Tuesday, September 02, 2008
R.I.P. Jerry Reed
[LINK] Jerry Reed has died of emphysema* at the age of 71. You might be thinking of him mostly as a hillbilly singer and goofy actor (Smokey and the Bandit, etc.), but he sure could play the heck out of the guitar. The clip above is with guitar legend Chet Atkins. They recorded 2 or 3 projects together, and it is amazing stuff.
I did have City of New Orleans posted here (watch that one at the link) but switched it out for this even better one of Lightning Rod:
My favorite guitar player, Eric Johnson, counts Jerry Reed as one of his biggest inspirations. He wrote a song called "A Tribute to Jerry Reed," and I would recommend going to this NPR page, there you can listen to his interview, just the music clips, or watch video including that song, on the lower left sidebar.
*emphysema is something that I have had to deal with, it got my mother, and one of my uncles, my dad was already getting it at 44 but it was his heart that got him, and another uncle has been suffering from it for years. Give up the cigs if you can. Even if you dodge cancer, emphysema can still get you and probably will. It also kills you but it can take years, really hard years.
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4 comments:
He could play the hell out of the guitar.
Yep, it's a horrible disease. My dad and grandmother both died from it.
Jerry could pick with the best of them.
Impressive pickin.' Are you sitting out the RNC?
As a smoker with heart problems I'm not going to comment on the cause of death. 71's not that far off for me.
You can hear the Jerry Reed influence in some of Eric Johnson's playing. He's a true student of music and that's one reason I respect him so much, aside from his amazing playing.
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