My Life With Jim Reeves

MarthaWhite

Being a member of the Grand Ole Opry was a very important thing to the early country
music stars. The only thing is, it didn’t pay very well. Jim told us that all of the
members were required to do a certain amount of shows every year to stay a
member. The Opry only paid the stars $50 when they performed. It didn’t matter how
much the artist was making on record sales and other performances. A good friend of
mine, Wilma Burgess, who became a RCA recording artist right after Patsy Cline died,
told me a story about meeting Jim at Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Tootsies is a little bar
right behind the Ryman Auditorium where the Opry stars would go to relax between
shows. Oh yeah, they had to play two shows a night. Anyway, Wilma and a friend of
hers had driven from Florida to see Jim Reeves at the Opry. They were sitting in
Tootsies and in walked Jim. Wilma said they were speechless and gaga being right
there next to him. In a minute Jim said to Wilma, “You girls look scared to death. Come
on over and sit with me. I’d buy you girls a drink but Mary only gives me $5 when I
sing at the Opry.” Mary took care of all their finances so I guess she gave him what
she thought he could spend out of his $50. As fate has it, Wilma got a recording
contract after Jim was killed and became Mary’s best friend and confidant until Mary
died in 1997. Wilma passed away not too long after that and that ended my visits with
2 great gals who knew all about the original country music scene. What tales have
been told!!!! How Wilma actually got a recording contract is an amazing story and
could never happen today. If you are interested in the story, contact me via e-mail
and I will tell it..
Christmas 1963, Jim and Mary made the trip down to Houston to visit Grandmother
White. During a conversation with my Mom and Dad, Jim said, “You know, I’ve
accomplished everything I’ve ever dreamed of in this music business. I just don’t know
where to go from here.” July 31, 1964 (my Dad’s birthday) we got a call from Mary
in Nashville saying that Jim’s plane had gone down and couldn’t be found. She asked
my Dad and my uncle Frank (also her brother) if they would come and help find him. I
was 13 years old and remember praying that everything would turn out alright and
they would find him alive. I remember hearing the news on the radio and TV. The
following account was told to me by my Dad. Frank and Dad flew into the Nashville
airport and was picked up by Eddy Arnold. They went to his house for breakfast and
were then taken to Mary’s house by a Tennessee State Trooper. Skeeter Davis left a
tour to return to Nashville and be with Mary. Bluegrass artist, Johnny Martin and his
wife were there also. The Nashville music community had rallied around Mary to give
her support. Everyone was looking for Jim’s downed plane. Dean Manuel, Jim’s
keyboard player and road manager, was also on the plane. Dad and Frank rode
around with the State Troopers all in the surrounding areas asking people if they
heard a crash or anything that would help them find the plane. Dad got his first look at
a real hillbilly moonshine still. Most of the troopers just ignored the moonshiners in the
mountains saying that they were more harmful to themselves and each other than the
public. After 3 days of searching, the plane was found in a densely wooded area
close to the Nashville airport and near Marty Robbins house. Marty said he was
outside washing his hair in the rain when he heard a crash. The woods were so
dense the crash scene was almost impossible to find. As soon as the news was
reported on a CB radio, people started rushing to the scene. They were picking up
anything they could as souvenirs. The state troopers had to rope off the entire area
and keep people out. My Dad arrived at the scene and being family and knowing him
well, was asked to identify Jim. This was difficult because Jim had flown the plane
directly into the ground and with the terrific impact and burning of the fuel left in the
plane, there wasn’t much to identify. I’m sorry if this is too graphic but the bodies were
in pieces and burned. Dad said Jim was a big chested man and was able to identify
Jim’s torso. It had been 3 days and the scene was gruesome. Frank, a lawyer in
Houston, stayed at the scene and Dad went to tell Mary that they had found Jim. Mary
was devastated by the news and kept saying, “Tell me it’s not as bad as Patsy.” Patsy
Cline lived next door to Jim and Mary and they went to the crash scene and saw it.
Jim was in the same shape Patsy was in but Mary didn’t want to know it. Just a side
note: Patsy was killed flying home from a benefit show. Before she left for the benefit,
she asked Mary if she could park her new red dodge in Mary’s garage. Patsy was
mad at her husband Dick and didn’t want him driving it while she was gone. Mary said
yes. Patsy’s car remained in Jim and Mary’s garage until Mary’s death. Mary let me
sit in the car several times when I visited her during the summers. Dick finally got the
car.
I remember going to Jim’s funeral in Carthage, Texas. They had one funeral in
Nashville for his music family and one in Carthage for his family here. I remember
Houston’s TV celebrities Don Mahoney and Gina Claire being there. He was buried
outside of Carthage on a muddy acre. Now, as you know, there is a memorial statue
to mark his resting place. Their dog Cheyenne is buried there and Mary wanted to be
buried there too but it hasn’t worked out that way yet.
There is more I could tell about what happened with Mary and Jim Reeves
Enterprises after that but that is another story. Thanks to Mary, Jim’s legendary music
was kept alive throughout the years. Mary and Jim are both gone now but Jim’s music
lives on.

You can contact me @ www.marthwhitemusic@yahoo.com

You must be a Jim Reeves fan and know a lot about his music so I won’t go into detail about
things you already know. I’ll just give you my memories of being in the family with Jim and Mary
Reeves.
It all started back before I was born when my Dad’s only sister married Jim Reeves. My Aunt
Mary was the only girl out of 10 children in the family. Her name was Mary Beth but most of the
boys just called her Sister. Jim and Mary met at a dance in Carthage, Texas.
It was 1945 and my Dad had just gotten out of the Navy during WWII. He was a radar operator
on the Battleship Mississippi and was docked in Tokyo Bay after the war where he witnessed
the signing of the peace treaty between the U.S. and Japan. But that’s another story and a long
one at that. My Dad’s willing to talk if you’re willing to listen.
When he got back to Tenaha, Texas he realized that his sister had married a fellow named Jim
Reeves. Before Mom and Dad returned to Houston to go back to work, they decided to visit Jim
and Mary where they lived in Henderson, Texas. I guess Dad checked out their living situation
and decided Jim might need a job. So Dad told Jim, “Hey! You and Mary can come down to
Houston with us and I’ll get you a good job working with me.” To which Jim replied, “No. I think
I’ll try to make it in the singing business.” It’s a good thing Jim held on to his dream.
I was 13 years old when Jim was killed in 1964, so a lot of my memories are from a child. I
grew up in Lomax, Texas close to the Shell Refinery where my Dad worked. My Grandmother
White lived in Houston close to her sons Paul and Frank. During holidays Mary and Jim would
fly into Houston to see Grandmother. We would all gather and have a good time. Because Jim
was on the road so much, he liked to rest his voice when he could. It was hard to talk him into
singing for us in the living room. But one Christmas he gave in and played guitar and sang “ He’
ll Have to Go” for us. You’ll have to remember that my cousins and I were very young and
very impressed. We were very aware that he was a famous country music star and we were
caught up in the thrill of it.
One time Jim flew in to Hobby Airport to do a show at the Houston Coliseum. My family and
Frank’s family met Jim and Mary at the airport and my cousins and I were just positive that
everybody noticed we were with the famous star. Jim and Mary stayed with us in Lomax on
this trip. Jim wasn’t too fond of Houston because back in that day, an artist might have to pay off
the DJ at a station to play their records. This is the way they operated in Houston and Jim
absolutely refused to pay a DJ to play his records. In fact it made him mad that they operated in
that manner. Later that evening my Dad and I went with Jim to his show at the Coliseum. In the
early 60’s, sound systems were not very powerful. This night, the sound crew had set up a
Shure Vocal Master. It was totally inadequate. People in the crowd started shouting at Jim to
“SING LOUDER.” They kept on heckling until Jim stopped singing and said, “This is the way I
sing. I can’t sing any louder! If you want it louder you have to talk to the sound crew!” I guess
they worked it out somehow because the show went on. After the show, Dad and I went back
stage to meet Jim and give him a ride back home. Dad reached down to pick up Jim’s guitar
and a security guard almost knocked him down. Jim said, “It’s OK!!!! That’s my brother-in-law.”
Dad was saved!!! As we were walking down the corridor, Jim told me, “You’re my favorite
niece because you look like my wife Mary.” This thrilled me and as you can see, I never forgot
it.
In 1961, Mom, Dad, my brother Mike, and I went on a vacation to Tennessee to visit Jim and
Mary and see the sights along the way. The pictures you see of Jim, Cheyenne, Mike, and me
were taken on that trip. Jim was scheduled to sing at the Grand Ole Opry that Saturday night
and he took us all along with him. He introduced us to all of the Opry stars backstage.
Backstage at the Ryman Auditorium was very small. We met Minnie Pearl, String Bean, Archie
Campbell, Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff and others that I can’t recall. Mike and I sat on the front row
looking up at the stage and taking pictures with a Kodak Brownie camera. These are great
memories that are etched into my mind. Back at Jim and Mary’s house, we were allowed to
check out Jim’s touring bus and go down into the basement where a music room was set up.
There was a great mural of Mexican style scenery which was inspired from his hit “Mexican
Joe.” We were young but understood this was a treat.
During one of our visits, Jim told a story of an event that made a great impact on him. He said
he was driving back to Nashville from a show about a hundred miles away. It was late at night
and he was driving in a remote, mountainous area. It had been raining quite a bit. All of a
sudden a person in white clothes jumped in front of Jim’s car. Jim slammed on the brakes and
thought he hit the person. He jumped out of the car and started looking all around. He couldn’t
find anybody anywhere. He thought maybe they ran down the road. He started driving very
slowly looking for the person he thought must be injured. All of a sudden he came upon a
bridge that had been washed out by a raging river. Because he was going slow and looking,
he was saved from running off the road and into the river. He said he immediately knew that he
had been saved by his guardian angel. He was a true believer in this.
Another incident that made an unforgettable impression on Jim was during a trip to South Africa.
Jim was and still is very popular there and starred in the motion picture “Kimberly Jim” which
was filmed at the Kimberly Diamond Mines. Jim said when he arrived at the airport, fans
overpowered him and began ripping his clothes and trying to get the rings off of his fingers for
souvenirs. This was the first time he had experienced the fans being totally out of control. He
told my Dad that after that he was even afraid to go to the Opry without security, afraid someone
would try to rob him.

* My Life with Jim Reeves *

Jim telling me, "See, Cheyenne
can read the paper."

Mike, Jim and Martha

John White, Mary & JIm Reeves

Sitting on the front row watching Jim
perform at the Grand Ole Opry!

Mike White with Jim's tour bus.