Country music legend, singer, guitar player, and actor Jerry Reed died today, at 71.
I think we all know this one, whether you're a redneck or not:
I s'pose most folks not fans of fingerstyle guitar remember him for being Cletus the "snowman" in "Smokey and the Bandit".
What most folks DON'T know, is that he was a singer, guitar player, producer, and a songwriter in Nashville for 'round 45 years; writing with and for Johnny Cash, Elvis, Glen Campbell, Chet Atkins and many others.
He was also one of the best fingerpickers out there. You can see in this (and many other) videos, that he had no problem holding his own with his good friend Chet Atkins (who actually considered Jerry the better fingerstyle player):
Amazingly, Jerry didn't have a very high opinion of his own musicianship, thinking of himself more as a songwriter.... and yet he could do this:
Reed always had a great sense of fun, with songs like "Amos Moses":
and "She got the gold mine, I got the shaft":
Rest in peace guitarman.
