate that any such honors will be bestowed on Trace Adkins or Lady Antebellum any time soon.)
A year or two ago, I was playing a Roger Miller album at work when a young South Asian woman walked up to the counter and asked if it was Jim Reeves. In talking to her, I learned that while she wasn't that knowledgeable about Reeves, that her parents and other family members were big fans, and that her aunt had gone to the Jim Reeves Museum while on vacation in America. Back home in either Pakistan or Sri Lanka (I forget which), this was seen as a big enough deal that she was asked to write an article for the local newspaper about her experience.
(2) On a more personal note, my grandfather was not a major music fan (he didn't own more than a dozen records and a handful of 8-tracks), but his two favorite singers were Jim Reeves and Jimmy Rodgers. He had spent some time as a hobo in the 1930s, and as a result, this was his favorite song by either of them:
I still prefer my grandfather's off-key rendering of it, but Jim does it pretty well, too.
Mrs. Jim Reeves
A couple of years ago, my buddy Robert got me this pocket date book off of eBay as a Christmas present, because of the Hatch Show Print logo. The only writing in it (other than what appear to be some notes made while doing a crossword puzzle) was the two-page spread seen below.
Examining this, I realized that it seemed to have some connection to country legend Jim Reeves; my initial assumption was that it had belonged to Jim's manager or some other close
associate, who was making notes toward figuring out what to give Jim and Mrs. Reeves for Christmas a half-century ago. A subsequent perusal of one of my vast collection of postcards would lead me to a different conclusion.
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| Mary Reeves (1929-1999) |
After Reeves' death in 1964, his wife Mary dedicated most of the rest of her life to preserving Jim's legacy , both by releasing a great many overdubbed posthumous recordings, Norman Petty-style (some perfectly good, others notably less so--- also like Petty's Buddy Holly products), and by operating a Jim Reeves Museum in Nashville for over 20 years. At some point during that period of time, the souvenir shop sold postcards of the widow Reeves, one autographed specimen of which was in my possession.
Comparing her signature to the notebook, I concluded that the book had been hers, and that the "Mrs. Reeves" in the book was in fact her mother-in-law!
Judge for yourself... it's not an absolutely perfect match, but the 20-plus year gap between the two documents, added to the different nature of a signature and scribbled notes would explain that adequately in my view.
So that's the story of my "Holy Relic", as I currently understand it. Regrettably,if this actually was Mary's, it was likely released into the world when her second husband sold off all of her property and all rights to Jim's recordings and name when she went into a rest home. Her obituary has the sad details.
Here's Mary in happier times:
And here's the man himself:
(written by his old buddy Roger Miller)
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| James Travis Reeves (August 20th 1923- July 31st 1964) |
Postscript: For any Hatch Show Print fans here in the Athens, GA area, American Letter press: The Art of Hatch Show Print is in town at the Georgia Museum of Art until November 26th.
Ichiban Means Number 1!
Ichiban means #1! from Greg Harrison on Vimeo.
Thanks to Greg Harrison for this Awesome Ichiban spot!!!
Look for it in-between shows on Network Awesome.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Country Music Week
Miss Billie Rae & The Virginians - Only Mama That'll Walk The Line (mp3)
Answer to Waylon Jennings - Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line
Produced by Sid Kleiner at the House Of Guitars in Califon, NJ
See also Tom Hyatt - My Benny's Wearing Off
Country Music Week
Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response to Country Music Week. Here is the playlist for Hillbilly Music To Spazz By with special guest Greg G!!
Listen Now
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Country Music Week / Judy Lynn (MP3s)
Here are two highly alluring instrumental tracks from Judy Lynn's 1965 United Artists LP titled The Judy Lynn Show. Both numbers are highly atypical selections for a country performer, but thoroughly enjoyable all the same due in no small part to the exotic sounds produced by Gene O'Neal, the band's pedal steel guitarist.
Judy Lynn Show - Night Train (3:18)
Judy Lynn Show - Baby Elephant Walk (3:08)
The Dixie Fun Barn Gang
Originating at WPDQ in Jacksonville, Fla., These folks performed on WAGA in Atlanta from September 1946 to December 1948. From there, they traveled to WQAM in Miami, then back to Atlanta on WGST from October 1949 to JAnuary 1950. Tommy Trent would subsequently join the Louisiana Hayride. Apologies to Tex Anderson and/or his descendants for the ink blot Partly obscuring his face... that's how I found it.
(above information courtesy of Pickin' On Peachtree: A History
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