Posted by Larry Jordan on August 3, 2014, 1:31 am Edited by board administrator August 3, 2014, 1:59 am
I want to take a moment here to publicly acknowledge the fact that Jim's niece, Lani Arnold, persisted for 19 years in her attempt to see justice done. I have countless hours of my conversations with her on tape (in research for my book on her uncle Jim), and the story of this long saga could fill a book, with its twists and turns, sordid characters, corrupt judicial system and various betrayals.
When you have a central figure in the case -- a convicted felon -- hosting the presiding, probate court judge at his home for Christmas parties WHILE THE COURT CASE IS UNFOLDING -- you know the odds are stacked against you.
Various courts ruled in favor of Mary's second husband, Terry Davis, at times and that further delayed the settlement.
I am glad that Mary's wishes will be honored and that she will be buried with Jim at the Carthage, Texas monument that honors him.
I read Lani's account of the past 19 years and she explained: "My quest first and foremost was to protect [Mary], then try to recover [Jim's] recording[s], name and likeness, etc. Memorabilia would have been nice but I chose damage control."
I'm not sure what that last statement means ("damage control") but some observers were always puzzled by why Lani seemed to care more about Mary Reeves -- to whom she was related solely by her uncle's marriage -- than she did in preserving Jim's irreplaceable memorabilia, recordings, etc. Of course, the welfare of a human being is more important than physical possessions.
But my argument is, Lani probably could have done BOTH. I'm not sure to this day that she or her advisers truly have any real understanding of just how vital those physical possessions were to the preservation of Jim Reeves' musical legacy. Both Jim and Mary knew this decades ago and that's why early in his career they became a couple of packrats and saved EVERYTHING. Jim was even going to write his own book about his life.
Sadly, a lot of his recordings and ephemera are in the hands of an eccentric rich man, Mike Curb of Nashville, after spending decades locked up in "professional storage" by James Newberry, who acquired much of these items with the promise to establish a Reeves museum which never materialized.
On the other hand, I think it's worth noting that there were plenty of Reeves estate heirs who sat on the sidelines and never gave an assist; they left it to Lani to do the heavy lifting. So mistakes were inevitably made and no one expects a lay person to be an expert in the law. I was just very frustrated at times that Lani seemed so indifferent to what was about to happen to Jim's personal possessions (and recordings). At least it seemed that way. I remember the day she wanted me to call for fans to boycott buying any of Jim's recordings — a futile plan, if there ever was one, to deprive Ed Gregory of royalties.
I even had one of my attorneys in California call Mrs. Arnold up and give her step by step advice on what she could do to block Gregory's auction of the memorabilia. But Lani deferred to her own legal counsel for advice and we've seen how that turned out.
I am not looking for applause here but the blunt truth is that if I had not spent tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to personally rescue so many of Jim's recordings, they would not exist today. They'd either have been destroyed, or fallen into the hands of hoarders who just want bragging rights, and only share 14 second soundbites of rare Jim material as a way of taunting fans but greedily not sharing with them.
Lani is right about one more thing. She observed that "one must remember the laws don't always protect the innocent and what happened during this 19 years will definitely go down as teaching material at Vanderbilt law school."
So I applaud Lani Arnold for her tenacity in making sure Mary Reeves is buried with Jim. But I won't forget that at one particular turning point in this long running case, on the same night she called me up so we would post something on this Fan Forum celebrating her victory, in her next breath Mrs. Arnold started talking to me AGAIN about "royalties." An odd comment to make to ME, given all that I have done to preserve and perpetuate Jim's legacy around the world. Not once in all these years has any member of the Reeves family ever thanked me. Even in recent days Mrs. Arnold has posted sarcastic comments on the web alluding to me.
Meanwhile, there are thousands of bootlegged CDs of very inferior sound quality being offered on the web, and even a movie out there in the marketplace that rightfully belongs to the estate. NOTHING I have ever done pertaining to Jim Reeves has ever been motivated by a desire to make money. I don't frankly give a damn if anybody believes that or not, because the Good Lord knows what's truly in my heart, even if nobody else does.
I think Julie and I have done quite enough to support Lani in her cause over the years and a little gratitude would have gone a long way. We were there for her through thick and thin, until the stunning comments she made that night, which caused us to see her in a new light. (BTW, how much do you think royalties would amount to when divided by DOZENS of heirs and Jim was making 3 cents on the dollar?)
Nevertheless, we wish her well...and a BIG SALUTE TO LANI ARNOLD.
Larry, it's completely inexcusable that you've done so much in preserving Jim's legacy all these years and never even received a simple "thank you" from any members of his family. I'll never understand it. It seems the more you do to honor Jim and give so much to the fans by preserving all his great recordings, the more enemies you seem to make. NONE of this makes any sense at all, but it seems to be the norm these days! This world, and the people in it, are getting crazier and crazier! However, the majority of Jim's fans could never thank you enough for all the years you've worked so hard to give us all the wonderful releases you've put out that otherwise would never have seen the light of day. As you said, they almost certainly would have fallen into the hands of the hoarders that selfishly refuse to share any of what they have with the rest of us. It hurts every time I think of what they already possess that Jim's fans around the world will never get to enjoy. I was very happy to hear that Mary's wishes to be buried next to Jim will finally be fulfilled, although her wishes should have been carried out as soon as she passed away. It's a damn shame that so much greed on the part of certain individuals has done so much to damage Jim's legacy-- but I shutter to think how much worse the situation would have turned out if not for you, Julie and Sara. As always, a great big THANK YOU for all you have done!
Wow. 15 years after Mary's death her wishes to be buried next to Jim finally will be honored. That is a major breakthrough in this complicated political context of the Reeves saga. Happy it finally saw an end.
It is tragic that the Reeves family members paid less attention and had no interest on their part to promote Jim's legacy nor did anything to prevent the destruction of Jim's estate. This is so hard to comprehend as to why they acted that way. It's also unfortunate that "money" still seems to be the motivating factor. It is a shame that a lot have been lost to the "hoarders", locked up in storage and perhaps we may never see them in our lifetime!
Larry, we can never thank you enough for personally rescuing Jim's precious recordings, restoring them and ultimately sharing the same with us. Thank you also for giving us the opportunity to hear our favorite artist in a tasteful new way. You are amazing and You will be blessed.