Posted by Larry Jordan on June 20, 2014, 10:57 pm Edited by board administrator June 20, 2014, 11:29 pm
I am long accustomed to being targeted by the crazies and chief among them is Peter Atkinson of the UK. He has routinely claimed to know far more about me than even my own family members and closest friends know, and of course all of it is pure b.s. Yet he routinely takes to the web to post his declarations with such certitude it almost convinces ME he's telling the truth. But the reality is he is merely indulging in wild speculation and fantasy.
I have often been accused by some of the crazies of only writing my 672-page, award winning book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," to make money. I have pointed out that if that was my objective, I would have slapped together something in short order and not taken so long to produce such a detailed, day by day account (derivative of hundreds of taped interviews plus Jim and Mary's personal diaries and private correspondence).
I have to admit I thought that was a convincing argument until someone forwarded me Peter Atkinson's latest spin on this.
His explanation is that I "had to wait 13 years so all the people he had quoted including Leo jackson were dead or dying and could not dispute or challenge Jordan's lies."
Isn't that hilarious? Stop and think what he's saying. He's actually telling people on the internet that my sources are all dead or dying. I'm sure some of them are rushing to make appointments with their doctors right now! Because Mr. Atkinson seems to know more about their health status than they do!
Peter Atkinson is the same individual who long claimed I was not really writing a book but was merely using this as a ruse to con people out of Reeves memorabilia as I was, after all, the biggest "hoarder" of them all and not someone who would share anything with the fans. (Unless you count a major biography, a series of CDs with hundreds of songs, and two DVDs. BTW, what has Peter Atkinson contributed to the fans? Can anyone tell me?) He also claims I use multiple aliases.
Such idiocy doesn't warrant a reply but the latest jab is so ridiculous I had to share it with you to illustrate the desperation some of these individuals feel to attack the book.
Don't misunderstand. As a longtime journalist and publisher of a glossy regional magazine for the past 22 years, I am accustomed to critics. But some of the ones on the Reeves fan scene are so over the top they fall into an entirely different category. I am not "hurt" by their slings and arrows because I don't respect these individuals or their opinions anyway. Yet I am fascinated by the perverse psychology that would compel someone to become so obsessed with hatred and jealousy that they would literally devote YEARS of their lives, as some of these individuals like Mr. Atkinson have done, to trying to harm me.
Anyone who has read the book knows that I have quoted hundreds of people and listed many in the credits who are not directly quoted but helped me in various ways (such as with research). According to Mr. Atkinson they are all "dead or dying." Do you think that's an accurate statement?
I have a favor to ask: Anyone out there who knows Peter Atkinson or anything about him, I want you to email me privately at: lnjordan@mac.com
Thanks!
Re: A new spin on things
Posted by Mike Slater on June 21, 2014, 3:46 pm, in reply to "A new spin on things"
Once again, Larry is receiving more criticism with accusations that can so easily be proven false. I'll never understand why anyone would do such a thing, and make themselves look like a complete fool in the process. Can this Atkinson character actually prove that people who are still alive passed on already?! That I would like to see! You would think that he might at least try to come up with criticisms that are at least arguable! I will admit that I was once one of those people who did doubt at one time that Larry was never coming out with the book he claimed he was writing. However, I will regret that for the rest of my life. WHEN I'M WRONG, I SAY I'M WRONG. Here is a man who has been a complete blessing to true Jim Reeves fans. For most of my life, I really thought that no one would ever care enough to give the fans anything new on Jim. But after discovering Julie's website, and enjoying all the wonderful new Voicemasters releases that Larry has produced, along with his brilliant biography on Jim, that awful thought has forever left my mind. It amazes me that so much lame criticism can be targeted at the only person who has given the fans as much as he has! What exactly is the point they are trying to make?! The incredible output of new Jim Reeves material that Larry has given us over the years, and this amazing website of Julie's certainly speaks for itself! Their daughter Sara has also contributed excellent work in researching a lot of the material for the new 8-CD set as well! As for all those who continue to do nothing but criticize, I would love to see a list of anything you have given the fans! I certainly won't hold my breath waiting for that!
Re: A new spin on things
Posted by JULIE (Webmistress) on June 21, 2014, 6:56 pm, in reply to "Re: A new spin on things" Edited by board administrator June 21, 2014, 6:58 pm
Everyone is entitled to an opinion but to outright lie, like the person did who compiled a list of things in Larry's book that are not even in his book, or to act like they know things about Larry that are not knowable by them, is the height of dishonesty. Isn't that a strange paradox? Someone like Mr. Atkinson is accusing LARRY of lying when it is he himself who for YEARS AND YEARS has habitually posted outright fabrications about my husband?
It is unceasing. It is daily. It is hourly. It is around the clock. There is always somebody, somewhere, posting complete falsehoods about the book or CDs or Larry himself.
One would think these people, if they are truly fans of Jim Reeves, would be thrilled to hear new music or learn well documented new details of his life. Instead, it arouses within them a completely opposite response.
Larry shared with me a couple of recent emails he received from Eimbert van den Oetelaar, who said to him "thank you for confirming what we all think about you and that is you [are] only in it for the bucks... Some of the overdubs, and the duets in particular, are awful and leave me cold, you have taken the soul out of the songs making them very clinical and cold, if they ain't broke don't fix them! The booklet was interesting and raised a few questions, considering you claim to have known Mary Reeves for all those years. Is it not a bit strange that you were never photographed together?... On a personal note I have always wondered why where you not there when Mary was suffering? where were you when you thought so much about her or so you claim. I seem to recall you turned up after her death a bit like the horse and stable at bit too late!"
This man's opinion of the overdubs is rather dramatically contradicted by the reviews of professional music critics (and fans), such as the ones I posted today that are published in a respected UK music magazine. But to make the bizarre comment that Larry was never photographed with Mary, the implication being he didn't know her well, is extremely disconnected from reality. First of all, how does he know there are no pictures of the two of them together? A photo Larry took sitting beside Mary in Jim's Cadillac the first time they met is even reproduced in the 48 page booklet that accompanies the new 8 CD set, "The Great Jim Reeves"! And all you have to do is listen to the excerpts from the taped conversation with Mary that Larry posted on his blog to see that the two of them were friends of long standing. It was a very personal conversation between two people who were comfortable with each other.
As to the point of where was Larry when Mary was suffering? More than 800 miles away. When he and I became aware of the conditions under which Mary was living in the nursing home, I publicized it on this website, and Mr. and Mrs. Ed Gregory came to her rescue. Good for them! They deserve credit for this. Larry didn't appear AFTER Mary's death. He and I were both writing on this site about the struggle over the Reeves estate well before Mary passed away! And as Larry pointed out in his reply to Eimbert, we were even SUED by Terry Davis who was unhappy with some of what we were posting. (The litigation was dropped).
So you have to ask yourself why someone would so twist the facts as some of these people do?
Have they no hobbies, no interests to engage them other than to try to undermine sales of the Jim Reeves book or CDs, or denigrate us personally?
A clue may be offered in an old email we received years ago from an acquaintance of Eimbert's who quoted him as "vowing revenge" over supposedly not receiving a 5 CD set from us that he had ordered. So van den Oetelaar took a tape that Larry had sent as a kind gesture to be played only at a fan club meeting (with the stipulation it not be released commercially), and betrayed the agreement by replicating it onto CD and selling it without authorization and making money off of it.
Yet Eimbert has been lecturing Larry about honesty and accusing him of "lying" to fans!
A European fan sent us an email today observing that there is a problem over there with a "a lot of crazy bastards...trying to knock success or hard work." I suspect this is because they are so lacking in any personal accomplishments that they can't stand to see anyone else excel at what they do.
The trouble is, all of this rancor poisons the Jim Reeves fan scene because so much misinformation is posted on the web and then gets repeated such that innocent people read it or believe it.
It's all very sad...and quite pathological.
Ignoring it is on the one hand a good strategy up to a point. But it also gives them license to say whatever lies they want and when there is no counterbalance to this, naive fans tend to believe the trash. -- JULIE
All I can say is,I agree with everything Mike said.Like him I doubted if the book Larry was working on would ever see the light of day,and like-wise I apologize and regret the doubts,I certainly didn't expect such a detailed account of Jims' life,and certainly didn't expect over 670 pages,maybe 2 or 300,no wonder it took so long to complete,I thought I knew quite a bit about Jim,but Larrys' book puts my facts about Jim firmly in the shade,more like in a deep cave! Mr.Atkinson obviously has no life of his own,and the ONLY way he can get any recognition is to try and 'destroy' Larrys' reputation and his hard work,but I think that you have the support of all 'Genuine' fans,and we hope that you keep supplying us interesting facts/CD's/DVD's for years to come. For my birthday(24th. June),my sister Marion bought the 8CD set - which I am listening to now,and I am loving the new arrangements (to be honest),I didn't think I would,well done indeed!
Assuming they are using their real names,if they have been 'hassling' you for a long period of time Couldn't you sue them for spreading malicious lies over the internet?Or even 'Cyber-stalking'?I'm sure their 'IP Address' could be traced by your 'Service Provider',trouble is even if they do 'find' him,he would probably set up another account with another 'Provider' and use a different name!
Re: A new spin on things
Posted by Larry Jordan on June 29, 2014, 10:22 pm, in reply to "Re: A new spin on things" Edited by board administrator June 29, 2014, 10:30 pm
Sixteen plus years is an awfully long time to carry around hatred in your heart for somebody, to say nothing of jealousy, envy, paranoia, and other assorted delusional thinking. But I have a (thankfully small, albeit persistent) little group of enemies that are, as Julie says, "relentless" in their attacks, and have been nipping at my heels for that long.
You're right in that they OBVIOUSLY don't have a life of their own because if they did, they wouldn't have the time nor the impulse to be so preoccupied with MINE. I must be a Very Important Person to them, and I wish I could feel flattered, but I don't. I feel pity for them more than anything else.
It's easy to say "ignore them" but that's not always possible. If you are silent all the time, they will fill the vacuum with their lies, wild speculation, and gross misrepresentation of the facts — not only about me, but about Jim Reeves. They have tarnished his reputation more than mine, and it's certainly paradoxical that a singer with such a soothing, laid-back, mellow voice would arouse in some fans such a vicious reaction that they would obsessively assail the one person on the planet who has given them more new information and music on Reeves than they could ever hoped for. If they truly WERE fans of Jim's, they wouldn't act the way they do. So there is some other dynamic at work.
I can honestly say I have never lost one minute of sleep over any of these kooks, nor do I care what they think. What I DO care about, however, is the FANS. I don't want to see new releases destroyed or not supported just because some of these nutcases go on an all-out assault on the internet against what I'm producing for the fans, and thereby mislead people into thinking what I've made available is not worth acquiring, be it a CD or my book. Unfortunately, these crazies can and DO influence the uninformed or casual Jim Reeves fans who don't know the background or the context of these attacks.
A new theme they are striking is that my book is nothing but tabloid trash filled with rumors and lies, that I supposedly told THREE people that I deliberately filled it with salacious material because "sex sells" and all I am out to do is make money on Reeves. They invariably invoke religion to chastise me and although most of the haters are men, occasionally a woman will attack me as well. One female fan wrote recently that "I'm not sure if you'll make it to Heaven but if you do I hope and pray that I am standing next to you and Jim Reeves when he tells you what he thinks about, THE UNTOLD STORY! My bet is he will ask the Lord to forgive him and will probably try to beat you to death!"
Meanwhile, I have a folder full of letters I've received from members of the clergy across various denominations, praising the book. Typical is one from Father Robert Drury who sent me a two-page letter in which he writes "since I am a minister, I also found a spiritual dimension in Jim Reeves, [from reading the book] and how through a gentlemanly persona and refined music, he seemed to have been reaching for something Higher, but also seemed to have not found it."
So it's important that those of you who can, visit Amazon and other such platforms and express your views about the Jim Reeves releases, book, etc. so you are a counter weight to the dedicated haters who will no doubt continue their crusade for still more years to come.
I would summarize by observing that the behavior of Peter Atkinson and others of his ilk is like the bratty kid who acts up and does bad things just because he craves attention, even if the reaction he provokes is negative. How pathetic to go through life not having anything to be proud of, and having to try to destroy another man and his reputation just so they can try to feel good about THEMSELVES.
Well said, Larry. These people obviously have nothing to contribute to Jim's legacy, and their immature jealousy is causing them to pick on you, the one person who has honored Jim so much with all the incredible new releases. I can't even imagine saying anything to anyone as cruel as what that woman said to you. It's so rediculous, it's actually laughable! One can only hope that the casual Jim Reeves fan will not just assume that all this trash slinging is true. I'm sure that the true fans would be intelligent enough to know better. I, for one, will continue to post positive comments on your book and all the new releases, to set the record straight.
Very well phrased Larry. Sorry, I could not help but crack up over the comments from this "female fan" which was so hilarious. She is so vicious to attack you publicly. Her comments are downright brutal and savage to say the least. In my view, these are a bunch of "fly-by-night fans." who pretend to be fans of JR but rather are out there to spread malice and misinformation, grossly undermine the work you continue to do and in the process destroy Jim's legacy. They, for one, have not read the book in its entirety, take points out of context, wants to only see one side of the picture and find it difficult to accept the good and bad of Jim's life. They are saturated with hatred and jealousy and continue to perpetuate untruths.
Your book is the best 'bio' written of a great and famous singer Larry - a honest balanced account of Jim's life. And that is what counts.
I will continue to express my trustworthy opinion on the book and to all the subsequent CDs that are released on the various public sites out there to convey the truth which I hope will dispel any false collective beliefs of these trouble makers.
This woman seems to be so sure of her proclamation that I like to know at the end of the journey, if she really will be standing next to JR??
She also assailed me for my bio online which describes my career and mentions that President Clinton and former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton both wrote me personal letters commending articles I wrote. In fact, Hillary even gave me her private FAX number at the White House.
This woman who attacked me was livid about any reference to the Clintons whom she despises. Yet in the next breath she proclaims she is a Christian.
I pointed out to her that as a working journalist I also had encounters with President Gerald Ford -- twice -- and that I was a former speechwriter and professional fundraiser for REPUBLICAN Congressional (and other) candidates.
Besides, my book on Jim has absolutely nothing to do with politics.
I only quoted a little bit of her rant. The rest of it was even worse. The twisted minds of some of these people show that our society is sorely lacking in mental health facilities to care for them, hence they are out on the street. It makes me wonder how they function with others on a day to day basis.