Rugged Stuff
Remembering Jerry Reed
By R. Keith Rugg, 9-04-08
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| Caption: Jerry Reed died as a result of of complications from emphysema on September 2, 2008, at the age of 71. | |
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Welcome and howdy. Rugged Stuff is a new community blog at New West, focusing attention on country music, for the most part, but with a nod to other arts (visual, performing and literary) and culture that might be of interest to those living in cowboy country.
As much as I dislike beginning a new endeavor with news of a death, there’s no way I can let the passing of Jerry Reed go by without comment.
While Jerry Reed might not have been the biggest hit-maker or the top touring act of the genre, he was a mainstay on the country music scene from the 1950s on, as guitar player, singer, writer and more, with hits Amos Moses and When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.
Reed also had more than a fistful of acting credits to his name, between the small screen and the silver screen. He’s best known for being Burt Reynolds’ trucking buddy in Smokey and the Bandit, a movie that also featured what may very well be his most popular song, Eastbound and Down. More recently, Reed appeared as a football coach in Adam Sandler’s Waterboy.
I saw Jerry Reed perform in Elko, Nev., in the early 1990s; it was probably ’91 or ’92. During this time, he was on the road with about 80 shows a year. While Elko might be the bustling hub of Elko County and northeastern Nevada, that’s mostly because it’s the only game in town, although it was selected as the No. 1 Small Town in America in the early ‘90s. Jerry performed in the lounge at the Holiday Inn; small venue and small audience. All of which was great for me, because it made the show more up-close and personal.
I was hoping he’d be dressed like he was for his role in Smokey and the Bandit. His look in the movie- that criss-cross pattern, lightweight Western shirt and the cool sideburns- sort of defined ‘trucker fashion’ for during my childhood. It wasn’t just what was in the media’s portrayals of trucking, such as television’s Movin’ On, or another Jerry Reed trucking movie, High Ballin’. The truckers I knew in real life all dressed this way, too. So I was kind of disappointed when he came out in a costume that looked straight out of Las Vegas. He had on a polyester-looking pastel jacket and slacks outfit with a silk shirt halfway unbuttoned and gold jewelry showing through.
The performance, however, was great. The small room did make for an intimate atmosphere, and Jerry was witty, charming and personable. His wife was actually on keyboards for the show, and he encored with Eastbound and Down.
It’s always fun to find local connections to the performers, in this case, links between Jerry Reed and the Rocky Mountains. Here’s one that is probably quite a stretch, but has special meaning to me because it brings back memories from my childhood. When I was a kid growing up on the rez (that’s ‘Indian Reservation’ to you, unless you’re New West blogger Troy Doney, and then you can call it whatever you want to…), my folks and grandfolks had several copies of the novel Stay Away Joe on bookshelves all around the houses. The book was by Montana novelist Dan Cushman and was a comic farce about a guy coming back from the Korean war to his home on a Montana reservation. It was made into an Elvis movie of the same name, the King’s 26th film. Reportedly, Jerry did some of the music on the movie, and Elvis performed Reed’s U.S. Male for the film. So, there’s my favorite Jerry Reed – Rocky Mountains link, his involvement with the Elvis Presley film, Stay Away Joe, which was derived from a book by one of Montana’s literary greats. (In 1998, Cushman received the H. G. Merriam Award for Distinguished Contributions to Montana Literature.)
Jerry and Elvis had quite a connection. Elvis liked Reed’s picking so much that he brought him in to do some of the studio work for his songs, and later on a lot of Reed’s television appearances were in conjunction with looks back at the King’s career.
So there’s some ruminations on Jerry Reed. Now go rent Smokey and the Bandit, or one of the sequels. Or if you enjoy making those connections between Reed and the Rockies, try to track down a copy of Concrete Cowboys, with Reed and Tom Selleck as a pair of Montana cowboys who head to Nashville. Also stars Morgan Fairchild, and has a ton of country music stars in it. Also known as Ramblin’ Man, and also packaged as Concrete Cowboy.
Me, I think I’ll put on my old straw hat and cheer Jerry Reed’s memory with a Coors. (See, there’s yet another link between Jerry to the Rockies. See how much fun it is once you get the hang of it?)
I was driving truck out of Spokane Wa. and was headed for Seattle one late night or very early morning when I heard over my "CB" radio, was a voice of someone I thought I knew. " Breaker breaker, West bound you gotta a copy?" Well to make a short story a little shorter, I answered and this voice came back asking me if I knew of a truck stop close where he could get fuel. I told the driver which exit to take and then asked him if by chance I might know him because I knew I'd heard that voice before. I expected the reply would be some other driver I'd met somewhere in the middle of the night and could have been anywhere in the 48 states or Canada. His reply was, "I'm outta Nashville Tenn." " You might'a heard of me, This is Jerry Reed and we're headed east".
I got a chill and couldn't wait to tell my sister and brother-in-law who I'd just talked to because on the weekends, I played drums in a country band with them. Granted, it wasn't like walking up and shaking his hand but we talked as long as our "CB's" would let us. He was really, well, like it was like talking to some truckdriver in the middle of the night, making conversation, not a snob or acted like he was too good to talk to some highway tramp like me.
I've listened to and played his music for years, (drums) no way can I play guitar like he could. All this last month "Smoky and the bandit, 1 2 & 3 has been on cable, I've watched them over and over again laughing my backside off like it was the first time I'd seen'em. I always get the biggest laugh outta when he got his ass kicked at the "chok'n puke" and he was telling Burt Renoylds about it. I can honestly relate to it.
After 30 years on the road, I've met alot of stars out there and maybe I'm just some ol' redneck truckdriver but I'm here to tell you, country music stars are just good ol' folks. Jerry was one of my favorites and will always be.
I just heard last that he passed. It kinda floored me. It's hard when someone you've grown up with (kind'a) passes on, like Marty Robbins, Cash, Jennings, Twitty, Miller...... In a way I can't wait, I still have a chance to get in a GOOD band!!!!!!!
Here's to ya buddy..... "East bound and down"
I will be reading D. Keith Rugg from now on. This is a great idea, and a great story about Jerry Reed.
A few years ago, I saw Johnny Dowd at the (I think -) the Ritz. Wild show, and nobody there but me and a couple of friends were listening until about halfway through, when the crowd started to notice, in the music, that something new and amazing was going on up on the stage.
I've been hoping somebody would bring the Tarbox Ramblers to Montana, too. Maybe they already have, and I missed it.
Greart and welcome stuff to read here. Thanks.
Like Roy Clark, John Denver, and to a lesser extent, Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed's phenomenal musicianship was overshadowed by goofy pop hits, cartoonish movie roles, and/or hillbilly TV fare. Such is the fate of a gifted artist trying to break through to a lowest-common-denominator public. Hell, even Chuck Berry enjoyed only one #1 song, and it was "My Ding-a-Ling." Sad.
I, too, listened to a lot of JR when I was growing up--he was one of my dad's favorites. So my shitkicker flag is flying at half staff today for the Guitar Man.
Great piece, Ruggs, and welcome to the fold.
One of the first songs I remember remembering was Reed's sweet and sensitive song about love and relationships "She got the gold mine, I got the shaft." My late uncle had it on a tape he played over and over again in his old red Ford pickup when he took my cousin and I fishing.
I love that old stuff – the guys Bob mentioned and many others. Sad you can't hear them on the radio. I remember when Johnny Cash died, they played a few of his songs and then it was back to normal. I bet Jerry Reed didn't even get that.
Sad to see them go ... Waylon, Johnny, Jerry, Roy
And don't forget, back in the early 70s, Reed also made a short but memorable appearance in cartoon-form as a geetar-totin' caper-solving minstrel on an episode of "Scooby-Doo". The song he sang on that show, "Pretty Mary Sunlight", has been ringing through my head ever since. Ahhh... the good old days! 18-wheelers were roaring all over the Hollywood screens back then and Reed personified the nitty-gritty Over The Road ethos. Wish we coulda seen more of him. "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Convoy" were tasty enough. But Clint Eastwood with the orangutan? Are you effin serious?
Bon voyage Jerry Reed!
breaker breaker
I'm saddened as another great Artist leaves Us. But as Tome T Hall says "Could Be That The Good Lord Likes a Little Pickin too".
Bye Jerry, Will be listening for that Big Jamboree On High.
I usually call it the Rez, or Belknap.
Totally Awesome Funopolis wasn't very applicable.