Requiem For A Giant

Today is a sad day. Or rather yesterday was a sad day, because yesterday was the day that one of the true greats of Country Music passed away.

Jerry Reed, otherwise known as 'the Claw' for his distinctive fingerpickin' technique, died in his home after a short battle with emphysema. He was 71.

I first knew of Jerry Reed, as most people did, through his movies. Although he had already carved himselve a lucrative career as a country guitarist par-excellence, it was his association with Burt Reynolds during the filming of "WW and the Dixie Dancekings' that would lead to Jerry's best-known and most loved role: that of Cletus Snow in the seminal trucking saga "Smokey and the Bandit". Jerry also sang ever' damn song on the soundtrack, too.

Jerry's work was often eclectic and always electric. Songs like "Lord, Mr Ford" and "Amos Moses", with their driving guitar licks and non-stop vocals (performed by Jerry simultaneously) were little more than a wonder to behold.

Jerry stopped touring as he got older. He released what he felt would be his last album in 1996, pairing up with legends Bobby Bare, Waylon Jennings and Mel Tillis to produce 'Old Dogs', a fine album in any context.

However, he couldn't stop there. Although arthritis had limited his ability to play, in 2006 he released "Jerry Reed: Still (a)Live", from which all proceeds went to children's charities. He followed this up in 2007 with a new studio album, with all proceeds going to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Appeal (an American version of our own Legacy).

For me, Jerry Reed was simply one of the finest guitarists in the world. I remember several late-night, drunken conversations about who was the greatest, be it Clapton, Gary Moore, Martin Barre, Billy Gibbons, Hendrix and the like; but my money was on Reed every time. As I think Steve Earle once put it in his liner notes, "You think you're a guitar player, but then you stand next to Jerry Reed and find that son, you ain't nothing but a guitar holder."

Keep them wheels truckin', son, and don't let them county-mounties get y'all. Ten-four!