EUROPEAN TOUR

Jim Reeves' last trip to Europe occurred in April 1964 and I have a very detailed, day by day account of it. On the tour with him were the Anita Kerr Singers, Chet Atkins and Bobby Bare. Jim took two of his musicians — Leo Jackson and Dean Manuel — and Chet brought two (Kenny Butrum and Henry Strezlecki). This is the group you see in the Oslo video.

I also disclose how Jim became romantically involved with a European woman during the tour. Somehow, Mary got wind of this, so abruptly flew overseas to join Jim.

Jim didn't ordinarily play a 12-string guitar, but here he is backstage during the 1964 European tour, having a lot of fun with one:

Here is also a clip that shows Jim performing at the airport upon arrival in Holland during the Spring 1964 European tour with Chet Atkins, Bobby Bare and the Anita Kerr singers. When Bear first released this in one of their expensive boxed sets, they had the audio running too fast and hence Reeves sounded high-pitched, like Mickey Mouse. I can't imagine their engineers didn't catch this. When Steve Brink and I put it on our "Jim Reeves Anthology,"I slowed it down and VoiceMasters remastered the audio. So our release is the best version. Here is a little sample:

The "Nashville Stars On Tour" was promoted heavily, including this show poster on the side of a water tower in Holland.

This shot...excuse the expression...may be misinterpreted! It looks as if Anita Kerr is registering alarm at Jim Reeves holding a gun on a man, but actually it's just a candid photo from a welcoming ceremony at the airport in Copenhagen.

I will be adding more to this page in the weeks ahead so check back later...