Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937[1] – September 1, 2008),[2] known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included "Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", "A Thing Called Love", "Alabama Wild Man", "Amos Moses", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male), "Ko-Ko Joe", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "East Bound and Down" (the theme song for the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit, in which Reed co-starred), "The Bird", and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)".
For the American baseball player, see Jerry Reed (baseball).
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard
March 20, 1937
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
September 1, 2008 (aged 71)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
- Singer
- guitarist
- composer
- songwriter
- actor
- Vocals
- guitar
1955–2008
Reed was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Reed was announced as an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame in April 2017 and he was officially inducted by Bobby Bare on October 24.[3]
Early life[edit]
Reed was born in Atlanta[1] and was the second child of Robert and Cynthia Hubbard. Reed's grandparents lived in Rockmart and he would visit them from time to time. As a small child running around strumming his guitar he is quoted as saying "I am gonna be a star. I'm gonna go to Nashville and be a star." Reed's parents separated four months after his birth; he and his sister spent seven years in foster homes or orphanages growing up. Reed was reunited with his mother and stepfather in 1944.
Reed graduated from O'Keefe High School, an Atlanta city school. The O'Keefe building still exists today; it was sold to Georgia Tech and is now part of the university's campus. By high school, Reed was already writing and singing music, having learned to play the guitar as a child. At age 18, he was signed by publisher and record producer Bill Lowery to cut his first record, "If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise".
At Capitol Records Reed was promoted as a new "teen-age sensation" after recording his own rockabilly composition "When I Found You" in 1956. He recorded both country and rockabilly singles and found success as a songwriter when label mate Gene Vincent covered his song "Crazy Legs" in 1958.[1]
By 1958, Bill Lowery signed Reed to his company, National Recording Corporation. He recorded for NRC as both an artist and as a member of the staff band which included Joe South and Ray Stevens, other NRC artists.
Reed married Priscilla "Prissy" Mitchell in 1959. They had two daughters, Seidina Ann Hubbard, born April 2, 1960, and Charlotte Elaine (Lottie) Zavala, born October 19, 1970. Mitchell was a member of folk group The Appalachians ("Bony Moronie", 1963), and with Roy Drusky was co-credited on the 1965 country No. 1 "Yes, Mr. Peters".
Personal life and death[edit]
Reed married country singer Priscilla Mitchell on July 9, 1959; they had two daughters (Seidina Ann Hubbard, born April 2, 1960, and Charlotte Elaine (Lottie) Zavala, born October 19, 1970) who also became country singers.[2][13]
Reed died in Nashville on September 1, 2008, of complications from emphysema at the age of 71.[2] A week later during their debut at the Grand Ole Opry, Canadian country rock group The Road Hammers performed "East Bound and Down" as a tribute.[14] In a tribute in Vintage Guitar Magazine, Rich Kienzle wrote that "Reed set a standard that inspires fingerstyle players the way Merle and Chet inspired him." He was survived by Mitchell and their two daughters. Mitchell died following a short illness on September 24, 2014, at the age of 73.[13]
Reed was a heavy smoker for many years. Thom Bresh, son of Merle Travis and a close friend of Reed's, produced a 1990s video with Reed acting out his desire to quit smoking the addictive cigarettes ("Jerry Reed - Another Puff", which was his first 1972 released single) that serves as a public service video from Reed on the dangers of smoking cigarettes.[15]