Link: Ronna Reeves
One of her band members called me one afternoon and invited me to come to a concert she was giving about 125 miles from where I lived, so I did. That evening I spent quite a bit of time with Ronna backstage in her dressing room talking about the music biz, etc. and was very impressed with her. She likewise is from Texas and I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in the Reeves family ancestry there is some connection. Ronna loved Jim's voice and told me she was very flattered whenever a fan would ask if she was related to Jim.
I was surprised to learn that despite being on the Statler show, she had very little contact with the four men. Indeed, her description proved to be true that night as I saw zero interaction between her and them. They left on their bus and she left on hers. Very odd.
Ronna went on to do some pop recordings and released several albums that fans loved, but she never had any big hits. She faded from view and I caught only a brief glimpse of her one time a few years ago when she was judging a talent contest. Other than that, she has apparently dropped out of sight. That's such a loss because I really loved her singing. Whatever the Statlers threw at her each week, she could handle musically.
Incidentally, arranger/conductor BILL WALKER -- whom Jim Reeves had brought over from South Africa -- was the musical director on the Statler Bros. show.
Anyway, I ran across an old video clip of Ronna singing "Kentucky Waltz," which Jim Reeves used to do on stage and you probably have heard his version (though he did not record it commercially). Ronna gave it her own interpretation. This is very brief but I think you will find it interesting.
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