This August sees the centenary of Jim's birth. Does anyone know of any events or issues in the pipeline to commemorate this please?
Martin Rolls
Re: Centenary
Posted by Gary Bryson on May 22, 2023, 6:57 pm, in reply to "Centenary"
I haven't heard of anything. But if I had my way, there would be a statue erected of Jim in a prominent place in Nashville,and Jim's birthday would become a national holiday.
Re: Centenary
Posted by Martin Rolls on May 24, 2023, 6:34 am, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
I well remember when the press were saying that Jim "continues his mesmeric hold on the British top 20".
This was when the Beatles were almost at their zenith.
I would certainly like to see a museum to Jim in the UK.
Martin Rolls
Re: Centenary
Posted by Mike Slater on May 26, 2023, 9:04 pm, in reply to "Centenary"
It would be great if PBS did a special on Jim. They have done so many specials over the years on various artists. It's about time they did one on Jim, in fact, it's way overdue. What better time to present this than on Jim's 100th birthday...
Re: Centenary
Posted by Roy Zinck on May 30, 2023, 7:49 am, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
I couldn't agree more Mike that the Public Broadcasting System would be our best bet on celebrating Jim's Centenary. At least here in North America.
The same old problem still exists ... that is to actually find someone at PBS who would know who Jim Reeves was and appreciate the body of work we are so blessed to have to this day.
I have given up hope on a stamp issue thru the U.S. Postal Service. A group of us tried that back in 2014 with, at best, receiving a reply that the request would be given careful consideration. Well, that's about as far as it went, but important that at at least we tried.
Maybe someone in the Forum family just might have contact information to forward a request to PBS. That would be a start and something worth the effort.
Thank you Martin for posting this most important anniversary date. Good luck for all the music lovers in England that may some day see a dedicated documentary on our favorite singer.
The magical voice of Jim Reeves that unlike today produced a quality of songs NOT done thru Computers, no Software digital correction, no Auto tune and no Pitch control required ... Thank you Jim !!
Re: Centenary
Posted by Mike Slater on June 2, 2023, 7:57 pm, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
Well said, Roy, Those of us who have always appreciated Jim and his wonderful voice are well into our 70's and 80's now, and probably the majority of the younger people out there don't even know who he is.I wish more would be done to introduce Jim to the younger generation. Those who have never heard Jim sing don't even know what good music is! Public television is very popular in this country and a show dedicated to Jim is the best way I can think of to reach a wide audience...
Re: Centenary
Posted by Kenneth Baird on June 4, 2023, 12:27 pm, in reply to "Centenary"
Hello Gary, Regarding your question about celebrations for Jim's 100th Birthday I notice the Texas Country Music Hall Of Fame in Carthage are doing a tribute celebrating Jim's 100th birthday. It is taking place on 12th August at 6pm. All the best from Scotland
Re: Centenary
Posted by Larry Jordan on June 30, 2023, 7:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
PBS turned over to Ken Burns the responsibility to assemble the history of country music and we all know what a disaster that turned out to be. Scores of artists were never even mentioned, despite the multi-part, very lengthy series. Michael Streissguth, that scholar who wrote that completely honest book on Jim Reeves (I'm being sarcastic) was one of Mr. Burns' consultants. Did that factor into the short shrift Jim was given in the so-called documentary? There was a website, whose address I have since forgotten, that contained scores of posts from outraged fans who couldn't believe that any so-called documentarian like Ken Burns and his team could have so totally botched their presentation regarding country music. Many people were irate about their favorite artists being ignored. Yet the Burns pseudo-documentary keeps being heralded as THE definitive work and gets shown again and again, and aggressively marketed in DVD format. He also appeared in Nashville and was given a hero's welcome at the Opry. It was truly sickening. So don't expect anybody to come along and pay any notice to Jim Reeves or other major contributors to the history of country music. I had always admired Ken, and even received a nice letter about my Jim Reeves book from his office. But after the country music disaster I began to wonder how accurate his other historical series really were.
Re: Centenary
Posted by Gary Bryson on July 12, 2023, 9:44 pm, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
Hello to you Kenneth. Thanks for the information. It is good that they are doing that. I live in NC so I won't get to see it in person. But I'd like to.
Re: Centenary
Posted by Robert Wagner on July 17, 2023, 4:24 pm, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
I couldn't agree more. I warned about Burns before the documentary and predicted Jim would get poor coverage.
I even contacted Burns people, and posted my efforts on this site some time ago.
I have to agree in that the more I see and hear Burns the less impressive he becomes.
I agree with another poster that PBS does need to do a Jim Reeves documentary as they have for lesser artists.
I also agree that the quality of his other series now become suspect.
Doubtful, however.
Re: Centenary
Posted by Mike Slater on September 6, 2023, 6:38 pm, in reply to "Re: Centenary"
It does make you wonder how accurate and complete Ken's other documentaries are after seeing his Country Music series. I watched the entire series and enjoyed what was there, but it wasn't even close to being a definitive documentary. The only Ken Burns series I would trust to be accurate and complete is his Baseball series.My older brother knows everything about baseball and he loved it with no complaints...