Posted by Larry Jordan on August 20, 2014, 11:44 pm
I am pleased to see that my friend, Norwegian singing star Arne Benoni, has signed a contract with H&H Music Ltd. in London. As Mogens Jensen of Denmark has posted on this page, Arne is a fabulous performer with a rich baritone. He and Jim's longtime lead guitarist, Leo Jackson, were like brothers; they recorded and toured together.
There is a story behind the song "The Voice," which is referenced in the article (linked below), and is already available on iTunes for download. It will be the title of Mr. Benoni's premier double album this fall on the H&H label.
The story begins 40 years ago when my friend Mary Reeves came to Iowa where I live. She came at the invitation of WHO radio, a 50,000-watt, clear channel station that played a lot of country music. I was with Mary when she guested on an afternoon deejay show on July 31st, took calls from fans across the nation on a nighttime program, signed autographs at a local record shop, and also appeared on a television program. It was quite a three-day marathon for Mary, who flew to Des Moines with her husband, Terry Davis. I still have the tape of our breakfast conversation the morning I drove them to the airport.
Anyway, Mary had told me of a song called "The Voice" that Jim had liked very much and had planned to record. I always remembered that story and put it in my book.
Then one night a year or so ago, I had a vivid dream in which I was told to give this song to Arne Benoni. I contacted him the next morning and he was astonished. He told me that he had had a dream that same night in which Jim was standing at the foot of his bed, playing his guitar, and singing him a song. In the dream, Reeves said he wanted Arne to have a song. But when Benoni awoke, he couldn't remember the name of the tune as it was unfamiliar to him! His wife, Britt, told him, "Don't worry Arne, Jim will find a way to get you the song."
Mere hours later I contacted Arne out of the blue with the story about my dream, and the song "The Voice." I also contacted the surviving co-writer of the piece, Red Johnson, who was elated at the prospect someone was showing interest in this old piece of music.
Arne subsequently recorded the beautiful "story song," and the rest is history. If you have not already done so, be sure to download it from Apple iTunes. You can also hear a preview on YouTube. Just copy and paste this link in your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwHmGz3Rvo8
And to read about Arne's new contract, click the link below.
That was a wonderful story behind the song Larry. I firmly believe that God was using "dreams" to communicate this song to you and Arne concurrently. And the fact that you were able to locate the co-writer and obtain the song after all these years is a divine miracle. Wow… that is powerful. Arne sings it so well and thank the Lord for opening this door.
"The Voice" is a lovely rendition by Arne, his baritone voice crystal clear and a definitive Jim Reeves style song. I love it so much.
Last week, I played this song "The Voice" on our stereo and asked my husband to guess who the artist was and he said.. "Jim Reeves." He was so darn sure, that he further reiterated "Man, he sounds so much like Jim." He did not believe me at first when I said no. Incidentally, My husband is also an ardent Jim Reeves Fan.
So… that tells us as to how close Arne comes to sounding like Jim. "The Voice" is a beautiful song with tasteful accompaniment and background vocals. Arne's rich baritone voice shines thru and thru. Listening is Believing!!
This is a spine-chilling story! Thanks so much for sharing it.
It's such a pity that Jim never got to record "The Voice." When I listen to Arne's rendition, I can just imagine how Jim would have sounded singing it. As beautiful a rendition as Arne's is, Jim's would have been that much better with a slightly more velvety, rounded, 3-D effect, for the lack of a better term.
As it is, "The Voice" gets played at least twice a day, every day at home. So addictive. If Arne were to include "The Voice" in an album and issue it on CD, I'd jump to get it.