JIM REEVES #1 IN EUROPE WITH SECOND SONG #5!!!!!!!!
Posted by JULIE (Webmistress) on August 16, 2014, 11:06 pm
Jim Reeves had many hits in his lifetime and 34 songs on the charts after his death.
But it took Larry Jordan of VoiceMasters to put Jim back on top where he belongs.
As has already been reported elsewhere on the web, a song from the new 8 CD set, "The Great Jim Reeves," -- a "duet" with Jim, featuring Barbi Franklin called "How's The World Treating You," -- is NUMBER #1 on the Hotdisc chart in Europe.
Stuart Cameron, who writes for "Up Country Magazine" reports as follows:
Headline: "50 YEARS AFTER HE DIED, JIM REEVES IS NUMBER ONE."
Cameron states: "It's hard to believe that Jim Reeves has been gone 50 years and yet his music lives on thanks to the quality of his work which still attracts airplay all over the world. And the new 8 CD collection of re-workings of his songs by Larry Jordan has been responsible for his latest chart appearances, including 'Distant Drums' which made number 2 in the Hotdisc Top 40 a few weeks ago. Today Jim's duet with Barbi Franklin rockets to the top of the Hotdisc chart. It's a re-make of 'How's The World Treating You.'"
THIS IS TREMENDOUSLY EXCITING NEWS FOR ANYBODY WHO TRULY LOVES THIS GIFTED ARTIST.
But our chronic nemesis Arie den Dulk rushed online to try to preemptively discredit this achievement by spinning it on his website (you know, the one that claims to be devoted to promoting the music of Jim Reeves). He sneers "The INDUSTRY determines the position of the songs, whether or not the CD album from which the tracks are taken is a commercial success or failure."
This puerile, hateful and dishonest excuse for a man is trying to throw cold water on this incredible achievement once again. How evil this guy really is.
He is implying the ranking is rigged (or did someone bribe the radio stations like in the payola days?) He compares this to the old days when fans determined a record's popularity and emphasizes the word "INDUSTRY" to make it sound like a bunch of business people decided to rate Jim's recordings so high and the fans had nothing to do with it. What twisted logic.
Here are the facts directly from Hotdisc, which explains its methodology in surveying radio stations in Europe. The Hotdisc charts are put together weekly using ratings supplied by DJs who give scores to every song released in the last three months. The scores are totaled up and averaged out per week to give an accurate guide to the songs which are being championed by the industry. "The aim is to showcase the songs which the DJs and media people are pinpointing as top quality songs, which is a very useful exercise, particularly to all our clients and DJs AS IT IS FREE OF POLITICS, HYPE AND RIGGING AND DONE ON MERIT!"
I guess the last sentence is the one Den Dulk missed.
This is not the first time Larry has taken Jim to the top of the charts. In November 2008, his overdub of the last song Reeves ever recorded (and which Larry premiered on VoiceMasters), "I'm A Hit Again," also went to #1.
This awoke Sony, which hadn't released anything "new" on Jim for several years, and they rushed into the marketplace with a CD of the same old songs and it climbed to I think #7
So let's give some credit where credit is due, shall we? And disregard the pathological obsession with hatefulness that Den Dulk, Peter Atkinson and others exhibit anytime Larry Jordan -- the world's foremost authority on Mr. Reeves and author of the award-winning book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," -- achieves something significant.
To those who bemoan overdubbing (Atkinson has used Amazon to post dozens of libelous, personal attacks on Larry and his releases of late), THIS CHART RANKING PROVES THE VOICEMASTERS OVERDUBS as released by H&H Music Ltd. ARE A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY AT RETURNING JIM TO THE SPOTLIGHT.
This deserves a round of applause fans. Gentleman Jim has scored again, with TWO songs on the Top 10 in Europe right now.
BE SURE TO PLACE YOUR ORDER FOR THE NEW 8 CD, set at: www.greatjimreeves.com
And click the link below to hear a sample of the song that is Number #1 in Europe! -- JULIE
I have been off and on the road this week (working on another big overdub project) and checking email with my iPad so have been slow to learn -- though elated to hear about -- the news concerning my remake of Jim's "How's The World Treating You?" reaching the top spot in the survey of EU radio stations. I always believed in the song and pushed for it to be singled out. I KNEW it would be a hit. I just KNEW it.
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.