what Frank is listening to #217 – JERRY REED – Mind Your Love – (RCA) – 1975
I love Jerry Reed …
His music is always fun and mischievous and indeed his public persona was inexorably entwined with his music…..
Whether he hit on a sound and a persona that worked with the music buying public or whether he was like this I don't know but if you are looking for country music that is sullen, brooding, fatalistic or otherwise dark then stay away from Jerry. In some ways he is the polar opposite of the later Johnny Cash but the embodiment of 60s era Johnny Cash in his "Everybody Loves a Nut" period.
Simply put this is up-tempo good time country music.
That's not to say he isn't reflective or contemplative but he rarely dwells on the dark. His world is one populated by working stiffs who live for the Saturday night. Good natured good old boys, not looking for a fight. And when they find themselves in times of doubt they will pick themselves up and continue on.
wikipedia
Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included "Guitar Man," "A Thing Called Love," "Alabama Wild Man," "Amos Moses", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance), "Ko-Ko Joe", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "East Bound and Down" (the theme song for the 1977 blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit, in which Reed co-starred), "The Bird," and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)".
Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included "Guitar Man," "A Thing Called Love," "Alabama Wild Man," "Amos Moses", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance), "Ko-Ko Joe", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "East Bound and Down" (the theme song for the 1977 blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit, in which Reed co-starred), "The Bird," and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)".
Reeds career can be traced back to the late 50s and some rockabilly type numbers. Song writing dominated his world in the early 60s before he released some singles under his own name culminating in his first LP in 1967. The single and the song which became his tag, "Guitar Man", did well. So well that it was heard by Elvis who was looking for some material to record outside his soundtracks. Clearly Elvis had that first album – as he covered 2 songs from it and gave Reed exposure to the pop market (a #43 for "Guitar Man" and a #28 for the other track "US Male"). See below trivia for more detail on the link between Jerry and Elvis.
After that Reed always had an audience. This LP is something like his 26th album ….. the first being some 9 years earlier !
You know music is a job, not always a calling.
Reed's peak period is 1967 – 1977 and his music fit in with the cinema ("Smokey and the Bandit", "Gator"), television ("Dukes of Hazzard") and charting country ("outlaw country") of the time.
And in that time he appeared in films (quite a few with Burt Reynolds naturally enough), television (he even had a TV show "Concrete Cowboys"), and had quite a bit of chart success (3 country #1s and 2 top 10 pop hits)
The music may have become dated but for anyone who was a kid in the 70s it can be vividly evocative …even if you haven't driven down the dusty Alabama, Tennessee back roads Reed so often sings about.
This album is not highly regarded but I can honestly say that though Reed's albums are variable they are always listenable. At the end of the day its his voice, general good natured attitude and amazing guitar playing that carry the album, and all his albums. Jerry's guitar style he liked to call "the claw" (after a song) was influential and impressive (hey it's impressive to me) and really follows up on the guitar work of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis…and his preference was the nylon string / gut string guitar. (The album is produced by Jerry and Chet Atkins).
In the 80's, Jerry was recognized like a guitar maestro like Django Reinhart, Charlie Christian, Merle Travis or Chet Atkins. His playing has the complexity of classical music but the rhythm sense that comes from Country, Rock and Gospel said Thomas Goldsmith. His LP "The Man With The Golden Thumb" (RCA 4315) carries the perfect title. However, Jerry used to tell about himself: What you hear is just me, just what comes into my head. I play harder just naturally because I'm high strung and tense and I guess that's why my picking sound kinda "funky". I'm really a rhythm guitar player more than anything else, I'm not a hot lead guitar player. Of course, I know the neck of a guitar. After all those years, who wouldn't?
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JerryReed.html
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JerryReed.html
"If (Merle) Travis' thumb and index finger picking style was first generation, and Chet Atkins' use of thumb, index and middle finger was second, Reed's use of his entire right hand to pick (the famous 'claw' style) was the wild, untamed and dauntingly complex third generation," wrote historian and journalist Rich Kienzle.
One thing that often gets overlooked is Reeds song writing (credited to his birth name Jerry R Hubbard). At his best his songs are keen observations of people and their foibles and are quite witty at the same time.
Reed's albums may be indistinguishable from each other but each LP is easy on the ears, and a pleasure ….the big question of course then becomes do you need the 50 or so albums he put out?
I say …why not …
Tracks (best in italics)
- Mind Your Love -Hubbard- later covered by the Captain & Tennille (1976).
Sweet love is so fine
and when you find it
brother you better mind it
like it was pure gold
and when you find it
brother you better mind it
like it was pure gold
you better be there when
this girl needs-a-carin'
cause if you don't mind your love
someday that love will grow cold
this girl needs-a-carin'
cause if you don't mind your love
someday that love will grow cold
- City of New Orleans – Goodman – an evocative folk song done by everyone- John Denver, Arlo Guthrie, Johnny Cash – and here it is, not surprisingly, quite evocative. Not as lonesome as some of the other versions but Reed's guitar picking is sublime ….
- Let's Sing Our Song -Hubbard- with the fiddles and whatnot there is a feel of Doug Kershaw and the Louisiana swamp here and accordingly it is quite infectious.
- The Telephone -Owen- a song in the style of Jerry's hit "Amos Moses" with spoken and sung lyrics and lot of regional accent making it entertaining …
- A Friend -Hubbard- theme song from the film "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings" …. with lyrics to match the films theme. Pleasant enough and even toe tappable.
- Lightning Rod – Hubbard- oooohhh ….. a instrumental which is a tour de force for Reed ….there's more than a few things going on here ….
- Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Croce- the great Jim Croce song …. Jim does it best.
- Grab Bag – Hubbard- another instrumental – this one again, incorporates a number of influences …and is impressive though not as good as the earlier to my ears.
- When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again -Sullivan, Walker – covered by everyone including Elvis in 1956. A straight country version …filler to be sure but a good song regardless.
- Struttin' -Hubbard- another instrumental evoking the title quite accurately – albeit country style.
And…
I'm keeping this …it's perfect with a Stones green ginger wine and Indian tonic water ….. trust me on that one.
Chart Action
US
Singles
1975 Let's Sing Our Song Country Singles #18
1975 Mind Your Love Country Singles #64
1975 The Telephone Country Singles #65
Album
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Singles
1975 Let's Sing Our Song Country Singles #18
1975 Mind Your Love Country Singles #64
1975 The Telephone Country Singles #65
Album
––
England
Singles
Album
nothing
Singles
Album
nothing
Sounds
Mind Your Love
City of New Orleans
live
Arlo Guthrie
Let's Sing Our Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doI4yGKLPYM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doI4yGKLPYM&feature=related
and attached
The Telephone
A Friend
Lightning Rod
live
and attached
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
Grab Bag
When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again
Struttin'
Others
Jerry and Glen
Elvis "Guitar Man"
Jerry's loose Elvis tribute
Review
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Bio
guitar
Website
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Trivia
- wikipedia: Elvis and Jerry Reed: In July 1967, Reed had his best showing so far on the country charts (#53) with his self-penned "Guitar Man," which Elvis Presley soon covered. Reed's next single was "Tupelo Mississippi Flash," a comic tribute to Presley. Recorded on September 1st, the song became his first Top 20 hit, going to #15 on the chart. In a remarkable twist of fate, Elvis came to Nashville to record nine days later on September 10, 1967, and one of the songs he became especially excited about was "Guitar Man."…Reed recalled how he was tracked down to play on the Elvis session: "I was out on the Cumberland River fishing, and I got a call from Felton Jarvis (then Presley's producer). He said, 'Elvis is down here. We've been trying to cut 'Guitar Man' all day long. He wants it to sound like it sounded on your album.' I finally told him, 'Well, if you want it to sound like that, you're going have to get me in there to play guitar, because these guys (you're using in the studio) are straight pickers. I pick with my fingers and tune that guitar up all weird kind of ways.'"…Jarvis hired Reed to play on the session. "I hit that intro, and [Elvis'] face lit up and here we went. Then after he got through that, he cut [my] "U.S. Male" at the same session. I was toppin' cotton, son." Reed also played the guitar for Elvis Presley's "Big Boss Man" (1967), recorded in the same session……Bass singer Ray Walker of The Jordanaires remembered that memorable session more vividly, remarking that Reed flubbed the intro to "Guitar Man" repeatedly as a result of being extremely nervous. Walker also remembered the guitarist telling Presley, "God, you're handsome!"…On January 15 and 16th, 1968, Reed worked on a second Presley session, during which he played guitar on a cover of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business", "Stay Away" and "Goin' Home" (two songs revolving around Elvis' film Stay Away, Joe),as well as another Reed composition, "U.S. Male" (Reed's quoted recollection of "U.S. Male" being recorded at the same session as "Guitar Man" being incorrect)…Elvis also recorded two other Reed compositions: "A Thing Called Love" in May 1971 and "Talk About The Good Times" in December 1973 for a total of four.
- In 1998, Primus covered the Reed song "Amos Moses" on the EP Rhinoplasty.
Other Comments
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Picture
Jerry in the early 70s.
(originally posted: 10/07/2011)
