Posted by Ron McBride on November 29, 2013, 8:00 pm
I read with some interest a posting about the Big D Jamboree. As one of the "sceptical and cynical" band of Reeves timeliners, I would advise Mr. Bussey he might want to think twice before "nailing his colours" to that Bear timeline. The Bear timeline has Jim Reeves at the Big D Jamboree on the night of November 14, 1959. This is incorrect. Jim Reeves was in Nashville on that date, performing at the Grand Ole Opry. He was in Nashville for the 8th Annual Country Music Disc Jockey Festival. At the Opry that night, he sang "In A Mansion Stands My Love" and "He'll Have To Go". The Bear Family information is very interesting, but it is not infallible. We already knew about the other dates (something Mr. Bussey would have found out had he looked at Bill Marks' timeline). Also, I don't believe Larry ever stated his book was intended as a complete listing of all Jim Reeves performances. I'm not complaining about the article too much though, because at least we had an article where Mr. Bussey didn't refer to himself in 3rd person. That, at least, was a relief!
Re: Big D Jamboree Article
Posted by Larry Jordan on November 29, 2013, 8:38 pm, in reply to "Big D Jamboree Article"
Those posts just get weirder and weirder, don't they? And he's bragging about the new Bear 8 CD set on the "Big D Jamboree." But of the 285 tracks, NOT ONE features Jim Reeves. But you can hear Riley Crabtree, Orville Couch, Helen Hall, Joe Poovey, Billy Edwards, Nancy Castleberry, Eddie Shelton, Black Jack David, Jimmie Collie and a whole bunch of other artists whom most fans have never heard of before!
As is often true of Bear, they pad their boxed sets with a lot of stuff most fans won't find of interest...and jack up the price. This one is $235, which is pretty steep. But I notice Eddie McDuff is listed amongst the performers and I personally would like to hear him, since HE IS THE REAL WRITER OF "WELCOME TO MY WORLD."
In my book I reveal how Ray Winkler got all the money and all the credit for what Eddie did, and it enabled Ray to buy a beautiful new home while Eddie's widow (he was killed in a commercial airliner crash after Jim Reeves died), was left to struggle along raising young children on her own.
Yet it was Winkler who got inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, not Eddie. I interviewed members of Mr. McDuff's family, including his dear widow, who told me the details of this rip off. Other songwriters are privy to this outrage and my information is solid.
Most interesting about Eddie McDuff. I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area of Texas and he was quite a popular entertainer throughout that area until his death in the late 60's.
I was completely unaware that he was the writer of "Welcome To My World". I knew that he and Orville Couch wrote "Hello Trouble" and scored a certain amount of success but I am not aware of any other notable offering from that team.
Eddie also released several singles, a couple on STARDAY Records and some on his own label, GIANT. I do have his one and only L.P. "Eddie McDuff Sings SUDDENLY" that I obtained from a radio station that I worked for in the 1970s. Management was tossing out a lot of old vinyl (I still shudder to think what all was lost) and I spotted and grabbed the Eddie McDuff album before it was thrown into dumpster.
In all honestly, radio stations are the last ones to really know ANYTHING about music and its history.
As I report in my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," Jim was impressed with Eddie's singing, and one song in particular, that Ray Winkler had sent to Reeves as a demo. (I'm sure Eddie shamed him into it). He replied to Winkler's letter by asking him to find out if Eddie would agree to certain terms regarding the master, royalties, etc. So Reeves found merit in Eddie's talents, as well he should.
I doubt seriously Jim would have ever wanted to see Ray get rich off "Welcome To My World" and falsely claim credit for it, while the man who was responsible for it -- Mr. McDuff -- was ripped off. Jim was far more honorable than that. And he went to bat for songwriters, such as he did when Fabor Robison tried to cheat Johnny Russell (who wrote "In A Mansion Stands My Love") out of royalties. Jim called up Fabor in Johnny presence and chewed him out rather colorfully and demanded Robison send Johnny a check, which he did.