I like the VM CD's very much. The "new" track I liked the most was "I'm A Hit Again".
Sometimes the liner notes give you more information about a certain track, but most of the times it is impossible to date the track from the notes.
It would be nice if we could find as detailed information as possible on the website.
like "demo from Jim's home studio in the summer of '63", or "taken from a radio show in February of 1957". Also information about the overdubs (sometimes I don't recognize the instruments) and the musicians would be apreciated.
I'm a music fan (I collect Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers, Dolly Parton, John Denver, Neil Sedaka, and of course Jim Reeves and a few other - more local - artists...) Most of the times such information is easily available, either on websites or in the booklets of the CDs. Last year, I made a 13 hour radio special in Dutch for syndication in Belgium (Flanders) and the Netherlands, which included two episodes with VoiceMaster overdubs. Such information would very useful for use in radio shows.
PS... I hope you don't mind language errors.. ;-)
Re: VoiceMaster CD
Posted by Larry Jordan on July 14, 2015, 6:57 pm, in reply to "VoiceMaster CD "
Jim's demo recordings are not well documented and one cannot rely on copyright dates because the copyrights could be registered either prior to or after he recorded a song. Even the exact recording date of "Distant Drums" is unknown (or more likely, some hoarder is sitting on this information and plans to take it to his grave with him).
On "The Great Jim Reeves" 8 CD set, which is the ultimate new release on Reeves since the Bear boxed set 20 years or so ago, we've included a 48 page full color booklet that has detailed notes on each of the 170+ tracks. It's priced very reasonably at only $49.95 (that's only about 23 cents per song!) and it features 42 new overdubs that premiere on this set, and other rarities, including a 40 minute interview with Jim, live recordings, studio work, demos, etc.
Click below to preview the CD set and listen to some samples...
Posted by Nico Declerck on July 15, 2015, 2:37 pm, in reply to "Re: VoiceMaster CD "
I Got this set... and I love it... I am just looking for more information - if possible. about the recordings, the overdubs, whatever I can find.
Re: VoiceMaster CD
Posted by Larry Jordan on July 15, 2015, 3:02 pm, in reply to "Re: VoiceMaster CD "
As I said, Jim's demo sessions are not documented, unlike the RCA studio recordings.
I also write about a lot of Jim's music in my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story."
Re: VoiceMaster CD
Posted by Nico Declerck on July 19, 2015, 7:21 pm, in reply to "Re: VoiceMaster CD "
I read the book as well... very informative to say the least.
Now about the 8CD-box. On the Steve Hoffman forum it's mentioned that there are 92 new overdubs, and on the jim-reeves.com-site there are only 42? Is this a typo?
Anyway, I suppose there are 92, but I can only find 90 new songs never before released on VoiceMasters.
I suppose there is no list of new tracks?
PS... I'm not disappointed, because 90 new songs is massive. Some of them are really great... You should have been a producer for RCA.
Re: VoiceMaster CD
Posted by Larry Jordan on July 21, 2015, 12:53 am, in reply to "Re: VoiceMaster CD "
I produced 42 new overdubs specifically for the 8 CD set. However, there were also other newly overdubbed songs that had been incorporated into the 8 CD release from other of our CDs to make the package more comprehensive and since this was a mass market item, and not just a niche one like some of our releases are, it seemed accurate to characterize it as having a lot of new material, which is surely the case for the vast majority of people buying it.
on July 14, 2015, 2:59 pm