Larry Neal Jordan (born October 11, 1952) is an American magazine publisher and journalist, syndicated radio show producer, and book author. A commercial newspaper publisher from the age of 15, Jordan is best known as a biographer of American country and western music star Jim Reeves.
Larry Jordan's interest in journalism began in 1963, when he received a small printing press as a Christmas gift from his parents.[1] The boy started a newspaper for his Cedar Rapids, Iowa neighborhood as a hobby and stuck with the task long enough to develop a basic understanding of the publishing business.[1]
In September 1968, while still a 15-year-old high school student, Jordan decided to try his hand at launching a citywide newspaper.[1] Bankrolled with a $50 loan from his mother, Jordan launched an 8-page tabloid, the Cedar Rapids Press-American, with physical production handled by a local job printer.[1] The publication rapidly gained readership and advertiser acceptance and grew, to the point where by 1972 the paper had become one of the largest-selling non-daily newspapers in the state of Iowa, running 28 pages in length and produced by a part-time staff of seven.[1] The paper's total circulation in 1972 exceeded 11,500.[1]
The Press-American covered serious news involving local schools and government and gained public notice over an investigative series written by Jordan pitting the non-parentally authorized psychological testing of school children against privacy rights.[1] A statewide meeting of public school psychologists resulted from the public debate springing up over the issue and Iowa state Senator Tom Riley became actively involved in the issue, making the acquaintance of the young publisher and serving as his political mentor.[1]
Kirkwood and politics
At 21, Jordan joined the staff of the fledgling Kirkwood Community College. His work as a technical grants writer brought over $4 million into the college's coffers, including helping to fund KCCK-FM, an award-winning student radio station.[citation needed]
Jordan also became involved in the political process, working as a speech writer and issues strategist in the Congressional campaign of Tom Riley. He later played a similar role in the more successful Congressional campaign of Tom Tauke, before becoming the Executive Director of the Linn CountyRepublican Party. Jordan doubled fundraising goals, raising enough money for the party to field a whole slate of candidates for state office.[2] Describing an event Jordan held, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported
"it exuded class. Cadillacs and Continentals were prominent in the parking lot. The guest list was most impressive. The major law firms were represented, as was the medical fraternity. Just about every Cedar Rapids businessman of note either bought tickets or was there in person.... The 400 or so personages who packed the Longbranch ate a special menu and drank wine by candlelight as a quartet of musicians played... The whole affair was choreographed by program chairman Larry Jordan...[whose] concept proved successful."[2]
Front Lines and Midwest Today
In 1981, Jordan became the publisher and editor of Front Lines, a monthly tabloid newspaper delivered free to the homes of more than 50,000 Cedar Rapidians.[citation needed] He subsequently moved to Florida, where he did freelance writing for about five years before returning to Iowa and becoming a publisher again.
In 1992, Larry Jordan launched a glossy regional magazine called Midwest Today, for which he still serves as editor and publisher. His wife, Julie Campbell-Jordan, is associate publisher and heads advertising sales. The magazine offers feature articles, interviews with prominent individuals, and investigative reports.[3] Among the magazine's significant stories was one penned by Jordan himself that attracted nationwide attention, called "The Secret JFK Files, New Evidence and the Midwest Connection." It took almost a year to write and included interviews with sources overlooked by the Warren Commission in its report. A 12-page "think piece" Jordan wrote called "The Troubling Legacy of Ronald Reagan" attracted the attention of then-Gov. Bill Clinton as he was embarking on his successful campaign for the Presidency. Clinton was so intrigued by it he met with Jordan, and then sent him a letter calling the story "very impressive," saying "I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it," and "I agree with much of it, as you may guess."[citation needed] Commenting on a different article by Jordan, U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton wrote " your analysis and argument hits the mark. I only wish others paid more attention to the evidence which is there for all to see of what is really happening."[citation needed]
In 1997, Jordan launched a weekly show on AM radio station WMT in Cedar Rapids called the Midwest Today Radio Edition based on the contents of the magazine. The program is now carried by 52 stations across 10 states.[3]
Music industry work
In 1998, Jordan wrote the 7,000-word booklet that accompanied the Bear FamilyJim Reeves And Friends: Radio Days, Vol. 1 4-CD boxed set In 1999,[3] an effort lauded by Thom Jurek of All Music Guide as work of "priceless documentation."
In 2000 Jordan co-produced and wrote the liner notes for the Soundies/BMG CD Jim Reeves Unreleased Hits, consisting of overdubs that had been done by the singer's widow, Mary, but which until that time had not been issued.
In 2003, Jordan launched an indie label, VoiceMasters, which has issued CDs featuring previously unreleased recordings by Reeves, with as well as other artists. One of the Jim Reeves tracks — the last song Jim ever recorded, called "I'm A Hit Again" — was released as a single and skyrocketed to #1 on the "Hot Disc" chart in the UK (a survey of radio stations in England, Ireland and Scotland), where it remained for 7 weeks in late 2008. In conjunction with H&H Music in the UK, Jordan also released a Jim Reeves Anthology DVD in 2010, which was revised in 2014 with more live video performances by Reeves. He wrote an essay for a book called American Music Legends by Grand Ole Opry photographer [Les Leverett. Later that same year, Jordan served as a consultant on a BBC Four production called "Kings of Country."[4]
In late 2011, Page Turner Books released a 672-page book called Jim Reeves: His Untold Story by Larry Jordan, about the life of the country music singer.[5] The book took Jordan more than 13 years to complete and is based on hundreds of interviews plus Reeves' personal diaries and private correspondence.[6]Billboard magazine, in an interview with Jordan, reported that "Though the author is a Reeves fan, he didn't put the singer on a pedestal... The book is a balanced account of Reeves' life and career, his marriage to Mary...and his penchant for the opposite sex that might not have meshed with his 'Gentleman Jim' persona. However, Jordan spends a lot of time discussing what made Reeves fans all over the world: the music."
Jordan won a Hollywood Book Award in 2012 , an Award for Excellence In Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association of Recorded Sound Collections Archived 2007-05-23 at the Wayback Machine and numerous other accolades. In 2013, Larry Jordan produced a CD called "The Divine Ms. Cline" featuring new overdubs of Patsy Cline studio tracks, using pro musicians from Nashville, Atlanta and elsewhere. Billboard magazine called the results "stunning" . In 2014, Jordan produced an 8-CD set, "The Great Jim Reeves," which included 170 tracks, over 90 overdubs, plus a 48-page booklet he co-authored with his daughter, Sara Elizabeth Jordan, also a professional writer. Billboard magazine reported "the releases have sold well in the United States and abroad" and cited England, India, Germany and South Africa. That same year, Larry Jordan was interviewed on an hour-long tribute to Jim Reeves hosted by Terry Wogan, broadcast in the UK on BBC Radio 2, said to have been heard by 12 million people. David Allan, writing in Country Music People magazine in the UK, said of the 8-CD set that "The production is contemporary, technically impressive and hugely enjoyable. It really is quite extraordinary, and at times breathtaking, how [Larry Jordan] brought Jim Reeves up to date without losing the unique Reeves appeal." Famed Irish singers Daniel O'Donnell and his singing partner, Mary Duff are appearing in a series of TV commercials promoting "The Great Jim Reeves" set.
In recent years, Larry Jordan has not only produced a series of releases for his own label, VoiceMasters, but also overdubbed CDs on other artists for H&H Music Ltd. in London including "Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney: The New Recordings"; and 2015's "Elvis Presley: The New Recordings".
Jordan has also produced two CDs for Mint Audio in the UK , including "Rosemary Clooney: Rare & Unreleased", about which respected critic Joe Marchese of The Second Disc music site observed, "Happily, Jordan’s new orchestral settings are tasteful, well-executed and thankfully free of modern touches... Clooney’s voice is front and center throughout, and at its most pristine. Rare and Unreleased makes for an enjoyable hour-plus with one of the greatest voices of the American songbook." The latest Jordan-produced CD for Mint is "Barbra Streisand In the Beginning," the latter of which debuts 21 recordings done in 1962 but never commercially available, with live performance tracks recorded in stereo at the famed Bon Soir nightclub in New York City, unissued audition demos Streisand did for RCA that same year, along with 4 additional rare tracks. He has plans for future CD projects on pop and country artists.
Cedar Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, United States. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 128 miles (206 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital.
Grant DeVolson Wood was an American artist and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for American Gothic (1930), which has become an iconic example of early 20th-century American art.
The music of Iowa includes such notable musicians as Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers, Bix Beiderbecke, Art Farmer, Peggy Gilbert, Patty Waters, Mortimer Wilson, Thurlow Lieurance, Charlie Haden, Arthur Russell, Greg Brown, William Elliott Whitmore, Clarence Whitehill, Andy Williams, Meredith Willson, composer of The Music Man, and Alice Ettinger who was renowned enough to perform in Europe in the 1890s. Famed swing era musician and band leader Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda. Rock and metal bands from Iowa include B. R. Olson, a phenomenal guitarist in Des Moines, For Today, Euforquestra, The Envy Corps, In Loving Memory, The Cassandra Disease, Hawks, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Radio Moscow, Modern Life Is War, Marmot, and Unknown Component. The city of Walnut is home to the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), which produces programs for local radio and television in Iowa. NTCMA also operates the Walnut Country Opera House, which is a theatre and home to several halls of fame and museums. The town of Clear Lake is known as the place the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens took off from on the day they died; their last performance was at the Surf Ballroom. The Escorts are one of the first bands to be inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame. Sioux City brought to the National scene The Velaires, and rocker Tommy Bolin. Also from Iowa is Black Iowegian heavy blues artist John-Paul Jones Group.
James Travis Reeves was an American country and popular music singer and songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman Jim", his songs continued to chart for years after his death in a plane crash. He is a member of both the Country Music and Texas Country Music Halls of Fame.
Theodore J. Kooser is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate selected from the Great Plains, and is known for his conversational style of poetry.
Riley Smith is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series 24, Joan of Arcadia, 90210, True Blood and The Messengers, and starring roles on the television series Drive, Frequency, and Nancy Drew.
Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.
KXNO is a commercial AM radio station in Des Moines, Iowa. KXNO is owned by iHeartMedia, and airs a sports radio format. KXNO's studios are located in Des Moines, while its 2-tower transmitter array is located on Northeast Broadway Avenue near Capitol Heights.
Linn-Mar High School is a public high school, part of the Linn-Mar Community School District. It serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is located in Marion, Iowa.
"Don't Forget to Remember", also called "Don't Forget to Remember Me", is a country ballad recorded by the Bee Gees, from the album Cucumber Castle. The song was written by Barry and Maurice Gibb. It was produced by the band with Robert Stigwood.
KZIA, known as "Z 102.9", is a radio station based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It has a Top 40 (CHR) format primarily staffed with local personalities, including morning DJs Dancin' Eric Hanson, Clare Duffy, and Producer Ben, known as “The Morning Scramble.” Eric and Clare were recognized as the Iowa Broadcasters of the Year in 2022 by the Iowa Broadcasters Association. Other hosts include Lady J, Those Girls in the Afternoon with Destiny and Taylor, and Jaidyn on the Night Show. The station's transmitter is located in Hiawatha, Iowa, and its signal reaches most of eastern Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo, and the Quad Cities area. It also reaches Prairie du Chien, and Platteville, both in Wisconsin.
KKSY-FM is a commercial FM radio station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It broadcasts a country music radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KKSY carries the syndicated Bobby Bones Show in morning drive time and After Midnite with Granger Smith overnight.
"Four Walls" is a country song written in 1951 by Marvin J. Moore (lyrics) and George H. Campbell, Jr. (music). Moore also wrote the lyrics for the hit song "Green Door".
KMRY is a radio station licensed to serve Cedar Rapids, Iowa, owned by Jim Ecker, through licensee Ecker Broadcasting Co.
KMJM is a radio station licensed to serve Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. It airs an oldies music format including Cedar Rapids Roughriders hockey, Coe College football, and serves as an overflow station for University of Iowa men's and women's basketball when games conflict with another Hawkeye event airing on sister station WMT.
Noggin was an American magazine that published art, fiction, cartoons, and social and political commentary. It started in Iowa City, Iowa in 1990, and published semimonthly for three years.
American Saturday Night is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released on June 30, 2009, by Arista Nashville. Like all of his previous studio albums, it is produced by Frank Rogers. The first single, "Then," has become his fourteenth Number One on the Hot Country Songs chart. iTunes released songs from the album weekly as part of the countdown to the album's release. "Water" was released on June 9, 2009, followed by the title track on June 16 and "Everybody's Here" on June 23. The second radio single is "Welcome to the Future." The title track was released as the third single on November 16, 2009. As of the chart dated January 8, 2011, the album has sold 714,812 copies in the US. It earned a 2009 Academy of Country Music Awards nomination for "Album of the Year". In 2012, MSN.com listed American Saturday Night as one of the 21 Essential 21st-Century Albums.
"Welcome to My World" is a popular music standard written by Ray Winkler and John Hathcock and recorded by many artists, most notably Jim Reeves. Eddie McDuff likely contributed to the melody. A traditional love song, the bridge includes lyrics taken from Matthew 7:7–8.
God Be with You is an album of sacred songs recorded by country singer Jim Reeves and released in February 1959 on the RCA Victor label.
Jim Reeves Sings is the debut studio album by Jim Reeves, released in 1955 by Abbott Record Co.
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