WHERE JIM PERFORMED


When I started to write my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," I initially planned to do a chapter on his studio work, a separate chapter on his tours, one on his growing-up years, his home life, etc. In other words, to lump all the information together that pertained to each subject and devote a chapter to it. No one was more surprised than I that I was as successful as I was in unearthing information about Jim. What I amassed on him was more than I ever dreamed possible! It finally occurred to me that I could pretty much document almost every day of his life once he became a professional entertainer. So I scrapped what I had already written and started over!

I decided the only logical thing to do was to write in a storyline fashion and in chronological order. My friend Ron McBride, a longtime Reeves fan who lives in Kansas, suggested I put together a timeline of Jim's life. Thank God I heeded his advice, or I would never have been able to make sense of all the stuff I was gathering. He and I would both add to the timeline as new info became available. Others like Bob Chudicek made contributions as well. Ron spent many of his lunch hours at his local library, laboriously scrutinizing microfilm of old newspapers he had requested through the inter-library loan program. We also benefitted from the fact that publications like Billboard magazine are now online, and I paid a monthly fee to a newspaper archive service that has a substantial, searchable database.

Even with access to published sources, Ron and I did a lot of correcting of other people's mistakes, because we found that some of the stories that appeared in the trade magazines were only built on suppositions, not actual facts. For instance, Jim's manager, Herb Schucher, might put out a press release saying Jim was booked at such-and-such a place, and this would appear in public print. But then something would fall through and Reeves never actually played the venue and played somewhere else instead. Ron and I were able to correct the record when we got ahold of union paperwork showing where Jim performed (because he'd have to pay the local union a percentage based on his employment of union musicians). Or we had contracts that refuted the published accounts.

We were meticulous in our research and fine-tuned the timeline many times as new details surfaced. Ron, incidentally, gave me more hands-on help day-to-day with my book than anybody else in the world, and I acknowledge him as such in the credits of my book. He has been a trustworthy confidant and a tireless helper when it comes to researching Jim Reeves. We've both had a lot of fun doing this.

Anyway, Ron and I were often amazed to learn about some of the venues where Jim performed. Mr. McBride started trying to find photos and background information on some of them, and shared a lot of this with me. I told him he ought to put all this together in a book, and maybe he will someday, because not only Reeves fans would be interested in it. Somebody needs to document the history of entertainment venues in America where so many performers appeared. There are a lot of people who remember these old dance halls, theaters, amusement parks, etc. and so this brings back fond memories to them.

THIS PAGE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION but soon I will show you a few notable spots where Jim was booked. We will be adding to this page as time goes by...

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