Posted by Larry Jordan on August 19, 2016, 11:27 pm
It was 10 p.m. on the night of August 20, 1923 when a 39-year-old housekeeper, the former Mary Beulah Adams, gave birth to her 9th child -- a son -- whose father was a 41-year old sharecropper named Thomas Middleton Reeves. Though the official birth certificate lists Logan, Texas as the baby's place of birth, the infant was born in an old cast-iron bed in the front room of the rented house that was home to the family at the time, located in a remote area not far from the small community of Galloway, Texas. There was no reason for either parent to expect their baby would ever escape the dire circumstances of the family's abject poverty, let alone become world famous. Indeed, the odds against such an achievement would have seemed insurmountable. And yet, by dint of his own efforts, and the vocal cords with which he was endowed, the child christened James Travis Reeves would one day touch the lives of millions of people from many nations. His music -- the songs released in his lifetime as well as newly surfaced material fans have not heard before -- is still being enjoyed by people from all walks of life from even the most obscure outposts around the globe. Look at this rare photo from my 672 page book, 'Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," and you can see the humble circumstances of Jim's birth. His parents and siblings were crammed into that tiny shanty and it's a wonder they survived. "Travis," as he was then known, was the ONLY member of his family to even graduate from high school. We timed the release of the new CD "Jim Reeves: The Lost Recordings" (32 previously unissued performances plus new songs) to coincide with his birthday. I hope you will want to listen to some of this new material at the link below:
Despite the loony claim on the internet by the usual crazies, the new CD "Jim Reeves: The Lost Recordings" IS available on the Good Music Store main site and has been from the very first moment it was also posted (on July 31) at the Shopify-hosted satellite site that the Good Music people operate. In fact, a link to the CD being sold on the main site (which accepts only PayPal) has been on the Shopify promo page for the CD (which accepts only credit cards) from the beginning, so the company can offer fans two payment options for their convenience.
I am told by Good Music Store that scores of Jim's fans have placed their orders from their main site since the CD was announced July 31.
The ludicrous speculation that Good Music "did not want to take the risk that their Canadian website got closed down by an unforeseen action by another party" is belied by the fact that (1) the CD is a perfectly legal, licensed release originating in the EU, that can be sold in the EU, in Canada, in the U.S. under the First Sale Doctrine as affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 (just like millions of other imports are), and (2) as mentioned above, it's been available on the main site from the beginning.
The usual flame throwers claim they are "horrified" to learn of the release of the CD because supposedly the songs can be heard free online, but that is disingenuous in the extreme. The material that can be found streaming on one site has not been cleaned up, has pops and clicks and other audio artifacts, is not downloadable, and has been compressed through downsampling to save on bandwidth and server space, thus further degrading the sound. To tell fans that this online material is the equivalent of the rich audio quality presented on this marvelous CD, "Jim Reeves: The Lost Recordings" is laughably absurd besides being deliberately MISLEADING to the fans.
The new CD also contains other recordings that are NOT available online.
I also have a long track record of sourcing rare and previously unreleased material on Jim Reeves as well as other artists, so no one should be surprised when I produce for one of the labels I work with a CD that contains superior versions of songs.
It was bemusing to read the assertion that our CDs are only "slightly but not significantly better" than the streaming copies of some of these songs. That silliness is contradicted by the worldwide critical praise that big-league media ranging from Billboard magazine to the BBC have bestowed on releases I have produced.
The retired old men who are constantly conjuring up these bizarre fantasies in an attempt to interfere with fans' enjoyment of Jim's unreleased material are truly pathetic and desperately need to find a more productive hobby such as feeding the pigeons or playing shuffleboard.
Click the link below to see it spotlighted on the Good Music main site...
''The retired old men who are constantly conjuring up these bizarre fantasies in an attempt to interfere with fans' enjoyment of Jim's unreleased material are truly pathetic and desperately need to find a more productive hobbies'' - I had to laugh Larry. You are so right! I have been reading the Amazon reviews - all encouraging apart from the usual 'retarded old men'' and their bizarre writings/ fantasies!
Quite frankly, anyone who would pass up buying the Voicemasters CD's based on comments that known trouble makers are posting, and making a way of life out of it, would only have themselves to blame at this point. The Voicemasters product has already proven to be, time and again, a top notch product you can count on, thanks to Larry and all the people involved. For any fans out there that are still naïve enough to have their doubts, stop wasting your time reading any of the bad reviews and purchase these great CD's. If you're a Jim Reeves fan, the Voicemasters series is guaranteed to please you!