Posted by Larry Jordan on January 22, 2014, 6:07 pm Edited by board administrator January 22, 2014, 6:18 pm
A press release by Neillrae Music cited on the disinformation Reeves fan site in Holland notes that "a celebration is planned at the Grand Ole Opry this Friday, January 24, 2014, with Charley Pride performing 'Welcome To My World.'"
This was the last song Jim Reeves ever sang on the stage of the Ryman auditorium during the 10:15 p.m. segment of the Opry broadcast on Saturday night, June 29, 1963 — just before he resigned from the cast for the second, and final time. Ironically, that song was not even released as a single until January 1964 and only after Jim had a showdown with RCA execs over it.
The Neillrae statement correctly notes that the song "is certainly considered a country music standard with over 2,300,000 air plays to date, used in countless movies, commercials, TV shows and has been recorded by more than 150 artists."
The statement further explains that Neillrae "owns split publishing of 'Welcome To My World' with Sony/ATV." How lucky for them.
To date, there has been no public acknowledgement of the fact that Ray Winkler fraudulently claimed credit as co-composer of the song even though Eddie McDuff is the true writer. The latter has been confirmed by first-hand accounts from those on the scene at the time, including Eddie's widow, who was left to raise young children when her husband was tragically killed in a commercial plane crash. Mr. Winkler did not give Eddie one cent of what he earned from this lucrative song, nor did Winkler help Eddie's widow or small children. He did, however, move into a beautiful home which he bragged was paid for by the song.
Ray Winkler continued to enrich himself and con the public for decades, failing to acknowledge the vital role that Eddie McDuff played in the creation of the song. Shamefully, Ray even ended up in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame although surely by now there are plenty of people who are well aware of the facts of the matter.
In my book, I recount how people close to the situation were privy to the truth about "Welcome To My World," and that neither Ray nor John Hathcock, supposedly co-writers, could even sing the melody of it when they turned to a radio station employee to cut a demo of it. Small wonder why. Mrs. McDuff also told the story of how she and her husband drove out of town to confront Ray Winkler after the song became such a big smash, and the most Ray was willing to do is promise to share in the spoils on any future songs Eddie might write for him. Indeed, Mr. Winkler and Jim Reeves exchanged correspondence about Eddie but it is doubtful Jim ever knew who really wrote the song.
Just think of the windfall in royalties that have accrued over the years without the McDuff family receiving one cent.
Apparently Ray Winkler's braggadocio was routine. I have a packet of material that Mr. Winkler wrote and sent to another writer years ago in which he made himself the center of every story on Jim. He mixed in some truth with A LOT of fabrication and exaggeration, in what was obviously a desperate attempt to make himself sound more important in Jim's life than he really was. I do not deny that he was a friend of Jim's (and, incidentally, the man behind that dreadful b&w TV pilot that Jim filmed in Dallas which was so poorly done it probably ruined Jim's chances of ever hosting a network television show. The feedback from Madison Avenue was scathing).
Yet it's a mystery to me why Ray felt compelled to resort to such gross embellishment in his stories.
And by the way, Charlie Pride is about the last person who could do justice to singing that POP song on the Opry. He is well past his prime and despite making what will no doubt be a valiant effort, if the Opry wanted to honor Jim they could do so in a better fashion.
Do you think Eddie McDuff's name will be mentioned from the stage of the Opry Friday night? Don't hold your breath. But I'd be willing to wager Ray Winkler's daughter Bette Hodges will be taking bows like she did at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. And when she does, I hope she thinks about the widow who was left penniless with young children and literally had to clean toilets for a living to provide for her family while Ray Winkler claimed undue credit and "lived high off the hog."
Re: Shameless deception
Posted by Mike Slater on January 22, 2014, 9:21 pm, in reply to "Shameless deception"
It really is a shame what Ray Winkler did to Eddie McDuff, and it's hard for me to believe that Ray could live with himself knowing full well that he cheated Eddie out of the recognition and royalties that rightfully belonged to him. His widow and children were forced to live in poverty after Eddie was killed, and apparently this had no effect on Ray whatsoever. It's inconceivable to me that one human being could do this to another, but tragically, it's a common tale that we hear quite often. Larry, I remember you mentioned in your book something about the TV pilot that Jim filmed was so poorly done, but I don't recall you going into anymore detail than that. What kind of TV show was this, and for what reasons would you say it was poorly done? Does this TV pilot still exist in any form?
Re: Shameless deception
Posted by Larry Jordan on January 22, 2014, 10:06 pm, in reply to "Re: Shameless deception" Edited by board administrator January 22, 2014, 10:08 pm
You've no doubt seen excerpts from this TV pilot, the most memorable scene being of Jim singing "He'll Have to Go" in a phone booth. But it was all lip sync. The staging and lighting were horrific, Reeves didn't appear to be wearing make-up -- even his toupe looked bad (something that was commented on by a New York media consultant). Jim was sick that day and didn't want to do it but Winkler insisted that he had booked the studio time. The script was virtually non existent so Jim fumbled around. It was a gross embarrassment and surely did JR's career more harm than good. That's why, when H&H and VoiceMasters put together a DVD a few years ago we did not use any of the film from that disastrous pilot. We only used live video clips of Jim actually singing on various shows. Ray Winkler was behind that awful TV pilot, and clearly out of his depth.
The trouble is,when you start telling such lies,it is a very 'slippery slope',and the lies get more and more embellished and elaborate as time passes,and in the end you start believing what you say,of course the cheques along the way 'eases the guilt'. How has it taken so long to come to light?Didn't Jim know the truth?Surely Mr.Winkler must have boasted about writing it back then,How did he get his name 'credited'?Wasn't someone called 'Hathcock' also credited?
Some of that pilot was included in a VHS tape I have called " Golden Memories and Silver Tears". I bought it many years ago in about 91 or 92. Larry is correct, the pilot perfomences are dreadful.He lip-sync'd nearly every song, no band in site, the lighting was terrible with what appears to be 1 camera, no make-up, and his toupee looked awful( poofy and askew on some angle shots). Jim's eyes dart from side to side and he looks down at the floor a lot. He fumbles and hesitates threw his lines. I can totally understand why no one liked the pilot. It truely was so poorly done. The rest of the tape includes him singing live, but they all came from the mid 50's when he was still singing in the pre "Four Walls" style. It does however start with a Music Video of "Welcome to My World " that was prett well done. Sadly the video ends with a Music Video of "Distant Drums" that is weirdly dreadful. But after says all of that, when I bought it, it was the first film I had of Jim and I thought it was the best thing ever! I still watch it once or twice a year. I don't have the DVD's that Larry has put out, but I am sure that they are top quality as is all the Voicemasters CD's hes put out. I have most of those and I listen to them almost daily. I just finished re-reading "JR His Untold Story" and it is an awesome book. For Jim Reeves fans that have not read it, you need to!!!
Gary, you should get the DVD that Larry and Voicemasters put together, if you don't already have it! It's the best footage available on Jim to date, and Jim is not lip syncing in one performance on this DVD! It's top quality, just like Larry's book. No Jim Reeves fan should be without this DVD, so I would try to pick it up if I were you, before it's impossible to find...
Re: Shameless deception
Posted by Larry Jordan on January 23, 2014, 11:28 am, in reply to "Re: Shameless deception" Edited by board administrator January 23, 2014, 11:32 am
Ray Winkler got lucky that the writer of the song, Eddie McDuff, (who at the very least composed the melody), died in a commercial plane crash on May 3, 1968, ironically dying at 4:51 p.m., down to the minute when Jim Reeves had run into trouble just four years earlier. (Reeves reported running into heavy rain at 4:51 and crashed at 4:52).
By profession, Eddie was a government inspector but also a prolific songwriter who spent a lot of time at the famous "Big D Jamboree." On the day he was killed, he had taken an earlier flight than he usually did, as he was in a hurry to get home to his wife and children after being gone all week. He and 84 other people aboard Braniff Flight 353 from Houston to Dallas crashed near Dawson, Texas during a storm. He was only 32. Glenda McDuff, Eddie's widow, was left with four children to raise by herself — ages 15, 14, seven and six. I asked her in a taped interview if Ray Winkler ever offered her any help and she responded "Nope...he never did."
Despite the tragedy and the financial struggle he knew Glenda had in supporting herself and her children, Ray continued to perpetuate the falsehood that he and John Hathcock had written the song alone, thereby further enriching himself and stoking his gigantic ego.
Later he said revealingly "I don't know who did [the original demo]; he only sang the words and played the chords real rough." What a crock.
Notice that neither Winkler nor Hatchcock wrote any other hits for Jim Reeves.
Ray bragged in a letter he sent to someone (that I have a copy of) that John Hatchcock was such a fabulous writer of lyrics but the bridge on "Welcome To My World" includes words taken from Matthew 7:7–8 ("Knock and the door will open; seek and you will find; ask and you'll be given ... ," from the Sermon on the Mount).
I think both Hathcock and Winkler were outright phonies and the only reason they got by with this deception is because poor Eddie McDuff met an untimely death and couldn't challenge them publicly or take legal action against them. The amount of money that has gone to the wrong people is staggering, and it continues to this day. It takes a lot of gall for heirs of this great fortune to show up at public events and take applause for the work that somebody else did. They're either in denial or they just don't give a damn about the truth.
You can read more details on page 527 in my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story."
Given the true facts of what has occurred i wonder if Eddie,s wife or his children could still have grounds to challenge the actions of Mr Winkler, or is this a case i suspect that too much water has gone under the bridge and that there is little or nothing that can be done to remedy the situation.
John.
How Jim handled things
Posted by Larry Jordan on January 23, 2014, 7:05 pm, in reply to "Re: Shameless deception" Edited by board administrator January 23, 2014, 7:13 pm
I tell a story in my book about how Ray Baker wrote a song called "There's A Heartache Following Me." Jim helped him polish it, hence both their names were listed on the song sheet. On the day of the recording session, during a break Jim and Ray were in the control room and Reeves glanced down and saw the paperwork that Chet Atkins was compiling on the songs being recorded. Jim took out his pen and crossed off his name on "There's A Heartache..." thus giving Ray 100% songwriter's credit for the composition. The result of this act of kindness is that over the years it has earned Mr. Baker a tidy sum of money in royalties, because it has also been recorded by other artists and even some rock groups. That's the kind of man Jim Reeves was, compared with Ray Winkler or John Hathcock. He knew Ray Baker needed some financial help and rather than be greedy, he helped him out.
Re: Shameless deception
Posted by Ron McBride on January 24, 2014, 8:12 pm, in reply to "Shameless deception"
Out of curiosity, I tuned in to the Opry tonight to listen. Yes, Charley did make a very valiant effort, but as you say Larry, he is well past his prime and it very much showed. And of course, they only gave credit to Winkler & Hathcock for writing the song. At least they gave mention to Jim Reeves.
By happenstance a good friend of mine who is associated with the Opry called me on his cell phone enroute to the theater tonight. I mentioned to him the travesty of Winkler and Hathcock getting all the glory (AND MONEY!) for a song written by another man. He had not heard that story but as he is highly placed within the organization, volunteered to spread the word about it. He was equally appalled and felt that the powers that be ought to be made aware of it. I'm sure he will see to it.
I detest liars, especially those who enrich themselves unfairly with callous disregard for those who did all the hard work and deserve the credit, especially when others are victimized and suffer as a result of the deception.
But now you know the true story, as do multitudes of fans around the world who have read the print and eBook editions of my book. Eddie McDuff's name will forever be associated with "Welcome To My World" even though others shamefully enriched themselves off of his creative efforts (AND CONTINUE TO DO SO), and Ray Winkler falsely claimed credit without giving Eddie any money, honor, or helping McDuff's widow with young children.
Re: Shameless deception
Posted by Manendra Pedris on January 25, 2014, 7:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Shameless deception"
If I'm not mistaken, Charley Pride is a great fan of Jim Reeves and has even made a tribute album to Jim. Though past his prime, I cannot think of a better artist to cover Jim.