Posted by JULIE (Webmistress) on April 1, 2015, 3:38 pm
Don't worry fans. My Fan Forum is not going to be taken over by responses to the attention-seeking Peter Atkinson, who headlines his post "Peter Atkinson Is Back" upon resuming his Amazon carpet bombing campaign to interfere with Jim Reeves's CD releases and malign any fan who dares to challenge his lies.
But since he is boasting of his return to Amazon (after being banned for 6 months for TOS violations), I think it's only appropriate to greet this spineless "man" with some fact-checking so fans are reminded of how recklessly and ruthlessly he lies habitually.
Atkinson has now combed the web for nasty comments about Daniel O'Donnell, describing him as "soulless," "camp," "non-talent," etc. What elitist bulls--t that is, to describe a true humanitarian who has raised millions for charity, sold 12 million records, sells out his shows, etc.
Also, Daniel honors Jim Reeves every chance he gets, with songs and TV specials. Atkinson asks why Larry would take offense at the mere suggestion that Daniel and his singing partner Mary Duff might accept money to endorse products. But as Larry pointed out, that is NOT all that Mr. Atkinson said. Instead, he claimed Daniel and Mary "endorse anything for money" and that's the only reason they loaned their good names and reputations to helping promote the 8 CD "The Great Jim Reeves" set. That's total rubbish.
In another one of his frantic posts, Mr. Atkinson has posted a very abbreviated list of Jim Reeves songs he claims the BBC played last year. This is obviously nonsense. He also has no way of knowing which version of those tracks was played. Also, many local stations affiliated with BBC have aired Jim's music, as Steve Brink of H&H Music could tell you, as he made extensive appearances on radio and TV shows all last summer in which Larry's overdubs got extensive airplay and attention.
I reminded Larry that he had showed me a survey of radio stations around the world that had been playing the 8 CD set, "The Great Jim Reeves," and reporting enthusiastic listener feedback.
I thought you might enjoy seeing it too. Remember this represents just the tip of the iceberg, and shows you how worldwide the outreach is for the very CDs that Atkinson pans:
Rene Hoffman, Country Radio, Switzerland -- Superb Julie Matheson, Icarna Radio, Australia -- Brilliant song Joe Bartolo, One Radio, Malta -- WOW! Hans Mair, Radio Osttirol, Austria -- More please Olov Lindgren, Radio Avesta, Sweden -- Super new mix Brian Lewis, Hobart FM, Tasmania -- Clear country voice, unobtrusive backing, good beat Hank Edwards, OMCRN Radio, UK -- Brilliant Alex Pijnen, Zuidwest Radio, Holland -- Excellent Ries Verwijmeren, Radio Rucphen, Holland -- Fantastic Al Field, Triple U FM, Australia -- Radio hit Dann Hansen, Radio Roskilde, Denmark -- Sweet soft country song Ray Grundy, Bolton Radio, UK -- Jim is impeccable, lovely vocals from Barbi! Maurice Hope, Rock ˜n Reel Magazine, UK -- More from Gentleman Jim; and what a treat this updated version of the golden oldie is! Bjarne Hesselbjerggaard, Radio Sindal, Denmark -- Appealed to me Lorraine Pfitzner, Radio 2 You FM, Australia -- Great new arrangement Alan Staniland, Radio Warrington, UK -- Classic country sound from one of country's greats Gerry Ford, 2 Sea FM Radio, Australia -- Fantastic Dieter Trenkler, Country Music Radio, Germany -- This is really very good June Williams, KHBW Radio, USA -- There is no one who sings like Jim -- great to keep his music alive Peter Anderl, ORF Radio, Austria -- Just missing a solo by Barbi Ricky Lee, Warminster Radio, UK -- Very good Tom Lambert, Variety Radio, UK -- Great work Nigel Rennie, BFBS Radio, Falkland Islands -- Terrific Eric Montfort, Radio 101, Malta -- Top marks Ray Williams, South End Radio, Malta -- Excellent John Murray, Castle FM, UK -- Fantastic duet Myriam Perdaens, Cool FM, Belgium -- Stylish John Morris, Trust AM Radio, UK -- Excellent Dick Barrie, Crystal FM, UK -- Amazing track Alan Potter, Tempo FM Radio, UK -- Great production Brian Sharman, Wycombe Radio, UK -- 10 out of 10 Ros Ray, Forest FM, UK -- Sounds good to me John Staff, Mid Downs Radio, UK -- Stunning David Callister, Manx Radio, Isle of Man -- Very good track Stuart Cameron, East Coast FM, UK -- Love it Sean Green, Shine FM, Ireland -- Very good remix Brette Dominique, Triangle FM, France -- Great country rock Kurt Gabriel, ECMA Radio, Austria -- Voices in excellent harmony Urbain Van Geerteruy, Radio Beeiard, Belgium -- Just fantastic
There is something truly unhinged about anybody who would make a career out of excessively posting hostile comments about any other human being on the web. Over 81 pages on Amazon filled with Peter Atkinson's rants! What could motivate such a person to become so obsessed? This sort of behavior is repugnant to most Jim Reeves fans. I know, because we receive many messages from fans around the world telling us how much they enjoy the new Jim Reeves music Larry and crew have made available.
You need to show your support and post your comments on Amazon too, so this creep doesn't just take over the dialog. -- JULIE
Are there any radio stations in the USA who play Jim's records? I find it so disappointing that Jim is thought more highly of in Europe and Africa than in America. I wish I owed a radio station here. If I did, Jim would get lots of air time.
Gary: Here in Canada there is a cable T.V. feed called Stingray Digital (formerly called Galaxy) On their classic country section they have played Jim Reeves quite a few times. I have checked their 24 hr. play list, and it is not unusual for them to play Jim's music four to six times in that time. A quick recall, in the past two weeks, I have heard "When You Are Gone" my personal favourite of all Jim's songs, "A Fallen Star", "Welcome To My World" and I'd Fight The World", "Angels Don't Lie", just to mention a few. Satellite radio also play a fair amount of Jim's music a well. Charlie Monk and Dallas Wayne are fans of Jim. Hope this helps a bit.........Roy
XM/Sirius satellite radio and specifically "Willie's Place" (named after Willie Nelson, who sometimes participates), plays a lot of Jim Reeves.
Dallas Wayne, whom I've never communicated with, gave DAILY updates to his listeners as he started reading my book from cover to cover when it came out. You can't buy publicity like that. I really appreciated it and it helped sell a ton of books.
Small town radio stations that are still locally owned (and they are few are far between, because most have been gobbled up by a handful of giant conglomerates), still respond more to listener requests so you can more readily find Jim played on those stations on rare occasions.
XM/Sirius is such a great radio service, regardless of what your musical tastes happen to be. They have it all. I wouldn't be without it in my car. Plus when you are a subscriber (a few bucks a month), you can also tune in to the streaming audio on your computer. Since mine is connected to some Bose speakers I can enjoy satellite radio in my home office in addition to my car. I see the day it replaces over-the-air stations and best of all, it's largely commercial free. Well worth the money!
Thanks Roy. The "country music" stations in my area seem to be playing stuff that I don't want to listen to, so I don't listen very much. So, I probably don't really know what is going on. I have a pretty good collection of Jim and other artists that I like, so I usually just put on one of the CDs I own when I want to listen to music. I also go to YouTube fairly often and look around for music there. I don't always find what I want, but sometimes I do. Then I just listen to what I want without waiting for a good song to come on the radio.
We have a good station in the Kansas City area (94.1 FM) that throws in quite a few "oldies" and have just recently changed their lineup to add more oldies to the lineup. From time to time, I hear Jim Reeves there.
I have been considering something Larry said about satellite radio,and his hope that it replaces free broadcast airwave Fm stereo radio that has been dominant since the 1970's in the US. If this happens maybe it will free those FM clear channels for use by non-commercial stations such as college and University radio stations to extend their broadcast range and thereby their audience.If I owned a radio station I would also play much of JR's music and other classic country artists ignored by the big corporate stations.
In Jim Reeves' day, small labels had a shot at scoring a hit record with an unknown artist (as Fabor Robison did with Jim's "Mexican Joe"). That's because radio stations had program directors who actually listened to new records and were open to playing them on the air. They also paid close attention to listener feedback and many stations put together weekly Top 40 charts and a lot of these in turn were reported in the trade magazines like Billboard, Cash Box, Record World, et al.
Then under Ronald Reagan, the Federal Communications Commission lifted the restrictions on the number of media properties in a single market that any one entity could own. The objective was sinister — both political and economic. It was a way to substitute propaganda for real news, and also quash diversity and competition.
This opened the door to a handful of huge corporations like Clear Channel to buy up all the stations in a city and thus control all the ad dollars. If you were a local merchant and needed to promote your business, you had no options among stations.
To cut expenses they started to share studios and fire on-air talent, rely on automation and turn to so-called expert "consultants" who told them what to program.
Deals were also struck with major record labels, who have come to dominate what radio stations these days play. Listeners be damned. The "music" that is aired on commercial radio doesn't reflect listener preferences, it only reflects what the big corporations want to have promoted. It's a very, very corrupt and "closed" system.
Even WSM in Nashville refuses to play artists who are not on a major label, no matter how talented they are.
In other parts of the world, Jim Reeves gets much more airplay than he does in the U.S., because radio stations still pay attention to what listeners like. Even in countries where broadcast outlets are state-owned, many of them make an effort to satisfy listeners so they program what people want to hear.
One thing that has happened in America is that as U.S. commercial radio has become more homogenized and lifeless, smaller labels and new artists have found other ways to get their music heard, chiefly via the internet.
I believe that commercial radio station owners have cut their own throats because it's undeniable that their ratings have sharply declined as other options have become available.
XM/Sirius satellite radio is a great alternative because most of its programming is commercial free. You have a myriad of choices, with channels devoted to various types of music and political thought. If you like 1940s music, you can enjoy "40s on 4" for example. The diversity of music is also astonishing and very refreshing.
If you subscribe to have it in your car, you also can stream it on your computer at work or home, which is what I do.