The staff at Peoria Public Radio is taking time this week to remember Jim Reeves, a former Music Director at the station, who died on January 18
th
. We invited some of Jim's former colleagues to share their thoughts and memories:
Frank Thomas
I first "met" Jim like a lot of people in the area - by hearing him on the radio. The radio station he worked at had an album rock format where sets of three or four songs would be strung together. Jim was so artful at this that you'd be into the second song before you realized the first one was finished. I was teaching an audio production class at Bradley back then and called Jim to see if I could bring my class to the studio to watch him work. He agreed, although the field trip backfired a bit. He spent a half hour editing together a promotional spot with such ease that many in my class were blown away. Later I hired him to work at WCBU and got to know him as more than a force of nature in the editing studio. He was one of the most laid-back individuals I've ever known. Soft-spoken, but always with words to listen to.
Carl Volz
I got to know him even before I came to WCBU. He'd often be the early bird feeding stories down to us in Springfield for the IPR network. When I moved to Peoria, he was most helpful in helping on the apartment hunt and helping me learn the area.
Jim was a calming influence at the station. He was resourceful and made things work. He was smart and blessed with a tremendous dry wit. And he loved to talk about his daughter and his music.
I would sometimes be plagued with a sore throat - felt fine, but couldn't talk. So I'd write the script, pull the sound bites and Jim would package the story. He had a great voice.
I was so shocked and saddened to learn of his passing. Lisa, Ruthie and I offer our sympathies and prayers to Jim's family and, indeed, the entire WCBU family at this sad time. Let's all be inspired by Jim's life - he'd want it that way.
Jim Meadows
As a kid listening to Top 40 radio in the 1960's, my favorite deejay was the late Art Roberts on WLS. Every Friday night, Roberts would feature a "Guest Teen Deejay", some lucky kid who would get a chance to announce a couple of records. Jim Reeves was one of those guest teen deejays. I don't think I had the chance to hear him at the time, but I had plenty of opportunities to enjoy his work during his years with WCBU in the 1980's and '90's.
By that time, Jim Reeves had been working for years in commercial radio, much of it at progressive or album rock stations. He was running an independent record store in Peoria (first with Craig Moore, then on his own) when he was persuaded to take over a Sunday night blues music show on WCBU, after its original host graduated.
Jim would host "A Roomful of Blues" (later "Blues House Party") for the rest of its run, producing it at his home studio in East Peoria. A recurring gag on the program was a quick mention every week of being joined by "randy Sandy the blues dog". A dog barking from a sound effects record was the radio stand-in for the real Sandy, Jim's own dog, who was actually very sweet.
Jim Reeves brought to WCBU the steady professionalism, intelligence, and love for the music that he had displayed at album rock stations like Peoria's WWCT and WTAO in southern Illinois. Later, Jim took over my duties as WCBU's jazz music director when I moved into news full-time. Jim oversaw the station's late-night jazz music block hosted largely by students and volunteers, and also maintained contacts with record companies, a job he did more ably than I.
My memories of Jim Reeves are of someone tall, slim, good-natured and low-key, a laconic guy - at least as laconic as someone who talks on the radio for a living could be. While he understood the business of radio, I always had the impression that Jim's real interest was not the business end but what went on the air, fueled by the love of the music he brought to listeners.
Laura Garfinkel
I worked with Jim Reeves at CBU for many years. Jim was extremely knowledgeable and had an amazing radio voice. We had wonderful conversations about music and life.
Lynne Cardwell Grimson
I recall the lanky Jim Reeves strolling down the small hallways that we called home at WCBU - generally with a stack of LP's under his arm. Yes, LPs. Jim was kind and funny with a sarcastic wit and sense of humor that was hard to top. Known for his blue denim shirts and pack of smokes always at hand, Jim made a bad day better. I ran into him a few times after we both left WCBU - he was working at OSF and loving it, although still trying to get acclimated to a more structured work environment. It wasn't until Bob read me his obituary in bed this morning, that I learned a whole lot more about the guy with the golden voice. What a way to begin a day.
Terry Solomonson
I first met Jim in 1980, when I had just started working at WCBU. Meeting Jim was unusual initially because I don't think I had ever met a person who communicated with others on such a cordial and gentlemanly basis. I learned quickly that Jim was the walking archives of all music from Jelly Roll to Jerry Garcia and a whole lot more. His knowledge was exceeded only by his passion for the genre, and no bible-toting evangelist ever had more fervor and passion for its position in our culture. I eventually learned of his legendary stints at WWCT106, where there would be John Lennon and Springsteen playlists that probably kept the station in the black. While CBU's record library was pretty well-stocked, Jim never restricted his playlists to whatever was in Jobst Hall - there was a constant flow of vinyl rolling up and down West Main between the studio and his stores, the Peoria Record Company and University Records.
Whenever one of us was seized by the creative muse, be it for documentaries like "Why Did They Come?", a variety show like "The Duke Knight Radio Hour", we could always count on Jim to provide some of the best voice-over talent in town.
All of us at the station would like to thank Jim for his dedication to Peoria Public Radio, and extend our condolences to his friends and family.
