JOE ALLISON, WRITER OF "HE'LL HAVE TO GO" PASSES AWAY

(AUGUST 2, 2002) -- Thirty-eight years to the day that Jim Reeves was found a plane crash victim, the man who wrote Jim's biggest hit passed away. Joe Allison is best known as the co-writer of "He'll Have to Go," although he also helped write hits for artists such as Faron Young, Tex Ritter, and Tommy Sands.

Jim's big hit came about when Joe used to tell his first wife, Audrey, to put her lips closer to the phone because she spoke so softly. It was a tune originally recorded by Billy Brown, and heard by Reeves on his car radio one day. Jim was so taken with the song that he pulled over to the side of the road to listen to it. He told friends that "it was like a hot poker burning its way through my mind." But since Billy's version had just been released, Gentleman Jim decided to wait to record it so Billy could have the first chance at having a hit.

Joe Allison holds a plaque displaying a photo of Jim Reeves along with the "He'll Have to Go" single release.

A display honoring Joe at the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas.

Finally, in October of 1959, Reeves went into RCA's studio B and nailed the song on the third take. Anita Kerr wrote an on-the-spot vocal arrangement for the first-in-the-morning recording session -- a rarity for Jim since he preferred to record at night.

Born in McKinney, TX., on October 2, 1924, Joe Allison began as a deejay in San Antonio, Texas, but worked his way up during the 1950s -- as a TV presenter, producer and record executive -- to influence the spread of country music throughout the nation. His first hit was with a song he wrote in 1946 for Tex Ritter, "When You Leave Don't Slam the Door."

He went on to host a daily show on WSIX and WSM in Nashville, that became a springboard for future stars such as the Everly Brothers, Chet Atkins and Brenda Lee. After a move to Los Angeles in 1952, Allison balanced radio and songwriting careers. He replaced Tennessee Ernie Ford at KXLA and wrote hits -- some co-written by wife Audrey -- for Faron Young ("Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young") and Tommy Sands ("Teenage Crush.")

Joe Allison's most important songwriting credit occurred in 1960, when Jim Reeves took "He'll Have to Go" to the Number 1 spot on the Country charts for 14 weeks, and hit Number 2 on the pop charts as well. The song even turned up on the Jazz charts, selling an instantaneous 3 million records in a day and age when 50,000 was considered a "hit."

Allison was also involved in founding the Country Music Association, and by 1967 had moved to independent producing. Many awards followed, including his induction into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas in August of 1998.

Jim Reeves sang "He'll Have to Go" so many times even he couldn't keep track of how many, as he jokes in this rare audio clip.

To hear Jim do a LIVE and UNRELEASED CONCERT PERFORMANCE of Joe's song, click HERE to listen in streaming RealAudio.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE:
JIM ON "THE GRAND OLE OPRY"

(JULY 24, 2002) -- The Jim Reeves Way website proudly presents something NEW for fans to listen to -- an UNRELEASED "live" performance of Jim on the Grand Ole Opry.

Back in the early 1980s, the Country Music Foundation, in cooperation with Mary Reeves, issued an LP called "Live At the Opry." It offered some rare vocal performances of Jim from the stage of the famed Ryman Auditorium. The album was later released on CD.

Since then, it has been re-issued by a countless number of large and small labels around the world, renamed, repackaged and even excerpted in special collections. But it is still just the same old songs, great though they may be.

It stands to reason that many more of Jim's Opry performances were recorded over the years, even though no others have been commercially released. He even hosted the Opry on various occasions, and typically would sing three songs in a half-hour segment, as well as sometimes participate in various comedy routines with the likes of June Carter, Minnie Pearl, Ferlin Husky, Stringbean, Rod Brasfield, and more. Obviously, fans would love to hear complete shows, with Jim interacting with the other Opry artists and special guest stars in addition to performing. Yet even the scant material the CMF has released to date just features him singing, and no dialog, inexplicably so.

Fans will be interested to know that there is light at the end of this tunnel. During the course of researching his new book on Jim, my husband, Larry Jordan, has uncovered complete (half hour) shows of Jim hosting the Opry. These are not merely some of those muddy-sounding bootlegs that are umpteenth-generation cassette copies. Instead, these are A+, directly from the original pristine 16-inch transcription disks, arguably the best sound quality to be heard in a long time. These shows are now being indexed, professionally cleaned up by an audio lab, and all the legal groundwork laid for them to be released in the future. No definite timetable can be given at this point, but be assured the work is proceeding.

In the meantime, as a tribute to Jim Reeves on the 38th anniversary of his passing, I am delighted to present an audio clip of Gentleman Jim from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. You'll hear him featured with the Jordanaires singing back-up, along with Elvis Presley's favorite high soprano Millie Kirkham, plus an all-star cast of musicians, including famed guitarist/RCA producer Chet Atkins and fiddle player Tommy Jackson. You can listen as Jim interacts with WSM announcer Grant Turner. And after Mr. Reeves gets done singing his song, fans will hear an excerpt of him doing something you've probably never heard him do before -- call a square dance!

The quantity and quality of material that has been discovered in recent months is sure to warm the hearts of Jim's many fans around the world. Included are Jim singing songs that he never recorded in the studio.

Since the "powers that be" have made it clear that they have no interest in issuing any unreleased Jim Reeves performances, and because a handful of collectors have done a great job of gobbling up Reeves' recording rarities and hoarding them all these years, it's good to know that for once, some "choice" material by Jim has surfaced and is in the hands of the right people, who will share with fans. You can rest assured of this.

I hope you all enjoy this NEW glimpse of Jim Reeves in all his glory on the world-famous "Grand Ole Opry," and I invite you to share your opinions on the Fan Forum... -- Julie

Click HERE to listen in RealAudio. To obtain the FREE RealAudio player, click HERE.

JIM'S SECRETARY ANSWERS FANS' QUESTIONS

(JUNE 16, 2002) --Joyce Jackson, who was Jim Reeves' personal secretary for 6-1/2 years, until his untimely death, has FINALLY gotten a computer (congratulations, Joyce!) so she can now answer your questions much more speedily than in the past. She has some interesting comments to make about recent developments in the world of Reeves, and you can see them in the Ask Joyce section.

No one on the scene has more credibility than Joyce, and around here we take what she says as gospel. Feel free to email any questions you may have!

No other website, "official" or otherwise, can offer a bona fide Jim Reeves confidant with such credentials, who knows as much about Jim's career or life in Nashville. Just another "exclusive" from the fan site you can trust! -- Julie

WORLD EXCLUSIVE:
JIM ON "THE JIMMY DEAN SHOW"
(MAY 13, 2002) -- It's been many months since well-known Reeves collector Frank Anderson spent over a thousand dollars buying a rare video on eBay of Jim Reeves' live appearance from ABC television's "Jimmy Dean Show." Arie den Dulk has been promising for a long time that Anderson's review of the show would be printed in his fan club newsletter. However, inexplicably, as of this date, no such review has appeared.

Tired of waiting? Wait no more. As this website reported at the time the video was sold for a ridiculous amount of money last year, other copies exist. For proof, click HERE to enjoy clips of Jim on the ABC show, plus a review of the memorable broadcast. INCLUDED IS JIM SINGING A SONG YOU'VE NEVER HEARD HIM SING BEFORE -- "THIS OLD HOUSE" -- WITH HARMONY BY EYDIE GORMET AND JIMMY DEAN!!!

This is another "World Exclusive" from this website, with compliments to Jim's legions of fans everywhere! -- Julie.

AN UPDATE ON THE NEW JIM REEVES BOOK

(MARCH 14, 2002) -- The author of the forthcoming new book on Jim Reeves, Larry Jordan, has established a form on his website to enable fans to submit their email addresses so as to be among the first who are notified when his book is published, as well as be eligible for a special pre-publication discount. He advises that even if you have already signed up on a previous list, you need to submit your name again on this one.

Just go to www.midtod.com/book.html and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will find a form that you can use to get your name on the list of people who will have the first opportunity to acquire the book before it is even on sale in stores. (There is NO OBLIGATION).

Meanwhile, Larry advises that work on his book is proceeding "full steam ahead" and that a number of important new sources of information have come forth. These include people in Europe, as well as a major collector who has kept such a low profile that his name is unknown even to the big-league collectors among the Reeves set. "This man just surfaced one day," Larry reports, "and what he had to offer me for the book was unbelievable. Two big boxes arrived, filled with the rarest of rare items, that will be useful in my book research. I am very grateful for this kind of help."

As a testament to how popular Jim was not only with fans around the world, but also his colleagues in the music business, author Larry Jordan says he has been approached by well-known celebrities who want to share their recollections of Jim for the book. "I can't tell you their names right now, but when you learn who they are, it will astonish you. Some of these are people I would otherwise have a really hard time in even tracking down," he admits. "But they heard about the book project, are eager to have a good book written about Gentleman Jim, and they are coming forward with wonderful stories about Jim Reeves." These include a TV show host/producer who is a giant in the music field (can you guess who?), as well as some legendary country music performers and musicians. Jordan has also interviewed one world-famous British singer/composer who people may be surprised is a huge Jim Reeves fan.

Larry also says he welcomes input from fans if they have anecotes, photos, tapes, whatever to share for the book.

Anyway, we'll keep you updated on the book's progress. It now is going through a re-write phase before the final editing. There's been a lot of interest expressed in this, with both Larry and me getting tons of emails literally every day, so I thought I would give you the latest. Be sure to check out the book website... -- Julie

RCA's HISTORIC "STUDIO B" TO BE RESTORED
TO THE WAY IT WAS IN JIM REEVES' DAY

(JAN. 29, 2002) -- The Nashville recording studio where Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley, Dottie West and so many others recorded their biggest hits, has been acquired by the Mike Curb Family Foundation, which will preserve it, restore it, and make it available to cultural arts organizations, students of Belmont University, and country music fans.

The foundation paid $650,000 for the famed Studio B, which is located on Music Row at the corner of 17th Avenue South and Roy Acuff Place. It will be leased to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for a lifetime at only $1 a year. Most intriguingly, Curb has plans to re-install the 1950s-era analog recording equipment, on which Jim recorded his songs. (Some of that equipment is currently on display at the new $37 million Hall of Fame downtown). The non-profit museum will co-manage and operate the facility in a partnership established with Belmont.

Curb told the Nashville City Paper that the studio's old analog recording equipment still has a place in today's music and Belmont music students will soon have opportunities to record their own demos in the same rooms as many legendary music performers.

"You really think of what a student can learn in just the history of Studio B," Curb said. "We could learn a lot today from what was happening then. There were no confines on records, no one told Jim Reeves that 'He'll Have to Go' couldn't be a pop hit and a country hit. No one told Elvis Presley that his records couldn't be R&B, country, gospel and pop hits."

"We didn't have boundaries in those days," Curb said. "Many of the problems we even have today are our own boundaries and I think the students at our schools are going to show us a lot."

It has been reported that Belmont students will also lead interactive tours of the facility, explaining how recording sessions were done in the days when Jim Reeves and Chet Atkins collaborated.

Opened in 1957, the rather modestly-sized cement-block building housed a couple of studios, including the famed "B", as well as a small control room and room where there was a record-cutting lathe. There was also some limited office space for personnel like A&R man Chet Atkins and his assistant, Anita Kerr. The acoustics in Studio B are extraordinary, and a unique rooftop "echo chamber" was revolutionary for its time. Beginning in 1977, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum operated the studio as a tourist attraction, at one point redecorating it to dress it up for the public. Later, the studio was stripped down to its lineoleum floors and fabric-covered baffled walls, with Neuman and RCA mikes, sounding boards and other furnishings that were present when RCA used the room in the 1950s and '60s. The facility was closed to the public in 1998.

Once the analog equipment is back in place, the authenticity of the studio will be re-established. Jim's secretary, Joyce Jackson, who first called my attention to this news, said this is an exciting development and that Jim's picture, along with the Blue Boys, ran in the Nashville City Paper. -- Julie