Mangalore 31 July 2010: When a small group of Jim Reeves fans in Mangalore got together and decided to commemorate Jim Reeves in Mangalore city seven years ago, they never thought it would be a runaway hit of a great magnitude. What was initially planned as a private function grew to unimaginable levels drawing music-lovers from all parts of Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Udupi.
James Travis Reeves, better known as Jim Reeves, a popular American singer and songwriter of the 1950s and early 1960s, was barely 40 years old and at the pinnacle of his career when his private aircraft crashed on July 31, 1964 over the Tennessee Mountains in the US. However, his rich and melodious rendition had inspired and consoled millions of young and old across the world for over 40 years and he stands in the Hall of Fame along with Paul Robeson, Frank Sinatra, Matt Monroe, Englebert Humperdinck and Tom Jones, besides Elvis Presley.
Starting off as a disc jockey in radio stations besides presenting popular music shows, Jim brought out his own disc called ‘Mexican Joe’ that became an instant hit. More hits like ‘Bimbo,’ ‘Yonder comes a sucker,’ ‘Four walls,’ ‘Blue boy,’ ‘Welcome to my world’ and scores of others followed. The very fact that the generations that were born much after his death have been his great fans speaks highly of Jim Reeves’ talent and popularity.
Enthusiastic fans like Richard Lasrado, Titus Noronha, Rohan Shiri and Max Karkada, joined by the finest group of talented musicians in town - Denzil Karkada, Oscar Weltha, Arun Shiri, Manoj Lazarus and Sunil Kumar, Rajgopal (lead), Gladson (Acoustic) and Jerome Coelho, Melwin Fernandes and Cloy Carvalho, besides Nizel Simon from Calicut and Theo Alvares from Goa have kept the legend of Jim’s music in Mangalore alive. Max Karkada singing Jim Reeves’ hits with irrepressible energy has done full justice to being almost close to the original legendary voice.
Once again, the Jim Reeves Fans of South India, based in Mangalore, will hold a live show in Mangalore city on August 1, to bring back the late singer’s voice alive.