Larry Cunningham & The Mighty Avons - Tribute To Jim Reeves (3:21)
Singer Larry Cunningham waxed this Jim Reeves tribute disc, a Top 10 hit in his native Ireland, a few short months after Reeves perished in a Tennessee plane crash. Reeves' popularity extended to some pretty far corners of the globe, especially when compared to most of his Nashville colleagues. At the time of his death, he'd established substantial fan bases in far-flung locales like South Africa, the UK, Norway, India and Sri Lanka. Hoping for a stateside hit, the tune was picked up for domestic distribution by Louis Prima's Las Vegas-based PR1MA label (also known as Prima One).
To be honest, I've never been particularly fond of the Jim Reeves records I've heard as I find them way too lush and polished and completely missing the harder edged sounds heard on the country discs I enjoy. Friends tell me that his earlier sides have a bit more pep to them and that some of them are actually pretty good. Probably so, but I'm still not compelled to seek out the "good" Jim Reeves records. So even though I'm not particularly fond of Reeves himself, I felt compelled to pick this disc up as there's something about country tribute records that I find oddly appealing. I'm always intrigued when a virtually unknown singer books time at a recording studio to literally sing the praises of another singer and rhapsodize about his idol's appeal.
Reeves died on July 31, 1964 just outside of Nashville when the plane he was piloting ran into a powerful late afternoon thunderstorm. Amazingly, Reeves and Randy Hughes, the pilot in the 1963 crash that resulted in the deaths of Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas, were both trained by the same flight instructor. Reeves' plane went down northeast of Brentwood, near the intersection of Baxter Lane and Franklin PIke Circle, just east of Interstate 65 (Google map). Of no significance whatsoever (but worth noting anyhow, I think) is the fact that Marty Robbins' house stood approximately a quarter mile away on Redwood Drive, just across I-65.
The most amazing thing about Reeves' death, though, is that he continued to have big hits long after his funeral. It's not terribly uncommon for pop or country stars to chart a few records following their demise, especially if the death in question was sudden and unexpected, but Reeves' widow oversaw a constant flow of new product after his death, some of it unreleased material from the vaults and some of it re-released after dubbing extra voices onto the records so that they could be marketed as duets. Reeves managed an astonishing 34 Billboard charting singles after his death, with Top 10 records landing on the charts until the early 1980s.
If you'd like to know more about Reeves, you'll be happy to find out about a couple of posts from Devlin over on the WFMU Rock 'N' Soul Ichiban blog, which can be found here and here.
Reeves was also intensely popular in West Africa. Nigeria especially. King Sunny Ade cites James Brown, Brook Benton and Jim Reeves as major influences! In a post about country music from Nigeria, the great blogger at Comb & Razor mentions (here) that Jim Reeves was the most popular singer in Nigeria as late as the 1980s!
In 1965, Charles Keil published a survey in the Nigerian magazine Spear in which he asked readers "Who is your favorite musician and why?" One respondent answered, "The late Jim Reeves is my music idol. His cool sentimentality, his heart-awakening compositions, the voice and the instruments which make you feel the angels around, surely win your heart."
Another survey response:
"Although I appreciate the efforts of our musicians, I am most indebted to our dear Jim Reeves, this dead but living musician, furnishes his music with qualities natural, but rarely employed by his comrades. By subduing his deep voice to the natural laws of sounds and motion he effects a peculiar melody which portrays his ingenuity and geniality. The rhythm, wordings and choice of material for his compositions infuse into the minds of his listeners and Imaginary State of Inspiration which represents the godfather of works. Reeves, by covering a wide range of topics, entertains the world with unfailing harmonies to meet satisfaction for individual choice. His listeners and admirers are equipped with music suitable for different equations. His special compositions such as (i) This World Is Not My Home, (ii) I'd Rather Have Jesus, (iii) Bottle Take Effect, (iv) We Thank Thee Lord, etc., are not only living testimonies to his experience in life and music but worthy memoranda. Thanks to our Gentlemen Jim Reeves for his contributions to the world's pleasure in the composition of his entertaining, endearing, and truly sentimental music."
[Quotes take from African Rhythm and African Sensibility, by John Miller Chernoff (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1979)]
Posted by: Doug Schulkind | October 05, 2011 at 10:31 AM
Thanks for the info, Doug.
Posted by: Listener Greg G. | October 05, 2011 at 10:49 AM
As always, Greg delivers the goods! I wonder how Prima came to release this? I've never seen anyone on the label who wasn't Louis, in Louis' band, or married to Louis.
Reeves' Fabor work and his earlier RCA work is worth your while, but I can understand that Jim's Countrypolitan sound might not really grab you, Greg. He didn't flourish artistically under those conditions as well as Ray Price, admittedly (I know how much you love Ray!), but his '60s work certainly holds up better than, say, Eddie Arnold.
Posted by: Devlin Thompson | October 06, 2011 at 12:32 AM