But credit also must be given to a fabulous singer, Barbi Franklin, who was the perfect match for Jim's voice. We worked three days on that track as she sang it first in a lower key, then an octave higher and on the third day I decided to have her do it both high and low so we give the illusion Jim is harmonizing with her at some spots. She was a good sport about all this singing and instinctively knew to move in close to the mic and sing intimately and softly, just like Mr. Reeves had done when he recorded the original. She was a natural at matching his phrasing, and we even measured the amount of reverb on Jim's voice and applied the same amount to hers so it would sound like they had sung the song together.
Barbi's husband, Terry, a fine singer and an alumnus of the famous Gaither Vocal Band, lent his considerable talents to helping us record the song.
I also stripped away some of the original accompaniment and had another talented individual, Jim Frazier of Nashville, play nylon string guitar on that song to give it just the right feel. We kept it simple.
So I'm delighted that fans enjoy this reworking of an old Jim Reeves track. Some would prefer that Jim's music be left untouched but that's like saying we shouldn't enjoy high-def color TV and should all just watch old b&w sets with the rabbit ears because that's the way television started out.
The "purists" are stuck in a bygone era and terrified of change in all its forms, even when things can be improved through new technology.
The "Distant Drums" remake was really just a fine tuning in the sense that I added trumpet, as played by Steve Patrick, to the latter part of the song, and that really enhanced our already big-league orchestration by the talented Milton Smith. My male chorus was superb in adding their voices to Jim's.
You can hear samples at: www.greatjimreeves.com
I've already gotten a flurry if IMs on Facebook and am appreciative of the kind words, especially since a few of the loonies have been in overdrive lately trying to demean the work that I do.
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