Some people think I’m joking when I say that Jerry Reed was one of my heroes. It’s no joke. Ever since I was a kid, watching Smokey and the Bandit on Saturday afternoon reruns, I absolutely loved the man. That Southern drawl, that husky laugh. And no one ever owned driving a semi-truck in a movie like the Snowman. In fact, in the past few days, PC and I joked about organizing a Smokey and the Bandit road trip that followed the same path Bandit and Snowman and his old hound Fred followed in the film.
Reed was a fantastic guitar player. And he was cool. Sure, Bandit was cool, with his Trans Am, but I always admired trusty Snowman. No matter what, you could depend on him. And he was an all-around original. Jerry Reed passed away yesterday at age 71, and country music got a lot less cooler.
Download these two (especially Eastbound and Down) and blast it for my man. Somewhere he’s drinking one of those beers he and Bandit stole.
Eastbound and Down – Jerry Reed
Westbound and Down – Jerry Reed
She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft – Jerry Reed
