Get your ears on! This morning’s CarTune is Jerry Reed’s “East Bound and Down” from Smokey and the Bandit.
Most Americans today know Jerry Reed (1937-2008) as the affable truck driver Cledus Snow, Burt Reynolds’ sidekick in Smokey and the Bandit and Smokey and the Bandit II. But years before that, Reed was an accomplished session guitarist, songwriter, and performer, with tunes for Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash and a string of hit records of his own.
Guitar legend Chet Atkins actually regarded Reed a better fingerstyle player than himself, and he bestowed upon Reed his title “certified guitar player,” one of only four such honors he ever handed out. But in the 1970s, Reed decided to focus on film acting with his close friend Burt Reynolds, appearing in Gator, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, and of course, the Bandit movies.
Gearheads will probably count the Bandit flicks as among their guilty pleasures. They’re not rocket science, but as car movies go, they’re a fine old time. The “East Bound and Down” theme, which was both written and performed by Reed, does a fine job of setting the energy level for all the freewheeling furn. The live version here is from the public television series Austin City Limits in 1982, and features a whole bunch of mean, clean picking—it’s your basic country music rave-up. Enjoy.
Reed was an interesting guy who never appeared to take himself too seriously. But whenever he and (the more serious and reserved) Atkins played together it was obvious that both were equally and enormously talented.
Glad you mentioned Jerry Reed’s great musical talent. He should be remembered for that, not for playing dumb crackers in bad movies.
One of my favorite songs, along with ” Convoy”, by C.W.McCall. I was a trucker for 35 years, and back in the day, this is exactly how it was . The CB radio was more important than tight ball joints. Had a gas, times have sure changed!