The relationship between JR and Dean Manuel as shown in Larry's book seems to have ranged from band member, buddy through to manager. It seems unusual that Dean was JR's manager - did this role involve planning tours and dealing with finance etc or was it an informal arrangement? Was Dean a reluctant manager?
Re: Dean Manuel JR manager
Posted by Larry Jordan on March 25, 2015, 9:07 am, in reply to "Dean Manuel JR manager" Edited by board administrator March 25, 2015, 9:10 am
Dean was not Jim's manager, but he was his close associate and he handled the money on the road. Jim was a soft touch and would feel sorry for a hard luck story by a club owner, whereas Dean was less susceptible to attempts by people to get out of paying Reeves or reducing the amount they paid him.
After Herb Shucher (who did a tremendous amount to help Reeves) got fired, except for a very brief period, Jim did not have a manager per se. Though one could call Dean the road manager in the sense he helped with the logistics, such as when the bus broke down or they needed to get Jim on a plane to go somewhere. Dean also carried the cash in a gym bag underneath his underwear, so it was inconspicuous.
When the men were at home in Nashville, Dean had little time to spend with his wife, Bobbie, or their two daughters, because Jim was forever recruiting him to go out on the town with him and keep him company. Leo used to do that, but when Dean came along Jackson thankfully turned over the responsibility to Manuel, saying he served his penance.
Unlike most other Nashville stars at the time, Jim kept his band on salary; he did not pay them per show. Therefore, they were "on call" anytime he wanted to summon them, whether it be for business or pleasure. In this respect, Jim was very unfair to his band members who, after all, had private lives too.
In my book I also tell how Jim would pay his band Christmas bonuses, then demand they return half of the money. The men ended up having to pay taxes on the whole amount (while Jim got the tax write-off).
As you can see once again, Jim Reeves was a man of many contradictions.
Fascinating insight. As shown in the book jr claimed the reason he did 75-100 days of shows per year is so that Dean and the other Blue Boys could have a decent salary. Was their salary typical for the day or more than usual. For example Dean was 30 with a house and family - was he reasonably well off or just above the line? I wonder did Dean recieve more money than the other blue boys because of his extra duties?
Re: Dean Manuel JR manager
Posted by Larry Jordan on March 25, 2015, 6:31 pm, in reply to "Re: Dean Manuel JR manager" Edited by board administrator March 27, 2015, 2:42 pm
You ask some interesting questions. The Blue Boys were not well off, though Leo thought he was doing great because he and Mel bought a motor boat together and he could afford to drive a hot Buick.
But Jim was also chintzy in that he got mad when Leo wanted to sign the union time cards for RCA Studio Sessions. Reeves's feeling was that Leo was on salary so that should suffice. Hence Leo is playing on sessions that he is not listed on or given credit for, and he learned to emulate a bunch of Chet Atkins guitar licks. While Chet got the credit on some tracks, it was really Leo doing the guitar work.