Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
Posted by Larry Jordan on April 8, 2014, 8:17 pm Edited by board administrator April 8, 2014, 8:24 pm
A fan wrote into the Fan Forum recently inquiring as to the status of efforts to move Mary from a mausoleum in Madison, Tenn. where she now reposes, to Jim Reeves' memorial site near Carthage, Texas, as per her wishes as outlined in her will.
Several years ago, a Reeves relative prematurely and unequivocally proclaimed that Mary would be moved -- even before the dust had settled on the long-running legal battle -- and this news literally traveled around the world and was printed in newspapers and aired on numerous broadcasts internationally. But to date this promise still has not come true.
If you click the numbers which appear in the upper right corner of the main Fan Forum page, you can search prior posts and see how, at the time, I urged caution in making any such assumptions about Mary's move, or the outcome of the litigation.
If you search back far enough in this Fan Forum you will find a member of the Reeves family crowing about the so-called triumph in the Nashville court over Mary's second husband, who had sought for years to retain her assets.
But what has been the upshot of all this? The protracted legal battle — which could have been settled years ago to do what was right and make everyone happy — succeeded instead only in enriching the lawyers involved, who have billed hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to the estate.
When you count up all the Reeves nieces and nephews and the White nieces and nephews (heirs in Mary's will), plus the $100,000 she promised to Bud Logan (the same amount she bequeathed her second husband), HOW MUCH DO THEY EACH GET? A king's ransom? Hardly.
How much is the Reeves estate now worth? Anyone care to guess? A substantial part of Jim's catalog has fallen into the public domain in the areas of the world where he is the most popular and most marketable. That's why you see a plethora of labels, large and small, recycling his back catalog. Often these releases are beyond embarrassing; they're dreadful. They frequently concentrate on the early days of his career, thus distorting his musical heritage by failing to spotlight the later, smoother material with which he distinguished himself as a great singer.
Who's in charge of Jim Reeves' legacy? Not Jim and Mary's kinfolk -- not collectively or individually. Instead, a court-appointed administrator in Nashville, paid out of revenue that still accrues to the estate from royalties, etc. is calling the shots.
He has to see to it that the taxes are paid and other legal requirements complied with.
Who is looking out for the legacy of Jim Reeves?
In retrospect, this entire matter could and should have been handled differently. What the Reeves and White heirs won was a pyrrhic victory. You don't see any of them coming on the Fan Forum any more to boast about their crusade for justice nor their "victory" over evil. And even the man who devastated Mary's interests by signing over all her assets to a convicted bank fraud felon before the crook had paid for it -- (Mary's idiot nephew) Rev. Bill White -- has not been held legally accountable. What price will he pay for his malfeasance? He recently toured India, billing himself as Jim's nephew -- though he stopped being that when Mary married another man in 1969. Has Rev. White told the press in the numerous interviews he has granted around the world how he failed to protect his late aunt's fiduciary and other interests? Or see to it that she was properly cared for in a nursing home? Or how he allowed himself to be manipulated by a felon who appealed to his ego? (Bill -- a Baptist minister no less -- sings Jim's songs in shows he puts on).
2014 is the 50th anniversary year of Jim's passing. Will this milestone go by without anyone doing more than playing a few of his recordings here or there, or putting on a "tribute" show that promotes themselves more than it does this great artist? Al Grant the heir apparent to Jim Reeves? What a joke.
There really is only ONE Reeves family member who is still publicly honoring his late uncle's musical legacy. What about the rest of them?
It's shameful, really, what has happened. I think back to the many conversations I had with Mary over the years, and how she assured me she had everything taken care of such that Jim's memory would be preserved. She paid lawyers big money to make sure nothing would happen like has indeed happened. It is a sad commentary on the courts, the legal profession, and those who betrayed her in the end. Corruption and especially GREED have been the driving forces behind the destruction of Jim Reeves' legacy.
I'd be interested in hearing the feedback from any of you about these matters...
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
Larry, all of your points are spot on. Sadly in most families it all comes down to money. From everything I have read over the years, no one in either Jim or Mary's family ever did a thing to help promote his music or his legacy. All they saw were dollar signs. So I don't think Mary ever will be moved to Texas, because there is no profit for them to do it. If they were to make a buck off of doing it, it would have already happened. As for his music, I didn't know that a lot of his music had entered public domain. Now it makes sense why all of the Cd's that are in the stores and such are rehashes of the same songs with different pictures on the front. I finally had to tell my Family and friends to stop buying these CD's for me because I had all the songs that were on them.
As for their estate, I have no clue whats its worth. I would imagine that it still draws in some cash, but it sounds like that amount will go down every year as more songs get into public domain. Me, personally, the money doesnt really matter, its Jim's legacy that does. It is awful that all of his tangible things have been scattered in the wind. All of his personal things should be in a museum someplace for all fans to enjoy. Can you imagine a place like a Presidential musuem where all of Jim and Mary's things were catiloged and on display? That would be so awesome. But sadly, their own families just stood by as the vultures attacked.
Thankfully, You and Julie, out of the love for Jim Reeves, took up where Mary left off. I don't think anyone that visits this site ever thought that we would be listening to any NEW music from Jim Reeves ever again. I know I didn't. When I bought the 16 CD set, I bought it knowing I would never again buy a new Jim Reeves CD. Then you started putting all of those wonderful CD's. I love each and everyone. I listen to them almost daily. As I have told you many times, Thank You for everything you do to keep our favorite artist in the publics eyes. What you have done has made Jim relevent to a group of new fans, young and old. The CD's, DVD's, Book, and this website has increased the number JR fans all over the world.
The big winner is the lawyers. Just think of the money they have been paid over the years. Most likely no one will ever know the amount, but it has to be substantial. But greed flows and grows deep as my Dad used to say.
Sadly, I was only 3 when Jim died. So I never got to see him in person. I remember seeing him on film for the first time when I was about 8 on the Johnny Cash show. He played a grainy clip of Jim singing He'll Have to Go for a reason I don't remember. My dad had told me Jim had died in a plane crash, but at 8 I guess I truely didnt understand because I asked my Dad if he was dead, why was he on TV.?
Thank you again, Larry and Julie for everything you both do. And I look forward to others posts on this subject......
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
"She paid lawyers big money to make sure nothing would happen like has indeed happened." Those lawyers who got the big money and failed to do the job they were hired to do should be sued, in my opinion. Their names and addresses should be made public so that anyone who wishes to can contact them and tell them what money-grubbing, self-serving shysters they are. Sadly, that would describe most attorneys, whose main interest in their clients is how much money they can make off of them, and not how well they can represent them. The "legal system", so-called, bears a major portion of the blame for this mess. Mary had a will, why wasn't it followed??? Isn't a will a legal document? Why is it lawyers and judges think they can ignore legal documents and do as they please?? Money, most likely.
It is also sad that some of the very people who should be the most interested in preserving the legacy of Jim Reeves are only interested in what their association with Jim can do for them.
I have often wished I had the money of my own to preserve Jim's legacy, and even to get his music back on the radio. There are millions of people around the world who don't even know who he is. It would be nice if they could at least be exposed to his music to see if they like it.
Thank you Larry for what you and your wife do to keep Jim's memory alive. I appreciate this website too.
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
Larry, everything you said is very true, I'm sorry to say. Jim's legacy could have been handled properly, but of course, that never happened. The lust for money and the greed that consumed these people destroyed everything that should have been. It's true that the people who were responsible for protecting Jim's legacy were too self centered and more interested in enriching themselves than doing the right thing by honoring Mary's wishes. It is tragic how we can put our trust in people who can very well betray us in the end. It's a terrible shame that so much of Jim's music is in the public domain, and that his early songs are being re-released over and over by people looking to make a fast buck, with no care or consideration to the artist himself or his true fans. This has been going on for way too long, and I guess it will probably continue. However, I do take comfort in knowing that there are many people in this world that truly love Jim and really care about his legacy and the wonderful recordings that he left us. As for doing justice to Jim's music, and producing many great CD's of unreleased material, we have you to thank for all of it. Any Jim Reeves fan that has heard these CD's can tell right away that they were a labor of love by someone who really cares. I believe that Jim and Mary would be proud of the way his great songs are being presented in all the wonderful Voicemasters releases. It's just heartbreaking to think how much more Jim's fans could be enjoying if the people who were entrusted to preserve Jim's legacy had done what they were supposed to do. Instead, the greedy lawyers and the hoarders who own many rare Jim Reeves items are the ones who won out in the end. It's a real tragedy.
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
What about Jim and Marys' 'friends'?How could they stand by and watch the destruction? As for suing the lawyers,well,good luck with that,they would tie things up in so much litigation and red tape,that they would get even richer,it is a great pity that Jim is now seen as a 'money cow' to his (so called) family and even RCA,Why couldn't they do something to help?Bet they would have done something if their biggest artist (Elvis) had a similar fate! Again it it thanks to Larry and Julie that give us the truth,and release recordings that would have otherwise either remained in the archives,or would have been 'wiped',Great job!
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
In my last e-mail on this thread, I forgot to also mention how truly grateful I am for Julie and this wonderful website. Without it, I would have never discovered that there are so many other fans out there who truly love Jim and his music as much as I do. I've met some really great people here that I never could have met otherwise.
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
Longtime "friend" and hanger-on Tom Perryman bragged to me several times that he put the deal together between Mary's second husband and Ed Gregory, the convicted bank fraud felon. He said "it's the best thing to happen to Jim and Mary in many years." Tom was of the erroneous belief that Gregory was going to do great things with the Reeves legacy — or so Perryman claimed. Tom had spent a lifetime aboard the Reeves money train and it was about to derail because Mary was no longer capable of engineering things. I think T.P. was afraid the train was going to leave the station without him so he found a new engineer. It's too bad he didn't look into Gregory's background and qualify him as a buyer. Had he done so he would have realized that Ed had been convicted of ripping off five Alabama banks that he'd owned -- including depositors and investors, despite warnings from bank examiners. Mrs. Gregory was also charged. That was common knowledge around Nashville but Perryman professed not to know it. So did the Rev. Bill White, who took great pains to try to convince me he was unaware of Ed's background when he told the court his aunt Mary DID want to sell the estate to Mr. Gregory. (An absurdity).
Tom is still offering up his recollections of his old buddy Reeves every chance he gets, but I am not aware of his telling his listeners about the role he played in the destruction of Jim's estate.
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled
It would have been interesting to know Jims thoughts on this entire sorry affair. But I think it's a safe bet that were he still around he surely would not be best pleased with those whom he thought were his friends. It makes one wonder if there are any of his surviving relatives truly care for his legacy. John.
Re: Reflections on Jim's legacy and how it has been mishandled