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."
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