Texarkana born and raised. Texas side of town is dry. He would have been at distributor on Arkansas side. The sheriff should have been Arkansas or Louisiana. They would never have been in Texas.
Yeah it was from the early eighties but it was a 70s Bass movie running bootleg beer the first one was the best the second one was okay and the third one was horrible@@TheJestercraft
There's a great Elvis story concerning Jerry. Jerry wrote and released a song called "Guitar Man". Elvis heard it and liked it so much he decided to "cover" it. So he gets in the studio in Nashville and proceeds to record "Guitar Man". Big problem. None of the professional studio guitarists could figure out how to play it, Finally someone said "Find Jerry, get him in here". How do you find Jerry Reed? Chet Atkins would know, so they called Chet and he told them Jerry was down on the Cumberland River fishing. 'Get him"! So they got him, told him the problem, and got him into the studio. So Jerry played the guitar for Elvis. Then came the fun part. The way Colonel Parker had things arranged, whenever Elvis recorded someone else's song, that person had to sign away his rights to it. Jerry said "Hell No"! That's my song." Parker wouldn't budge until Elvis intervened and told him to let Jerry have his way. Only time anyone ever stood up to Parker and won.
The same thing happened with Dolly Parton, Elvis loved her song I will always love you And when they got to the studio colonel parker said the same thing to her and she said no as well and later when Whitney Houston covered that song she's Jokingly said I could have bought Graceland with the profits.
You don’t get that good without taking it seriously. Just because Reed had a comedic presentation on stage didn’t mean he wasn’t serious about his playing.
@@projoebiochem I'm not going to disagree with Chet Atkins, but if Jerry Reed had spent less time on non-musical endeavors, he might have been a better guitarist. And we'd have inferior movies.
@@mikerickson01 He was well into his music career before he started to make movies. He was a good songwriter, but his serious guitar playing didn’t pay the bills. He learned that he made more money with the comic banter on stage. In that he was a little like Roy Clark, but without the instrument versatility. I think Jerry’s Breakdown is one of his best guitar instrumentals and the autobiographical Guitar Man is his best combination of lyrics and musicianship. There are some videos of him on the old Porter Wagoner show that show him playing a great guitar medley.
I was raised on trucker music because of my dad who we lost last February was a trucker and drove 3.8 million miles no accident. This was one of his favorite song along with C.W. McCall "Convoy". It was in the Movie "Smokey and The Bandit", also my dads favorite movie !!!!
Many good songs he did, but I would consider this person should check out "The Bird" or "Amos Moses" probably before "She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft" as those cover the comedy and range a bit more IIRC
Jerry Reed always considered himself more of a guitar thinker rather than a guitar player. He was very innovative on guitar, doing things with the instrument that hadn't been done before... much like Lenny Breau. He also didn't think very highly of his own song writing or singing voice, calling himself the original 'junk throat". He constantly sold himself short. He was far more innovative and brilliant on the guitar than he gave himself credit for. I believe his genuine humility made him even more endearing to his fans. He was a great talent. There's no question about that.
When a guitar wizard like Tommy Emmanuel calls Jerry Reed one of the great guitarists and perhaps the most underrated guitar player, that speaks volumes.
In 1978 a year after this song came out, our little town in eastern Kentucky had a thing called the "Sorghum Festival" of which Jerry Reed was the grand marshal of the parade and done a concert also. As he was parading down the street I was standing towards the end of the parade about three feet from the street wearing a floppy hat exactly like the one Jerry Reed used to wear. As he passed by me he pointed right at me smiling and then pointed at his head and my head recognizing the hat and gave me like a thumbs up. That was 46 years ago but I will NEVER forget it. For a man of his stature to point me out and recognize me in a crowd was very special, at least to me it was. By the way the concert was awesome also. I was standing about five feet from the stage and again he recognized my hat, an AWESOME day. I heard stories that since Jerry was coming to eastern Kentucky he wanted to sample some of our "Kentucky Kool-Aid" (Moonshine) which he did and they said after partaking of the "Kool-Aid" he barely knew what planet he was on, I guess it had a little more of a kick than he was used to. For Jerry Reed to come to our little out of the way town was a big deal, but it also helped that his drummer was from our little town, that might have had something or probably everything to do with it.
Jerry Reed was as down to earth as they come. He frequently came to the local waterways near me..floating, picking, and drinking. He was well known to buy beer and share it with anyone around, and invite them to join him on his houseboat. One of the friendliest guys ever, and hearts broke when he passed away.
I met Jerry Reed and his daughter in baumholder west Germany in 1980 at the USO i was there helping thing get organized and cleaned up his daughter is so beautiful the theater was packed I got to sit in the balcony with VIPs his daughter was right next to me the smell of her perfume now that's a women smell I was 18 at the time they turned Europe after smoky and the bandit came out loved it.😂😂🎉🎉
Yes, I was going to comment on this. Jerry didn't think of himself as great as he was. I love some of the songs he did with Chet Atkins, one of the best is Jerry's Breakdown. The thing was he could keep up with all the other greats.
I can’t believe we live in a world that someone has not heard this song nor know what it’s from. I’m glad that you listen to it and I’m sure by now you know where it’s from and you’ve probably watched the movie. This was only the number two movie in 1977 second only the Star Wars.
Remember this was from the mid 1970s and a lot of country music wasn't listened to by a large part of the population. (In their minds country music was Hee Haw, which a lot of urban types wouldn't be caught dead watching back then. By the mid to late 70s it was crossover country that had appeal outside of the traditional country radio listeners.) Yes, it's connected to Smokey and the Bandit, but that movie doesn't seem to resonate with later audiences as much as it did in the mid 70s.
This is from the movie “Smokey and The Bandit. Jerry played the role of Cletus, friend and co-lawbreaker to Burt Reynolds (Smokey).Jerry was a fantastic guitarist and a very good actor and an all around funny guy!
Burt Reynolds was The Bandit. Smokey was a slang for state trooper because most state troopers wore a hat similar to the park ranger hat worn by Smokey the Bear.
The director of the film asked Jerry on set if he thought he could maybe write a song for the movie as a sort of theme. Jerry asked if he could see the whole script to see how the story went, and the director complied. After shooting the day's scenes, Jerry went back to his hotel. He came back the next morning with this song to show the director.
Jerry Reed wrote the song guitar man that Elvis recorded. In 67 Elvis decided he wanted to record it. He had several players in the cession, but could not get it to sound like he wanted it, so they tried to get Jerry to come in and play. He was out fishing, and finally they found him, and he came in wearing his fishing clothes, every one else was dressed up. He started playing , Jerry and Elvis kind liked each other right off. When they got done with that song and one or two more of Jerry's songs. He started to leave. Elvis' manager told Jerry to sign over half of the publishing rites, which was what he did with everyone, Jerry refused, and sai you can tell Elvis he won't be able to release it if you want to, and left. Needless to say Jerry kept his publishing, and was the only one to get over on Tom Parker.
Jerry Reed was a charismatic performer who had a great sense of humor. Popular songs Amos Moses, She got the mine I got the shaft . He was fun to watch
I took my mother to see Jerry Reed perform at a small town music festival for her birthday back in.... 1996? i think? 97? he was doing a meet and greet/autograph signing afterwards and he spent solid 10mins flirting with her when it was our turn. never even looked at me or the rest of our group while he was signing our stuff. She was giggly about that for weeks.
Jerry was also a famous studio guitar musician, a contemporary of Glenn Campbell & Roy Clark, but in Nashville, TN. He also got into acting and was cast for the Smokey & The Bandit movie and asked to write some songs for the movie which is this song.
I live in Phenix City,AL just 2 hours south west of Atlanta,GA this song was in the movie Smokey and the Bandit it was made around Atlanta area very funny movie Jerry Reed in this movie at Snowman the truck driver if you never seen the movie need to watch it the movie came out I believe in 1977 I'm now 53 and I'm a over the road truck driver I can relate to this song more now the Smokey and the Bandit 2 came out in 1980 very good East bound and Down means your going east on a highway and down part means going fast have foot down on the gas
Interesting tidbit about Jerry Reed. He came up with the guitar lick that Glen Campbell used in his version of Southern Nights, which was Glen's first number one single. If you search on Jerry Reed and Glen Campbell, there's an old clip of Southern Nights that they perform together and Glen gives Jerry credit for the lick.
In the US in the late 70s/early 80s, country music had a huge moment and many of the songs crossed over to the popular music charts - Pop Goes the Country was a TV variety show around that theme. Love Jerry Reed!
I served in the US Navy 81-85. My ship was ordered to Beruit Lebanon in 1983. We were there 9.5 months. When we finally were ordered home to Long Beach California, my Captain ordered that we play "West Bound and Down" on the PA as we turned West and headed home!!❤😢
I was there in '83 on DDG-17 Conyngham. 12 of us were transferring or getting out so we were in town for most of a day. We were there hanging out with the marines a week before they were bombed and killed. Was hard to think about for a long time.
East bound and down was the theme song to a great southern movie called Smokey and the Bandit. Jerry reed was an amazing guitarist and singer. And a great actor. Check out his song Amos Moses
Never heard of Jerry Reed…man….that just breaks my heart…I weep for the newer generations !!!! Now listen to more Jerry….it will enrich your life !!!!!🔥🎸🎶🔥😆
Good ol' boys at heart, both Elvis and Jerry knew deep down something that the Colonel could never understand. ...art is personal, music ESPECIALLY! God bless 'em, the Colonel too 🙏🏽 Y'all R.I.P. 🎸🎸🎸
These guys are right about the term east bound and down. I don't know about your country but in the USA when I grew up in the 70's and 80's we had what we called CB radio. CB stood for citizen band radio and we used lingo to tell others what we are doing or what is going on around us. For if we saw the police and wanted to tell others the police location. We would say "I saw smokey or smokey bear at McDonalds at whatever location they were at"
@dwaynehall6356 yes we had that in our county when I was a kid in the 50s. My Daddy voted to take the county wet in order to put the bootleggers out of business and to allow the county to get the tax revenue for alcohol that people were buying anyway. He said the police would also keep a closer eye on kids drinking under age. Then there's the story of the county just north of us who stayed dry. The preacher who was campaigning to keep it dry didn't know the guy who was helping him was the local bootlegger.
If there is one guy I would have loved to live to 200, that would have been Jerry Reed! He's country, and he's not quite country, and he's always got so much happiness going in his recordings. My favorite early/late country album would be Jerry Reed's 'Red Hot Picker'. He was also a very good actor, so he did his stuff for the classic Smokey and the Bandit movies!
Although not from this era…2 of Country’s greatest guitarist & must see footage: Keith Urban - Shelby County Jail - live Vince Gill - Oklahoma Boarder Line - live
If you want to see some really intricate stringed instrument playing, look into Bluegrass music. There's a video out there of a live performance by Ricky Scaggs and his band, and nearly every member of the band does a solo. Guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin and banjo if I recall correctly. In the southern Appalachian mountains, prior to 1980, there wasn't much to do for fun except compete with your friends to see who could pick banjo the fastest 😁.
Earl Scruggs and Friends. ruclips.net/video/yQIJuu3N5EY/видео.htmlsi=p3ImHEt6rklMq7at Too many talented artists to count. This is a remake of the original that Earl Scruggs had done in 1949.
I was 18 in 1973 and the lead singer/Rythym guitar in a honky tonk band in Ft. Worth Texas for 20 years. So yes this was on my set list! enjoy you're channel.
I went to a Jerry Reed concert many years ago and it was a fantastic show!! He didn't just play music, he and his band put on a show with all kind of humor embedded in it, that blew my mind,. Hey, get this, I'm a gigantic rock fan and it was awesome... Had everyone on their feet during the performance! Smokey and the Bandit made that song famous and that was their fanale.
I think I’ve seen Smokey and the bandit about 10 times. Haven’t seen it in years. It was cheesy, but it was also hilarious and just a good old time. It wasn’t meant to be an Academy award winner. And that’s what was so great about it.
One of the greatest singer song writers especially in the country genre is Dolly Parton. She writes, sings, and plays guitar with really long nails perfectly! 😂 All her songs are good ( a deep rabbit hole to go down) but a good one to start with is Coat of Many Colors. Jerry Reed is a treasure everything he does makes me smile. Enjoyed your video!🎉
Another great songwriter, Kris Kristofferson who, like Jerry Reed, spent a lot of time as an actor rather than doing their music. This is what I consider his best song .... ruclips.net/video/HCgnbRWVvU8/видео.html Kris recently went to meet his maker. He was a real interesting person and I can't possibly do his biography justice here, so, please look him up. And, then react to the song I've linked.
Jerry Reed was a prodigy discovered by Chet Atkins. Notice in this song he switched from a pick back to his fingers at the end of the song, because that was Jerry's forte. If you study his music, you find that he had a style all his own. Jerry Reed music includes country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, and there's even some hints of rock 'n roll through his library of works. If you care to see Jerry and Chet together, look up "Jerry's Breakdown." It's an instrumental that will certainly showcase Jerry at his complex best! Oh... he also had his own TV show for a spell in the early '70s.
From the movie Smokey and the bandit .. great song, East bound and down, CB chat , down is off the air basically. Great video, just found your channel 🤘
Jerry Reed was easily one of the most underrated country stars of his time. Make no mistake, he was definitely well-recognized; but he deserved so much more than what he received. RIP Snowman.
Jerry Reed was a singer songwriter from the "golden age" of country, and quite possibly one of the greatest guitar players of all time, certainly of the 20th century. Definitely one of the fastest pickers. Eastbound and Down was from the 1977 Burt Reynolds classic Smokey and the Bandit (which btw, where I'm from down south is considered more of a documentary than a fiction film, lol). Jerry also starred in the movie with Burt (they were close friends), showing his versatility also as an actor. The story with this song is that Hal Needham, who directed the film, went to Jerry one day during filming and said he needed a "travel song" for the film and could Jerry put something together before they went to editing in a few months. Jerry went back to his trailer that night, and came back the next morning with this song, completely fleshed out and ready to record. He was a down to earth, good ol' country boy who was known for being rather unfazed by his enormous talent. He once said in an interview when asked about how he deals with being such a huge talent, "I just play guitar, and people like it. That's good enough for me."
It’s a trucker song it was written for the movie smoking the bandit. He was a country guy famous for his guitar work and picking Fast and he also starred in the movie. He was an actor as well. It’s a song about driving a truck and the theme of the movie, eastbound was a direct and he headed down your pedal was pushed down to the floor driving as fast as you could et cetera et cetera. Smoky bandit, it was worth it. lol
I was lucky enough to see Jerry Reed live in Taylorville, Illinois in the late 1970s. He was an absolutely fun performer and truly liked the fans. He actually stopped mid song to let me take his photo.
Jerry Reed was in several movies with Burt Reynolds one of them being Smokey and the bandit where the song eastbound and down comes from in addition to others he did for the movie
Amos Moses is my favorite Jerry Reed song. Another one of those country singer songwriter guitar players that people seem to forget is Eddie Rabbitt. He wrote Kentucky Rain for Elvis and he had a number of big hits like Driving My Life Away.
Jerry was selling records by the boat load and playing on nearly every TV show that could book him after "Smokey and the Bandit" released. Some really good sessions were when he played with Chet Atkins. Both were exceptional musicians and were great friends. Your question regarding the "...Eastbound and Down" lyric refers to the line in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movie. Jerry was "east-bound" and the throttle on that old Kenworth was planted firmly "Down" on the floor as he and Burt Reynolds headed for Atlanta, Georgia. Jerry Reed & Burt Reynolds were trying to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours. If memory serves me, the law in the late 1970s said that Coors Beer couldn't be sold east of the Mississippi River. Burt picked up Sally Fields along the way after she ditched her own wedding and was hitch hiking eastward. She added some great personality to the story. Check out "Smokey and the Bandit." It's a couple of hours well spent!
Back in 1979, we were the first to get cable in our neighborhood, Smokey and the bandit was playing on Showtime. I loved it and watched it every single time they played it. I knew every single word. One night my older brother came in with a couple friends……..I sat in my mom’s chair not really watching but reciting every word of the movie. One of those guys watched me, and we ended up marrying the next year. That movie holds a special place for us.
Like it was said below it was the theme song from the movie "Smokey and the Bandit". (Very funny movie) Jerry Reed play a character call "The Snowman " and "The Bandit" was played by Burt Renyolds and "Frog" was played by Sally Fields. There were 3 or four movies in the series. Dom Dealwise was in the fourth one. The outtakes from the fourth one with Dom and an elephant they were trying to smuggle was hilarious. I play this song a lot at my gigs. I have a lot of seniors that remember it.
The song is from Smokey and the Bandit. But the title: "East Bound and Down" refers to the objective of the movie. They were illegally transporting a semi-truck full of Coors beer from Colorado to Florida. The route was east bound frim Colorado and down towards Florida. Look at a map of the US, and that will make sense. In those days, Coors beer could not be sold East of the Mississippi River.
Actually Smokey picked up the Coors beer,that was not illegal,but not sold east of the Mississippi River due to its cold brew process necessitated refrigerated transport that was not financially feasible past the river. Smokey (Jerry Reed) also picked up the load in Texarkana, like the song says, and headed east to Atlanta, like the song says. The illegal part was speeding down the road.
His daughter worked at the marina where I keep my boat in Nashville and he loved to fish so he was there often. He talk and acted no dii it different that he did when performing and was a nice guy.
Smoky and the Bandit. East Bound and Down was my destroyers UNREP song in 1979. We were supposed to spend Christmas in Athens but got orders to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. Then we were ordered to Kenya. Next to Pakistan and finally the Persian Gulf. Song has a lot of memories attached to it.
I’m not a country music fan but the soundtrack from Smokey and the Bandit is freaking iconic. I was just a wee lad when it came out and it fit the film absolutely perfect. Jerry was an incredible guitar player and who’ve is on the steel in the background is killing it!!!!
Greetings from Texas. Just came across your channel and felt an immediate kinship as my 101 year old grandmother is from Ebensee, Austria. If you you’re wanting singer/songwriters from the 70s, check out Jerry Jeff Walker. His biggest hit was probably Mr. Bojangles.
I hated watching Hee Haw at my grandparents house as a little kid. I worked at Harrahs South Lake Tahoe, and could watch the performers in the showroom from the kitchen. I got to see Roy Clark a few times. He was incredible
I love this song, especially being a truck driver, and the movie it’s from. Another trucking song I love is Johnny Cash’s Monteagle Mountain. This song means a lot to me as Monteagle is the first mountain I went down as a rookie driver. It’s a great song and you should check it out.
Pop Goes the Country was one of the best TV shows in the country in the 70s and featured every star of the era in live performances. It was hosted by Ralph Emery.
Eastbound and Down... From the movie Smokey and the Bandit.. They are driving East to get the Coors Beer back to Georgia in a certain amount of time.. Funny story.. my BF was a Nascar driver back in the 90's.. and I went down to Florida to watch her qualify.. we went to a restaurant later for supper and this song came on.. we started singing it... in harmony.. not even knowing that we both knew the song.. we had only become friends maybe 6 months before.. still friends 25 plus years later and this is our song.
This song is from the movie, ‘Smokie and the Bandit’, one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen!! I think it came out in 1976 or 1977. I saw it at the movie theatre when it came out.
Jerry wrote so many wonderful instrumental songs for guitar. Some are incredibly difficult to play. Chet Atkins recorded about 20 of them. They still have a Jerry Reed festival every year in Nashville. It’s always headlined by Richard Smith, Tommy Emmanuel and Brent Mason. I suggest a video on his song Jerry’s Breakdown.
Wow. It blows my mind when guitar players don't know of legendary players like Jerry Reed. I couldn't imagine living life as a guitar player without Knowing the names of those GIANTS whose shoulders we stand on today. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my incredible Dad brought me up on great music and gave a an appreciation for it. Enough that I want to learn about those guys who "wrote the books we read from" today. I couldn't be more grateful for my Dad instilling that appreciation of great music in me. When it comes down to it, that's why I play guitar today. Had he not done what he did, I surely wouldn't love music like I do and I wouldn't have bought my first guitar and taught myself to play.
LESSON 1: Jerry Reed is perfectly dressed any time, even if he's not wearing shoes. "That's just Jerry" is the universal answer to many questions. He was basically a movie character without the movie, playing and joking and laughing his way through life until someone decided, "You know, we ought to put that guy in a movie."
From the movie Smokey and the Bandit
Snowman and The Bandit drinking Coors in where ever they ended up.
Texarkana born and raised. Texas side of town is dry. He would have been at distributor on Arkansas side. The sheriff should have been Arkansas or Louisiana. They would never have been in Texas.
@@StLouisBear Hey!! Don't Tell Hollywood how things Actually work...Its Movie Magic...they don't care!! LoL!!
Not just from the movie, the lyrics are basically the entire plot of the movie!
Yeah it was from the early eighties but it was a 70s Bass movie running bootleg beer the first one was the best the second one was okay and the third one was horrible@@TheJestercraft
Yes, folks, at one time Country Music didn't suck.
The era of the Trucking songs. There were some great ones.
Country music now ain't nothing but hip hop country pop
Old time C&W and bluegrass was great. Even as a rock n roll kid,I appreciated it. Today's music,in general,sucks. I am 68 Y.O. BTW.
There's a great Elvis story concerning Jerry. Jerry wrote and released a song called "Guitar Man". Elvis heard it and liked it so much he decided to "cover" it. So he gets in the studio in Nashville and proceeds to record "Guitar Man". Big problem. None of the professional studio guitarists could figure out how to play it, Finally someone said "Find Jerry, get him in here". How do you find Jerry Reed? Chet Atkins would know, so they called Chet and he told them Jerry was down on the Cumberland River fishing. 'Get him"! So they got him, told him the problem, and got him into the studio. So Jerry played the guitar for Elvis. Then came the fun part. The way Colonel Parker had things arranged, whenever Elvis recorded someone else's song, that person had to sign away his rights to it. Jerry said "Hell No"! That's my song." Parker wouldn't budge until Elvis intervened and told him to let Jerry have his way. Only time anyone ever stood up to Parker and won.
The same thing happened with Dolly Parton, Elvis loved her song I will always love you And when they got to the studio colonel parker said the same thing to her and she said no as well and later when Whitney Houston covered that song she's Jokingly said I could have bought Graceland with the profits.
@@tj79jrfan Great stories. Don't mess with Ms. Parton
That's not exactly correct Dolly Parton had a song that Elvis Presley tried getting her to give him the rights to, she told him No!❤
@@tj79jrfanyes it's true!
Excellent job on that piece
"When You're Hot, You're Hot" One of his best songs
Great song!
Chet Atkins once said that Jerry Reed could be the best guitarist in the world, if he only took it seriously.
You don’t get that good without taking it seriously. Just because Reed had a comedic presentation on stage didn’t mean he wasn’t serious about his playing.
@@projoebiochem I'm not going to disagree with Chet Atkins, but if Jerry Reed had spent less time on non-musical endeavors, he might have been a better guitarist. And we'd have inferior movies.
@@mikerickson01 He was well into his music career before he started to make movies. He was a good songwriter, but his serious guitar playing didn’t pay the bills. He learned that he made more money with the comic banter on stage. In that he was a little like Roy Clark, but without the instrument versatility. I think Jerry’s Breakdown is one of his best guitar instrumentals and the autobiographical Guitar Man is his best combination of lyrics and musicianship. There are some videos of him on the old Porter Wagoner show that show him playing a great guitar medley.
@projoebiochem Jerry was about paying the bills.
And Reed was a better guitarist than Atkins, according to Atkins.
I was raised on trucker music because of my dad who we lost last February was a trucker and drove 3.8 million miles no accident. This was one of his favorite song along with C.W. McCall "Convoy". It was in the Movie "Smokey and The Bandit", also my dads favorite movie !!!!
"She Got the Goldmine I Got the Shaft" is another good one.
The duet with Dolly Parton is pretty good too.
The man with the golden thumb is another good one.
"When you're hot, you're hot" one of my favorites by Jerry Reed
Many good songs he did, but I would consider this person should check out "The Bird" or "Amos Moses" probably before "She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft" as those cover the comedy and range a bit more IIRC
Jerry Reed always considered himself more of a guitar thinker rather than a guitar player. He was very innovative on guitar, doing things with the instrument that hadn't been done before... much like Lenny Breau. He also didn't think very highly of his own song writing or singing voice, calling himself the original 'junk throat". He constantly sold himself short. He was far more innovative and brilliant on the guitar than he gave himself credit for. I believe his genuine humility made him even more endearing to his fans. He was a great talent. There's no question about that.
Well said!
It was said that Jerry Reed was self taught and never had a formal lesson in his life much like Jimmy Hendrix
When a guitar wizard like Tommy Emmanuel calls Jerry Reed one of the great guitarists and perhaps the most underrated guitar player, that speaks volumes.
My favorite Jerry Reed song is Amos Moses
Most definitely Amos Moses is the best Jerry Reed song if I was forced to pick one
Absolutely!
Mine, too!!! Love that song.
*HELL YEAH!!! AMOS MOSES!!!*
AMOS MOSES - SO FUNNY. Be sure to watch a LYRIC video.
In 1978 a year after this song came out, our little town in eastern Kentucky had a thing called the "Sorghum Festival" of which Jerry Reed was the grand marshal of the parade and done a concert also. As he was parading down the street I was standing towards the end of the parade about three feet from the street wearing a floppy hat exactly like the one Jerry Reed used to wear. As he passed by me he pointed right at me smiling and then pointed at his head and my head recognizing the hat and gave me like a thumbs up. That was 46 years ago but I will NEVER forget it. For a man of his stature to point me out and recognize me in a crowd was very special, at least to me it was.
By the way the concert was awesome also. I was standing about five feet from the stage and again he recognized my hat, an AWESOME day. I heard stories that since Jerry was coming to eastern Kentucky he wanted to sample some of our "Kentucky Kool-Aid" (Moonshine) which he did and they said after partaking of the "Kool-Aid" he barely knew what planet he was on, I guess it had a little more of a kick than he was used to. For Jerry Reed to come to our little out of the way town was a big deal, but it also helped that his drummer was from our little town, that might have had something or probably everything to do with it.
Great story. He always seemed to me like such a great guy.
Jerry Reed was as down to earth as they come. He frequently came to the local waterways near me..floating, picking, and drinking. He was well known to buy beer and share it with anyone around, and invite them to join him on his houseboat.
One of the friendliest guys ever, and hearts broke when he passed away.
"I know this song". Of course you do. Everybody knows it. The ultimate driving song. 10-4 good buddy.
I’m convinced without this song The Bandit wouldn’t have been that good a movie.
Well, that and a couple other things. Jackie Gleason really killed it in that movie!
Jerry was the actual star of that movie😂
Totally!
Fred was the most important out of anything in the movies.
@@kennethloki7011"That's good with Fred."
I met Jerry Reed and his daughter in baumholder west Germany in 1980 at the USO i was there helping thing get organized and cleaned up his daughter is so beautiful the theater was packed I got to sit in the balcony with VIPs his daughter was right next to me the smell of her perfume now that's a women smell I was 18 at the time they turned Europe after smoky and the bandit came out loved it.😂😂🎉🎉
Wow, what a time!
This is a fun song, but doesn't scratch the surface of how well he can play.
Like Amos Moses
The Claw.
Jerry's Breakdown
Jerry Reed always loved him he’s amazing and one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies..Love Jerry Reed❤❤❤❤
Jerry reed is one of the most underrated guitar players. Everyone forgets how great he was as a guitarist.
Yes, I was going to comment on this. Jerry didn't think of himself as great as he was. I love some of the songs he did with Chet Atkins, one of the best is Jerry's Breakdown. The thing was he could keep up with all the other greats.
I can’t believe we live in a world that someone has not heard this song nor know what it’s from. I’m glad that you listen to it and I’m sure by now you know where it’s from and you’ve probably watched the movie. This was only the number two movie in 1977 second only the Star Wars.
Remember this was from the mid 1970s and a lot of country music wasn't listened to by a large part of the population. (In their minds country music was Hee Haw, which a lot of urban types wouldn't be caught dead watching back then. By the mid to late 70s it was crossover country that had appeal outside of the traditional country radio listeners.) Yes, it's connected to Smokey and the Bandit, but that movie doesn't seem to resonate with later audiences as much as it did in the mid 70s.
"You can bu||sh¡+ a bu||sh¡++er but you can't snow the Snowman" -The Snowman Jerry Reed
😁
My favorite was, "Fred, you're looking thin in the skin." 😂 I use it stupid often.
You can not hear this song and sit still. Love this song.
This is from the movie “Smokey and The Bandit. Jerry played the role of Cletus, friend and co-lawbreaker to Burt Reynolds (Smokey).Jerry was a fantastic guitarist and a very good actor and an all around funny guy!
Burt Reynolds was The Bandit.
Smokey was a slang for state trooper because most state troopers wore a hat similar to the park ranger hat worn by Smokey the Bear.
@@edwardlongshanks827Jerry was Snowman ❤
Dont forget Fred.
The director of the film asked Jerry on set if he thought he could maybe write a song for the movie as a sort of theme. Jerry asked if he could see the whole script to see how the story went, and the director complied. After shooting the day's scenes, Jerry went back to his hotel. He came back the next morning with this song to show the director.
Smokey is any traffic cop.
Mostly state troopers had those hats but many sheriffs did too at the time.
Jerry Reed wrote the song guitar man that Elvis recorded. In 67 Elvis decided he wanted to record it. He had several players in the cession, but could not get it to sound like he wanted it, so they tried to get Jerry to come in and play. He was out fishing, and finally they found him, and he came in wearing his fishing clothes, every one else was dressed up. He started playing , Jerry and Elvis kind liked each other right off. When they got done with that song and one or two more of Jerry's songs. He started to leave. Elvis' manager told Jerry to sign over half of the publishing rites, which was what he did with everyone, Jerry refused, and sai you can tell Elvis he won't be able to release it if you want to, and left. Needless to say Jerry kept his publishing, and was the only one to get over on Tom Parker.
Elvis told Parker to let it go. He really wanted to record Guitar Man. Jerry was paid as a player plus his songwriting and publishing credit.
Jerry Reed was a charismatic performer who had a great sense of humor. Popular songs Amos Moses, She got the mine I got the shaft . He was fun to watch
I took my mother to see Jerry Reed perform at a small town music festival for her birthday back in.... 1996? i think? 97? he was doing a meet and greet/autograph signing afterwards and he spent solid 10mins flirting with her when it was our turn. never even looked at me or the rest of our group while he was signing our stuff. She was giggly about that for weeks.
You absolutely must see the amazing duet between Jerry and Chet Atkins, with the song "Jerry's Breakdown." The man was a fabulous guitar player.
Smokey and The Bandit
Jackie Gleason as Smokey
Burt Reynolds as The Bandit along with his 1978 Pontiac Trans Am
Jerry as the Snowman?
Jerry Reed multi talented. Guitar player, singer, songwriter, comedian and actor.
Jerry reed was true country. Played the guitar just like my grandpa
Jerry was one of the best guitar players ever. He was incredibly talented and was also a great singer songwriter and actor as well.
I think my favorite part of Jerry Reeds music is his sense of humor. You should check out “she got the goldmine” to see that side of him.
he got the shaft
@@daviddigital6887 Wait... that wasn't Darrell Waltrip that coined that?
Jerry was also a famous studio guitar musician, a contemporary of Glenn Campbell & Roy Clark, but in Nashville, TN. He also got into acting and was cast for the Smokey & The Bandit movie and asked to write some songs for the movie which is this song.
It's a TRUCKER song about men who drive BIG trucks from the movie smokey and the bandit with Burt Reynolds.
I live in Phenix City,AL just 2 hours south west of Atlanta,GA this song was in the movie Smokey and the Bandit it was made around Atlanta area very funny movie Jerry Reed in this movie at Snowman the truck driver if you never seen the movie need to watch it the movie came out I believe in 1977 I'm now 53 and I'm a over the road truck driver I can relate to this song more now the Smokey and the Bandit 2 came out in 1980 very good East bound and Down means your going east on a highway and down part means going fast have foot down on the gas
Interesting tidbit about Jerry Reed. He came up with the guitar lick that Glen Campbell used in his version of Southern Nights, which was Glen's first number one single. If you search on Jerry Reed and Glen Campbell, there's an old clip of Southern Nights that they perform together and Glen gives Jerry credit for the lick.
One of my top 5 favorite songs ever.
In the US in the late 70s/early 80s, country music had a huge moment and many of the songs crossed over to the popular music charts - Pop Goes the Country was a TV variety show around that theme. Love Jerry Reed!
I served in the US Navy 81-85. My ship was ordered to Beruit Lebanon in 1983. We were there 9.5 months. When we finally were ordered home to Long Beach California, my Captain ordered that we play "West Bound and Down" on the PA as we turned West and headed home!!❤😢
Wow that was a long haul 😳. As an army veteran and Navy wife ..I bet that was an awesome feeling hearing that play. 🫡💙‼️
That it was, but being on a Battleship,, we made short work of it. Flank speed!!!!
@@RLBadKarma 🤣🫡‼️ right on BZ
Thank you for your service ❤
I was there in '83 on DDG-17 Conyngham. 12 of us were transferring or getting out so we were in town for most of a day. We were there hanging out with the marines a week before they were bombed and killed. Was hard to think about for a long time.
Smoky and the bandit he did the whole soundtrack by the way I was his bass player for 10 years. Love your video. It made me happy.
Singer songwriter…Jim Stafford. Spiders and Snakes, My Girl Bill and Wildwood Weed.
He can play a mean guitar too...
He did a "Dixie" / "Yankee Doodle" mashup that was great.
@@LynnStAubin-od5qe Based on the statement at the end I was thinking of Stafford too.
Wild wood weed is hilarious
East bound and down was the theme song to a great southern movie called Smokey and the Bandit. Jerry reed was an amazing guitarist and singer. And a great actor. Check out his song Amos Moses
Never heard of Jerry Reed…man….that just breaks my heart…I weep for the newer generations !!!! Now listen to more Jerry….it will enrich your life !!!!!🔥🎸🎶🔥😆
Good ol' boys at heart, both Elvis and Jerry knew deep down something that the Colonel could never understand.
...art is personal, music ESPECIALLY!
God bless 'em, the Colonel too 🙏🏽
Y'all R.I.P. 🎸🎸🎸
The "down" in eastbound and down means that he has the accelerator pedal down to the floor.
Hammer down!
Yes but he was eastbound. Hauling a load from Texas to Hotlanta, GA. Pedal to the metal.
These guys are right about the term east bound and down. I don't know about your country but in the USA when I grew up in the 70's and 80's we had what we called CB radio. CB stood for citizen band radio and we used lingo to tell others what we are doing or what is going on around us. For if we saw the police and wanted to tell others the police location. We would say "I saw smokey or smokey bear at McDonalds at whatever location they were at"
@@dotmurphy7279 Texarkana Arkansas, the Texas side of town was and is dry.
@dwaynehall6356 yes we had that in our county when I was a kid in the 50s. My Daddy voted to take the county wet in order to put the bootleggers out of business and to allow the county to get the tax revenue for alcohol that people were buying anyway. He said the police would also keep a closer eye on kids drinking under age. Then there's the story of the county just north of us who stayed dry. The preacher who was campaigning to keep it dry didn't know the guy who was helping him was the local bootlegger.
If there is one guy I would have loved to live to 200, that would have been Jerry Reed! He's country, and he's not quite country, and he's always got so much happiness going in his recordings. My favorite early/late country album would be Jerry Reed's 'Red Hot Picker'. He was also a very good actor, so he did his stuff for the classic Smokey and the Bandit movies!
If you wanna hear the other side of Jerry Reed, check out his song "This Thing Called Love". Beautiful.
Yesm. Also "Today is Mine".
Although not from this era…2 of Country’s greatest guitarist & must see footage:
Keith Urban - Shelby County Jail - live
Vince Gill - Oklahoma Boarder Line - live
I didn't know this truck would do 97! ❤
Jerry Reed grew up on the southside of Atlanta Ga. One of my favorite songs was, She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)
Song.
If you want to see some really intricate stringed instrument playing, look into Bluegrass music. There's a video out there of a live performance by Ricky Scaggs and his band, and nearly every member of the band does a solo. Guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin and banjo if I recall correctly.
In the southern Appalachian mountains, prior to 1980, there wasn't much to do for fun except compete with your friends to see who could pick banjo the fastest 😁.
Earl Scruggs and Friends.
ruclips.net/video/yQIJuu3N5EY/видео.htmlsi=p3ImHEt6rklMq7at
Too many talented artists to count. This is a remake of the original that Earl Scruggs had done in 1949.
I was 18 in 1973 and the lead singer/Rythym guitar in a honky tonk band in Ft. Worth Texas for 20 years. So yes this was on my set list! enjoy you're channel.
Man I loved that Movie and this Song is one of my top favourites. It used to be my ringtone for a your
I went to a Jerry Reed concert many years ago and it was a fantastic show!! He didn't just play music, he and his band put on a show with all kind of humor embedded in it, that blew my mind,. Hey, get this, I'm a gigantic rock fan and it was awesome... Had everyone on their feet during the performance! Smokey and the Bandit made that song famous and that was their fanale.
I think I’ve seen Smokey and the bandit about 10 times. Haven’t seen it in years. It was cheesy, but it was also hilarious and just a good old time. It wasn’t meant to be an Academy award winner. And that’s what was so great about it.
One of the greatest singer song writers especially in the country genre is Dolly Parton. She writes, sings, and plays guitar with really long nails perfectly! 😂 All her songs are good ( a deep rabbit hole to go down) but a good one to start with is Coat of Many Colors. Jerry Reed is a treasure everything he does makes me smile. Enjoyed your video!🎉
Good idea!
Another great songwriter, Kris Kristofferson who, like Jerry Reed, spent a lot of time as an actor rather than doing their music. This is what I consider his best song .... ruclips.net/video/HCgnbRWVvU8/видео.html Kris recently went to meet his maker. He was a real interesting person and I can't possibly do his biography justice here, so, please look him up. And, then react to the song I've linked.
Jerry Reed was a prodigy discovered by Chet Atkins. Notice in this song he switched from a pick back to his fingers at the end of the song, because that was Jerry's forte. If you study his music, you find that he had a style all his own. Jerry Reed music includes country, folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, and there's even some hints of rock 'n roll through his library of works. If you care to see Jerry and Chet together, look up "Jerry's Breakdown." It's an instrumental that will certainly showcase Jerry at his complex best! Oh... he also had his own TV show for a spell in the early '70s.
That last riff he used in his solo; Iron Maiden used. Mind blown.
Wow, I love Jerry and Iron maiden and hadn't heard that before! I'll have to check it out! Thx!
this is my favorite song of his. love the movie too.
Try the Raging Cajun who also ran with these guys - Doug Kershaw. He could play a Fiddle very unorthodox but was a master.
From the movie Smokey and the bandit .. great song,
East bound and down, CB chat , down is off the air basically. Great video, just found your channel 🤘
Jerry Reed was easily one of the most underrated country stars of his time. Make no mistake, he was definitely well-recognized; but he deserved so much more than what he received. RIP Snowman.
It was one of several songs that were written by and performed by The late great Jerry Reed for the film titled "Smokey and the Bandit".
TOM T HALL is the song writer you need to check out
Singin’ in the kitchen!
Jerry Reed was a singer songwriter from the "golden age" of country, and quite possibly one of the greatest guitar players of all time, certainly of the 20th century. Definitely one of the fastest pickers. Eastbound and Down was from the 1977 Burt Reynolds classic Smokey and the Bandit (which btw, where I'm from down south is considered more of a documentary than a fiction film, lol). Jerry also starred in the movie with Burt (they were close friends), showing his versatility also as an actor. The story with this song is that Hal Needham, who directed the film, went to Jerry one day during filming and said he needed a "travel song" for the film and could Jerry put something together before they went to editing in a few months. Jerry went back to his trailer that night, and came back the next morning with this song, completely fleshed out and ready to record. He was a down to earth, good ol' country boy who was known for being rather unfazed by his enormous talent. He once said in an interview when asked about how he deals with being such a huge talent, "I just play guitar, and people like it. That's good enough for me."
“ When you’re hot, you’re Hot “ is a pretty funky little tune.
I loved watching you sit there with a guitar like you were going to follow along. Ha ha!
Yeah in my dreams!
It’s a trucker song it was written for the movie smoking the bandit. He was a country guy famous for his guitar work and picking Fast and he also starred in the movie. He was an actor as well. It’s a song about driving a truck and the theme of the movie, eastbound was a direct and he headed down your pedal was pushed down to the floor driving as fast as you could et cetera et cetera. Smoky bandit, it was worth it. lol
I was lucky enough to see Jerry Reed live in Taylorville, Illinois in the late 1970s. He was an absolutely fun performer and truly liked the fans. He actually stopped mid song to let me take his photo.
Hello from North Carolina USA!🇺🇸 The song was in the Smokey and the Bandit movie where Jerry Reed plays the 18 wheeler driver.
Smokey and the Bandit is the movie that made this song
Smokey and the Bandit is the film it came from. Burt Reynolds starring with Sally Field. Also had Jackie Gleason as the hapless Sheriff.
Jerry Reed was in several movies with Burt Reynolds one of them being Smokey and the bandit where the song eastbound and down comes from in addition to others he did for the movie
Amos Moses is my favorite Jerry Reed song. Another one of those country singer songwriter guitar players that people seem to forget is Eddie Rabbitt. He wrote Kentucky Rain for Elvis and he had a number of big hits like Driving My Life Away.
One of the greatest movie songs of all time from one of the greatest movies of all time. Smoky and the Bandit.
Excellent - go glad that you found Jerry !! Time to watch Smokey and the Bandit- fun times
Song was in the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit”. Jerry Reed was Cledus (the semi truck driver).
Jerry was selling records by the boat load and playing on nearly every TV show that could book him after "Smokey and the Bandit" released. Some really good sessions were when he played with Chet Atkins. Both were exceptional musicians and were great friends.
Your question regarding the "...Eastbound and Down" lyric refers to the line in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movie. Jerry was "east-bound" and the throttle on that old Kenworth was planted firmly "Down" on the floor as he and Burt Reynolds headed for Atlanta, Georgia. Jerry Reed & Burt Reynolds were trying to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours. If memory serves me, the law in the late 1970s said that Coors Beer couldn't be sold east of the Mississippi River.
Burt picked up Sally Fields along the way after she ditched her own wedding and was hitch hiking eastward. She added some great personality to the story.
Check out "Smokey and the Bandit." It's a couple of hours well spent!
Back in 1979, we were the first to get cable in our neighborhood, Smokey and the bandit was playing on Showtime. I loved it and watched it every single time they played it. I knew every single word. One night my older brother came in with a couple friends……..I sat in my mom’s chair not really watching but reciting every word of the movie. One of those guys watched me, and we ended up marrying the next year. That movie holds a special place for us.
Fine guitar lick channel from Europe. He's trying mightily to resurrect talented passed folk. Thank you and best wishes.
Thanks for the kind words!
Like it was said below it was the theme song from the movie "Smokey and the Bandit". (Very funny movie) Jerry Reed play a character call "The Snowman " and "The Bandit" was played by Burt Renyolds and "Frog" was played by Sally Fields. There were 3 or four movies in the series. Dom Dealwise was in the fourth one. The outtakes from the fourth one with Dom and an elephant they were trying to smuggle was hilarious. I play this song a lot at my gigs. I have a lot of seniors that remember it.
Smokey and the Bandit. I had one of those 79 Ttrans AM cars. Him and Burt Reynolds rocked that movie.
The song is from Smokey and the Bandit. But the title: "East Bound and Down" refers to the objective of the movie. They were illegally transporting a semi-truck full of Coors beer from Colorado to Florida. The route was east bound frim Colorado and down towards Florida. Look at a map of the US, and that will make sense. In those days, Coors beer could not be sold East of the Mississippi River.
Actually Smokey picked up the Coors beer,that was not illegal,but not sold east of the Mississippi River due to its cold brew process necessitated refrigerated transport that was not financially feasible past the river. Smokey (Jerry Reed) also picked up the load in Texarkana, like the song says, and headed east to Atlanta, like the song says. The illegal part was speeding down the road.
Eastbound and down means drive east & drive FAST!
Amos Moses is my favorite Jerry Reed tune. He also did the them to Bill Dance fishing show.
His daughter worked at the marina where I keep my boat in Nashville and he loved to fish so he was there often. He talk and acted no dii it different that he did when performing and was a nice guy.
Smoky and the Bandit. East Bound and Down was my destroyers UNREP song in 1979. We were supposed to spend Christmas in Athens but got orders to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal. Then we were ordered to Kenya. Next to Pakistan and finally the Persian Gulf. Song has a lot of memories attached to it.
he was on a coors beer run. years ago, coors had to stay on the west side pf the mississippi river. east bound was taking coors to atlanta
Singer, song writer, actor, RIP Jerry you are truly missed.
Smokey and the Bandit... Iconic song from an Iconic movie!
Tommy Johansson from Sweden is my very favorite musician in the world. He plays nearly every instrument there is. 😊❤
I’m not a country music fan but the soundtrack from Smokey and the Bandit is freaking iconic. I was just a wee lad when it came out and it fit the film absolutely perfect. Jerry was an incredible guitar player and who’ve is on the steel in the background is killing it!!!!
Greetings from Texas. Just came across your channel and felt an immediate kinship as my 101 year old grandmother is from Ebensee, Austria. If you you’re wanting singer/songwriters from the 70s, check out Jerry Jeff Walker. His biggest hit was probably Mr. Bojangles.
Glen Campbell, Roy Clark, Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins. 4 absolute greats. Chet even played on some Elvis stuff back in the 50's.
I hated watching Hee Haw at my grandparents house as a little kid. I worked at Harrahs South Lake Tahoe, and could watch the performers in the showroom from the kitchen. I got to see Roy Clark a few times. He was incredible
I love this song, especially being a truck driver, and the movie it’s from.
Another trucking song I love is Johnny Cash’s Monteagle Mountain. This song means a lot to me as Monteagle is the first mountain I went down as a rookie driver. It’s a great song and you should check it out.
Pop Goes the Country was one of the best TV shows in the country in the 70s and featured every star of the era in live performances. It was hosted by Ralph Emery.
Eastbound and Down... From the movie Smokey and the Bandit.. They are driving East to get the Coors Beer back to Georgia in a certain amount of time.. Funny story.. my BF was a Nascar driver back in the 90's.. and I went down to Florida to watch her qualify.. we went to a restaurant later for supper and this song came on.. we started singing it... in harmony.. not even knowing that we both knew the song.. we had only become friends maybe 6 months before.. still friends 25 plus years later and this is our song.
This song is from the movie, ‘Smokie and the Bandit’, one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen!! I think it came out in 1976 or 1977. I saw it at the movie theatre when it came out.
One of my favorites, obviously!
There’s also a Westbound And Down in the same movie.
Jerry wrote so many wonderful instrumental songs for guitar. Some are incredibly difficult to play. Chet Atkins recorded about 20 of them. They still have a Jerry Reed festival every year in Nashville. It’s always headlined by Richard Smith, Tommy Emmanuel and Brent Mason. I suggest a video on his song Jerry’s Breakdown.
Wow. It blows my mind when guitar players don't know of legendary players like Jerry Reed. I couldn't imagine living life as a guitar player without Knowing the names of those GIANTS whose shoulders we stand on today.
I guess I should consider myself lucky that my incredible Dad brought me up on great music and gave a an appreciation for it. Enough that I want to learn about those guys who "wrote the books we read from" today. I couldn't be more grateful for my Dad instilling that appreciation of great music in me.
When it comes down to it, that's why I play guitar today. Had he not done what he did, I surely wouldn't love music like I do and I wouldn't have bought my first guitar and taught myself to play.
LESSON 1: Jerry Reed is perfectly dressed any time, even if he's not wearing shoes. "That's just Jerry" is the universal answer to many questions. He was basically a movie character without the movie, playing and joking and laughing his way through life until someone decided, "You know, we ought to put that guy in a movie."