(1) This didn't really fit into my previous piece, but I didn't want to abandon it: Reeves was and remains a HUGE star in certain other countries, including Great Britain, Germany and Norway, but especially so in South Africa, India, and Sri Lanka. If I may quote from Wikipedia:
"Robert Svoboda, in his trilogy on aghora and the Aghori Vimalananda, mentions that Vimalananda considered Reeves a gandharva, i.e. in Indian tradition, a heavenly musician, who had been born on Earth. He had Svoboda play Reeves' "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at his cremation."
(I'd like to note that this was entirely unsolicited, unlike Stephen Seagal's promotion to "reincarnated lama" status. I don't anticipate that any such honors will be bestowed on Trace Adkins or Lady Antebellum any time soon.)
A year or two ago, I was playing a Roger Miller album at work when a young South Asian woman walked up to the counter and asked if it was Jim Reeves. In talking to her, I learned that while she wasn't that knowledgeable about Reeves, that her parents and other family members were big fans, and that her aunt had gone to the Jim Reeves Museum while on vacation in America. Back home in either Pakistan or Sri Lanka (I forget which), this was seen as a big enough deal that she was asked to write an article for the local newspaper about her experience.
(2) On a more personal note, my grandfather was not a major music fan (he didn't own more than a dozen records and a handful of 8-tracks), but his two favorite singers were Jim Reeves and Jimmy Rodgers. He had spent some time as a hobo in the 1930s, and as a result, this was his favorite song by either of them:
I still prefer my grandfather's off-key rendering of it, but Jim does it pretty well, too.
2 Comments:
I had a chance to talk to John Rex Reeves, Jim's Nephew, who does a tribute show to Jim (he's even trademarked "Nephew of Jim Reeves!) It ran for quite awile in Branson, and I think he tours it down in the retirement communities in Texas as well as in Australia and I think Europe, but I can't remember for sure. Wherever he performs it always draws big crowds of people that still love Jim and his music. Jim's still big that's for sure.
Check out Johns Website, he's put together a rather nice second career as a musician (he's retired from his first) and looks to be busier than ever. http://www.johnrexreeves.com/home.htm
I'd say the probably best place to catch John's act in the next month or so is at Beanfest in Mountain View, Arkansas where not only can you get your fill of beans but you can also take in the Arkansas Championship Outhouse Race with racers competing for the coveted Bronze, Silver and Gold Toilet seats. http://www.ozarkgetaways.com/beanfest_outhouse.html
Don't think I can fit that into my travel schedule, but it sounds like a heck of a show!
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