I first got to hear Jimmie in concert in Oklahoma City at the Zoo Amphitheater while I was a teen in the late 70s. It was one of the greatest concerts I ever saw. Outside under the stars with my gal listening to Jimmie Spheeris singing songs like 'Emerald and the Dream Dance' and 'Sweet Separation' was truly my idea of heaven! At that time there were other artists that played that venue such as Wendy Waldman, Joni Mitchell, CSN&Y, and Rickie Lee Jones. In my opinion, the 70s were a great time to be growing up for a music lover like me.

Rex Cox

I heard "Isle of View" when I was 14 or 15 and was hooked from that point. "The Dragon Is Dancing" and "Ports of the Heart" were, along with the McGarrigle Sisters' first two albums, the soundtrack to my college years... I would love to see these albums come out on CD. I was lucky enough to see him in concert once... Columbia, Mo., in Jesse Hall at the University of Missouri. It was, I think, the spring of '77. The show was sold out, and I remember being very impressed by the playing and, especially, his singing.

Kirk Swearingen

I didn't know he died... and so long ago. Just heard one of his songs on a local college station last night - he was pretty popular here in Connecticut... I met his cousin years ago in Milwaukee... he was a roommate of a friend. His cousin is Chris Spheeris of Spheeris and Voorderis, a new-age type group. Will take your comments to heart and write Columbia - I have always wanted 'Isle of View' on CD - to me that would be perfect.

Tom Jacobs

I have been looking for CDs of Jimmie Spheeris albums with no luck - especially 'Isle Of View'... I can easily say that my life was deeply influenced by his music and many personal passages are tied to his songs... Thank you for putting this page together.

Melissa Bellerose

Hooray! Thanks for keeping a very special artist's work vibrating through Cyberspace... I still love to listen to his music... I noticed on the discography that there was no mention of a single Jimmie did for Warner Bros. in 1980. It's 'Hold Tight' and is backed with 'It Is You'.

Sheri Lane

I gave up my last turntable some time ago and have been waiting for re-release on CD for years.... I called Sony years ago and they expressed very little interest in the project.... I've always enjoyed Jimmie Spheeris' artistry since I saw him in concert in the early Seventies.

OceSouthFL

What a shock it was to find that Jimmie had past away... I was lucky enough to see Jimmie in concert at the Century II Convention Hall in Wichita, Kansas. What an intimate and moving experience it was. I continue to listen to his albums and his music continues to move me.

William Kim Krasuski

I am from Atlanta, but went to school in California for a couple of years in the early seventies and was turned on to Jimmie. I bought his first three albums and then moved to Europe for a few years and sort of lost track of his career. I didn't even know he had passed away. I am truly sorry to hear that. I have for years spread the word about Jimmie. Today, at 46, driving my kids home from soccer practice, I heard "The Original Tap Dancing Kid" on an alternative rock station in Atlanta and wonderful memories of his music and songwriting skill came back to me. I work on the web so I immediately searched and found your site ...great job!

David Booker

I went searching for an answer to a question and I found this site. I don't consider myself a fan as much as I do a follower. I may be somewhat atypical of a Jimmie Spheeris follower. Since his passing occurred before I was old enough to even go to a concert or even 'get in to music'.

While in high school, every summer I would go with my church youth group to a place to work for people who needed help. Roofing, siding, plumbing, building, Habitat for Humanity stuff. We were not particularly "super-Christian" or anything. It was more of a good time with friends - with a spiritual side to it. Every night we would gather for what we called open-prayer. Each night, a song would be played with a spiritual nod. The person who selected the songs changed my life forever. I went from listening to Michael Jackson to something a whole lot different. I remember two songs very distinctly. "Hymn" by Barclay James Harvest and "I am the Mercury". It was the spirituality of this thoughtful music that moved me. After finally locating a copy of "Isle of View" I was hooked. While everyone in high school was listening to REM, I was listening to "Shirtful of Apples". I suppose I always will.

I was moved by a comment from another person here who remarked about Jimmie Spheeris songs marking 'personal passages'. I think I can identify a Jimmie Spheeris song for just about every turmoil-filled moment of my journey to adulthood. Discovering spirituality, high school's loves and losts, death of a close friend and mentor, good times...Those songs are still there and they will be even better when we get them available on CD. Every time I visit a store that carries a good selections of imports, I look. Every time I pass a Phonolog...I look.

Thank you for this page and 'connecting' me to others. Rarely do I respond like this. Especially with this kind of outpouring.

Jhawk

Thank you for being here. I have written letters to Sony for several years now requesting the release of "Isle Of View" on CD. I just sent them another E-mail today. They could easily sell out a release in the Midwest if they let folks know it's coming. I will continue to pester them...anything else I can do?? I have 2 copies of "Isle Of View" played only once to record to tape. If all else fails, do you know a reasonable way to get the music transferred to CD myself?? Thank you.

Richard Buchli

Cool site! So, I'm not the only person left who remembers Jimmie. That's nice to know. Even after all these years, I still think "Moon on the Water" is one of the 10 best songs ever written. Few songs are so beautiful... You might be able to help a couple of fans out. I have a still factory shrink wrapped copy of "Isle of View" that I would trade for a similar copy of "Dragon is Dancing." Unfortunately, my copy of Dragon has expired. Only a distant memory of how much I enjoyed it cranked up remain when I play it now.

John Larrison

At last!!! Jimmie touched a place deep in my musical and poetic soul that launched me into a musical career when I was in school learning to become a physician. I have 3 of his albums which I play whenever I need to escape from the rigorous schedule that my life now has given me.

Dr. John D. Wildeisen

Here is a story about Jimmie's music. I don't remember the year, but probably around 1973 or 1974. I found a new copy of "Isle of View" in the plastic wrapper on a discount rack of Platter Inn Music store on main street in Batesville, Arkansas. For sixty five cents. Loved the cover. The first time I played it, I did not like it at all. Years later, I moved to Houston, and was down and out without a job. Saw a handbill in a club advertising that Jimmie had played there. The name rang a bell. Went home and played "Isle of View" again - and immediately became a die-hard Jimmie Spheeris fan. Went out and bought The Dragon is Dancing even though I was broke. Later, I bought Ports of the Heart.

I love them all. I play them regularly. I will write to Sony and request that Jimmie's music be released on CD. I have been waiting and waiting for that to happen.

Don Engles

Sometime in the early seventies ('72?) I had the good fortune to attend one of Jimmie's concerts at the University of Missouri-Columbia, when I was a student there. I had no idea who Jimmie Spheeris was, but as these college things go, I was like a sponge and wanted to experience everybody and everything at once. I don't remember how I got the tickets, but I remember the concert. And suddenly I had a new friend.

After the concert, walking back to my apartment, I heard an open-air concert in one of the parks on campus, so I wondered over to see was going on... another concert (don't remember the group). I listened to them for awhile, then went to my apartment (a block and a half from campus) and got my flute, returned to the park and began jamming with the band, little hippie boy that I was.

Shortly thereafter, Jimmie showed up. He leaned against a tree and listened to the music. Then he heard me playing "in the wings." Jimmie came up to me, we talked for awhile, and he ultimately invited me back to his hotel room, where he gave a quiet, contemplative performance for his band members and me.

I think I stayed until about 4:00 a.m. Then I bought the albums he had published to date and watched for more. I was living in San Francisco when he died. And after a few thousand relocations, the only album that I think I have is "Dragon is Dancing." I've just sent an email to Sony to re-release the other albums, possibly as a boxed set, honoring one of the finest poets and musicians I have ever experienced.

Another round my friend... Eternity's spin is about to begin.

Lanny J. Laub

It was March of 1977 and I was a high school junior in Kansas City. On a rainy morning, my clock radio woke me with the lyrics of "I am the Mercury". I too experienced goose bumps from that song. Unfortunately, I did not hear the name of the artist.

Later that same year, I picked up a copy of "Isle of View" in the clearance section of MusicLand. It was selling for $3. I noticed "I am the Mercury" on the back and decided to buy it. Needless to say, I was amazed by what I heard. Side 1 of "Isle of View" has got to be the most perfect side of an album that has ever been created. I also believe that the cover art etching superbly captures the dreamlike quality of the music.

Years went by and I was not able to find any more Spheeris albums. In 1979, I was attending a Moody Blues concert in Kemper arena. The original opening act had canceled and I was shocked to hear Jimmie Spheeris being introduced as a last minute fill-in. I can still remember hearing him, with only his guitar - no backup band - hypnotizing the crowd for 45 minutes.

Several more years went by and I remember a Saturday morning in July 1984 when I read of his death. It was only a couple of years ago that I brought the subject up to a couple of friends. I was shocked to discover that they too had been completely enthralled by the "Isle of View" album.

Dave Cook

I grew up with Johnny Pierce and he introduced me to Jimmie and his music. Anytime Jimmie was close to Oklahoma City, I made the show. One concert was at OBU (Oklahoma Baptist) in Shawnee, OK. Jimmie was putting on his usual great show and started dancing, which was not all that unusual... what *was* unusual is that half the crowd walked out. Needless to say, my friends and I moved to the front row, and Jimmie - being Jimmie - put on the greatest show for those who remained that I had ever seen him do.

Gary Weaver

I was first turned on to Jimmie when I went to Western Connecticut State College in 1972. My friends, who were DJs at the college radio station and eventually turned me into one, played his albums constantly. Needless to say, I was hooked. I still have the albums (worn-out and scratched) in my collection, which have been in storage for years now as I have made my home overseas in the Sultanate of Oman (among other places).

My most memorable recollection of Jimmie is when I saw him in concert in Connecticut in the mid 70s (I think it was Bridgeport or Fairfield) when he was the opening act for Phoebe Snow. Every tune he played was spun gold...

At the end of Jimmie's set, I had not heard my favorite number, and as the audience ovation died down I impulsively shouted "'I am the Mercury,' Jimmie." He peered out through the stage lights in the direction of my voice and said, "What?...You too?" That encore ("I am the Mercury") was the sweetest encore of any concert I have ever heard.

I am saddened to hear of Jimmie's passing, but am happy that his music is living on. I'll be sure to snatch up any of his music as it becomes re-released. Thanks for your efforts to keep Jimmie's music alive.

Peachey

I was born to a free-spirit mother who loved music. So when I decided to see my first concert around 1977, she just asked which one. I had only about 7 years of music listening under my belt - unless you count womb years - but I knew who I wanted to see above all else. "I must see Jimmie Spheeris, Mommy." As he was her current favorite live musician, she was thrilled - and we soon went to the Kansas City outdoor concert arena. The Star Theatre, I think.

The fans of Jimmie were people like I'd only seen on TV. Being from a KC suburb, I wasn't exposed to a lot of people besides the white protestants that filled my neighborhood. I was overwhelmed by the fantastic clothes draped on bodies adorned with bells and jewelry. The beautiful faces of various races and outward kindness from all the people impressed me. Just remembering the seemingly long wait, I still remember feeling so excited being part of the experience with all these amazing people...

Then the lights went down and everyone quieted in the dark. Suddenly, a burst exploded - lighting one of the two side towers. The music started and a robed figure stepped out. I think he went back into the tower and then another burst lit the other tower. Again, out stepped the robed figure. I cannot remember if he removed the robe then or if there was another burst on stage - and out came the mystical Jimmie. But I do remember how I began to shiver at the man I was to spend the next two hours or so staring at.

The concert was incredible. My mother spent the ride home listening to me quickly rant about how it changed my life, and I couldn't believe a concert could be so amazing, and why didn't we go every night?

I went to about two more Jimmie Spheeris concerts. And each time, I came away feeling uplifted and more convinced that Jimmie was the best musician I'd ever seen. I wore out the first three records of Jimmie's and had to rebuy them. Later, when all my things were destroyed in a flood, the Jimmie Spheeris records were all that I saved, minus the sleeves. I still have them wrapped in paper.

I searched and searched for years to find any other records or CDs of Jimmie's. A friend of my mother's once said that he had died but we never knew for sure. I'm glad that finally someone has started the process of sharing Jimmie with those who may have missed him while he was here. Jimmie Spheeris' music and concerts helped form my childhood and still fills my heart when I hear it.

Thanks for your work. It means a lot to a lot of people.

Shawn Granger