Like a Moth to a Flame: The Jim Reeves Story

Rating:
Summary: About Eddy Arnold
Review: A Book about Jim Reeves would have been nice, since that is what the cover implied.

Rating:
Summary: First In-Depth Reeves Biography
Review: Considering his prominent status in country music history, it is surprising that this is the first in-depth biography of Jim Reeves. A biography on Reeves seems a natural progression for the author Streissguth, who had previously put out a book on Eddy Arnold Pioneer of the Nashville Sound). Reeves and Arnold were very similar musically: easy listening music marketed to a country audience, with Reeves rising to popularity in the early `50s - about a decade after Arnold. As revealed in this book, however, Reeves certainly did not possess a temperament similar to the easy going Arnold (more on that later).

Our story begins with an overly scholarly analysis of the Reeves ancestry. The author looks at the family tree from their arrival in this country in the 1600s through Jim's birth in 1923 in Texas. The book picks up as we progress through Reeves' destitute youth (the youngest of eight children raised by his siblings and widowed mother in a two-bedroom sharecropper's house) and his six-year career as a minor league ballplayer. Once the author moves into Jim's career as a disc jockey and popular musician, the book becomes enthralling.

Streissguth effectively conveys the contradictions in Reeves, the man. Known as Gentleman Jim for his polite demeanor and smooth voice, Reeves had a hot temper which made him a terror in the recording studios and, occasionally, on stage - when touring conditions were deemed less than acceptable (such as his overbooked tour of Ireland). He was loyal to his friends though and often turned over all of the earnings from a club date to his backup musicians when they were underpaid by the promoter. Reeves also tended towards impatience - a quality which probably contributed to his death in a plane crash at the age of 40 (flying his plane during a horrendous storm when he should have waited for it to pass).

Lurking in the background throughout this story and even more fascinating is Reeves' wife Mary. The reader learns that Jim cheated on Mary throughout their marriage. For whatever reasons, she choose to overlook this indescretion and it never
appeared to affect her devotion to him. Also discussed is Mary's effectiveness as Jim's manager, particularly after his death. She was instrumental in the regular reissues of Reeves' recordings (usually demo vocals overdubbed with new instrumentation) which charted prominently for over ten years after his death - a posthumous career unparalleled in music history even by Elvis Presley.

The inside back jacket of the book includes a 6-song CD of some of Reeves' biggest hits like "Four Walls" and "He'll Have To Go." This bonus provides a good tease that will leave you wanting to obtain a more thorough collection of Reeves' music.
The book itself, however, is the only Jim Reeves biography you'll ever need to read. It's an eventually compelling look at a complex individual.

Rating:
Summary: Inconclusive and somewhat boring
Review: First I must qualify by saying that I have been a Jim Reeves fan for over 25 of my 42 years, and, like most, was quite excited about this book being published. Most Reeves fans like myself thirst for any stories or information about him, either good or bad. There was a lot said in the book about Jim's baseball career, and some interesting points were made about his leaving baseball for music. This is where the book by all rights should get interesting, but instead starts going flat. Through various accounts by close friends of Reeves, he was sometimes a bit unpredictable in his behavior, and the author cites several incidents that support this. But, I do not feel that he did that great of a job of illustrating in any detail what could have made for some interesting reading, if not a bit of image-shattering as well. Perhaps the author devoted to much of his energies to writing the Eddy Arnold biography, and, in fact, he uses Mr. Arnold as sort of a comparator to Reeves, sometimes unfairly for both. Arnold did not enjoy pop success until after Reeves' death, beginning in 1965 with "Make The World Go Away" (which is a song recorded by Reeves just before his death). Sounds to me as though this contradicts what the author is trying to convince us of....hmmmmmm..! The bottom line is that I don't know whether I could recommend this book or not, unless you happen to catch a good sale. As far as being touted that the "gloves come off" in this biographical account, be prepared for a let-down....it tends to get quite monotonous at times. As far as the seasoned Reeves fan, no need to worry about your idol being tarnished, for the author usually makes statements without substantiations, and the book at times is not real believable. The enclosed CD is nice, but I would bet my boots that any hard-core Reeves fan has these songs in their collection. Finally, the biggest disappointment is the lack of a comprehensive discography--the author did a fantastic job on the Eddy Arnold discography, but limited Reeves' to an incomplete album listing !! I would not have begrudged the cost of the book so greatly if it had contained a comprehensive discography. Caveat Emptor !!

Rating:
Summary: Good research and writing about a great singer
Review: I didn't realize exactly how world-famous Jim Reeves was until I read this book. It's a good depiction of his rise to fame. I don't know enough about his personality to comment on the accuracy of how he's portrayed here. I'm surprised that those close to him refused to comment. Faron Young's family and friends are being quite helpful in my research for his biography, and I'd expect that of anyone who wants an accurate biography. I've always liked the music of Jim Reeves. His enunciation impresses me-- unlike most singers who sound lazy by running words together. Of special note with this book is a 6-song CD as part of the package.

Rating:
Summary: A book about the real Jim Reeves, Good and Bad
Review: I was reluctant to write a review about this book because there were so many comments by Jim Reeves fans that depicted this book as a horrible distortion of the real Jim Reeves.
Well, I have read many articles about Jim Reeves and I have come to the same conclusion that the author, Michael Streissguth, concludes in this book.
Jim was a very talented singer, performer, business man, and yet like so many other celebrities, he had his other side of life.
Jim, at times, could be arrogant, obnoxious, mean and downright vulgar when dealing with other people.
There is no bigger fan of Jim Reeves than I, but this book did not make me hate him or even diminision my love for the man and his music.
The author did an excellent job of describing how talented, loved and respected Jim was and yet at the same time he pointed out his weakness in dealing with his peers.
This is an excellent book for fans of Jim and no one will appreciate him less because the author told the entire story of this wonderful singer and performer.
Bill Comer of Orlando, Florida

Rating:
Summary: A book about the real Jim Reeves, Good and Bad
Review: I was reluctant to write a review about this book because there were so many comments by Jim Reeves fans that depicted this book as a horrible distortion of the real Jim Reeves.
Well, I have read many articles about Jim Reeves and I have come to the same conclusion that the author, Michael Streissguth, concludes in this book.
Jim was a very talented singer, performer, business man, and yet like so many other celebrities, he had his other side of life.
Jim, at times, could be arrogant, obnoxious, mean and downright vulgar when dealing with other people.
There is no bigger fan of Jim Reeves than I, but this book did not make me hate him or even diminision my love for the man and his music.
The author did an excellent job of describing how talented, loved and respected Jim was and yet at the same time he pointed out his weakness in dealing with his peers.
This is an excellent book for fans of Jim and no one will appreciate him less because the author told the entire story of this wonderful singer and performer.
Bill Comer of Orlando, Florida

Rating:
Summary: Great Disservice to a Great Man
Review: If you are looking for a good biography to read, look elsewhere for "Like a Moth to a Flame" is not it.

Preconceived opinions are the cardinal sin of a biographer and the first of many crimes Streissuth commits in this book.

Poorly researched, Mr. Streissguth had clearly decided to "dish the dirt" on Gentleman Jim Reeves before bothering to learn anything about the man. As a result, Streissguth relies heavily on a few comments from unreliable sources which support his thesis, while either ignoring or distorting any source which would contradict it.

Streissguth is all too willing to make accusations without bothering to provide any supporting evidence. As these accusations contradict everything ever written or said about Jim Reeves and his life by those who knew him best, it is not surprising to find no evidence presented in this book.

None of Reeves' closest associates were actually interviewed for the book. However, they are occasionally quoted- the quotes being taken out of context from interviews they gave to others.

Worse, the one source Streissguth did interview and uses for his most damning allegations against Reeves is known to have an axe to grind against Gentleman Jim- yet there is no mention of that fact in the book. Indeed, Streissguth goes out of his way to characterize his source as a close, personal friend of the late singer- which is not the truth.

Too absorbed in his focus on unsubstantiated allegations of bad behavior, Streissguth never finds the time or space to cover positive aspects of Reeves' career. Major events such as the Carnegie Hall concert are totally absent. Reeves legendary generosity, as well as the interest and assistance he gave to several younger entertainers such as Dottie West are minimalized, glossed over, or completely forgotten.

Considering that Jim Reeves is the subject of this "biography", remarkably few events of his life are covered. Those that are mentioned in this book are treated with such superficial detail the reader is left feeling as if they had just skimmed a bad press release rather than read what should have been a detailed work. The obvious negative slant, coupled with glaring errors of fact, poor research and documentation, and lack of substantial detail, plus poor editing, abundant typos, and a grossly uneven writing style which swings from workmanlike to Barbara Cartlandesque, combine to make this book one to avoid.

Jim Reeves deserves better.

Rating:
Summary: The author presents a balanced account of Jim Reeves's life.
Review: Jim Reeves could sing it all: country, pop, Christmas music and gospel. His inexplicably appealing voice drew people by droves into record shops and live performances in America and around the world. At the time of his death in 1964, Jim had the number one country music album in America and he had become the first international country music superstar.

In a new biography by Michael Streissguth (actually, the only Reeves biography to date), Jim's musical career is told from his childhood in East Texas when he would sing while working in the cotton fields to his appearances on network television and in the concert halls of Europe. Much information about Jim's boyhood days came from his two surviving sisters. And in surprising detail, Streissguth writes of Jim's tremendously promising but ultimately disappointing baseball career. One potentially controversial aspect of the book is the author's telling of what might be called the dark side of Jim's personality. ! So many people have bought in to the "Gentleman Jim" public relations image of the man for so long, that learning of anything which contradicts that image might be considered near heresy. While, to many people he was indeed Gentleman Jim, he could also display what Streissguth calls an "ungraciousness". This ungraciousness could manifest itself in many ways: Jim being sarcastic with his bass player, yelling at a recording engineer, or refusing to perform because the piano was not in tune. These and worse incidents of ungraciousness are in the book . Streissguth generally presents a balanced account of Jim Reeves life and career by showing two sides of the same coin. There were some apparent contradictions in his life. He could be Gentleman Jim, but he had a hot temper. He didn't pay his band members much of a salary, but he donated his time and money to charitable causes and individuals down on their luck. He was a married man and he was a woman! chaser. He was one of the best singers ever in any catego! ry of music, yet his self doubt once caused him to tell his band members that he couldn't sing.

Michael Streissguth is a good writer. Of course, he's helped in this case by the many dramatic events of Jim's life. But the same events told by a lesser talent could be less easily visualized by the reader.You can just see Jim on the mound and hear the crowd as he strikes out another batter. You can look out the window and see the ice on the wings of that rickety old airplane over South Africa. And there's that scene in the recording studio with the revolver... There will be some hard core fans who are disappointed with this book because it doesn't tell everything about Jim Reeves.

They will wonder , "Where's the Carnegie Hall concert? What about the time Jim was emcee for a radiothon for the Tennessee Cerebral Palsy Floundation? What about this tour and that television show? Some would be satisfied with nothing less than an unabridged encyclopedia of his entire life! recounting every minute, birth to death. That is not possible or even necessary in order to tell the Jim Reeves story. It speaks well of Streissguth's abilities as a researcher and writer when you consider the fact that several people who were close to Jim refused to talk to him, and still he was able to tell the story without them.

There are a few mistakes in the book, but they are minor and do not adversely affect the telling of the story as a whole. For example, Streissguth has Ernest Tubb's longtime band member, Billy Byrd, playing steel guitar instead of electric lead guitar. And there are some typographical errors which somebody should have caught.

A compact disc with some of Jim's biggest hit songs is included with the book. "Four Walls", "He'll Have To Go", and "I Won't Come In While He's There" are great performances. The disc is not only a good selling point for the book, it may also serve as an introduction to the music of J! im Reeves for some readers. They will probably want more. ! --Frank C. Anderson

Rating:
Summary: Dullsville
Review: Really this review should have no stars and it's not worth one star.It's taken 34 years to see a book written on Jim Reeves but did it have to be this book.I read all the reviews but i decided to get it as i thought that i might learn something about Jim's life but after reading it i didn't.The pacing of the book is so slow and boring that I've seen Tortoises move quicker.The Writer is too obsessed with Eddy Arnold to do justice to the Jim Reeves Story.The writer goes to great lrengths to trot out story after story describing Jim's supposed vile temper but if he did have a temper SO WHAT, he was only human after all.the rare pictures in the book are neat though.I always thought that the idea of a discography was to list LP titles and their tracks, not in this book it's full of derogatory remarks such as "Jim is unconving in his interpatrions of ballads that deal with blizzards,trains and the frontier", Hell did he even listen to "The Blizzard", "Wreck Of The Number Nine" or any Jim Reeves song before he wrote this book.I suppose if Eddy Arnold had sung them then they would be the best songs ever sung.Could i recommended this book to anyone?No, I don't think i could.The Jim Reeves bio could've and should've been written by at least someone who liked Jim Reeves and not by someone who is too obsessed with one singer that it makes him biased to another.If you want to talk about Jim Reees please visit my Jim Reeves site [e-mail] by and I'll see you there and we'll talk.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Review
Review: This book falters where so many country and western bios do- it focuses more on Jim Reeves' generally petulant personality and not on his music. In the case of a one-hit wonder, or a musician who went into a LONG career decline, the focus on personal flaws might make for a satisfying read, but in a book about someone who managed to stay at the top (more or less) for more than a decade, it gets tiresome FAST. Colin Escott's Hank Williams bio (and Coal Miner's Daughter, come to think of it) both manage to integrate the unpleasant sides of the careers (and in Hank's case-personality) into the larger framework of what their music was/how it was created/significance of their careers etc....this book doesn't do that, which is unfortunate, as Mr. Reeves DID contribute more to Nashville than a series of anecdotes about how unpleasant he was would indicate. This is kind of the written equivalent of Sweet Dreams, the Patsy Cline movie that somehow managed to downplay her music while emphasising the (alleged) soap opera-like quality of her life- no one who wanted a Patsy Cline movie was principally interested in her MARRIAGE, no one who wants a Jim Reeves bio is principally interested in his PERSONALITY.