I laugh at Rolling Stone not having Jerry on their 100 greatest guitar players of all time. Are they saying 100 people can play better than this? No way.
man thank you! every time I watch chet and jerry play I think the same thing. Anyone who says Jimi Hendrix or Jimi Page could play like these guys really don't know much about the guitar. This is a perfect example of how amazing Jerry really is, and Jerry's Breakdown is a great example of Chet and Jerry when they play it live. I'm glad to know there are other people kicking around that feel the same.
The difference between Hendrix and Jerry is Jerry is picker and Hendrix is a strummer. A picker plays both ends of the guitar and a strummer plays only one end. Much harder to be a picker plus Jerry sang while he played so he is doing 3 things at the same time. Rolling Stone isn't sophisticated enough to understand this. BB King who was listed by Rolling Stone as the greatest Guitar player ever can't sing and play guitar at the same time.
toscodav I don't think you have to take anybody down to build Jerry up. Hendrix was great. BB is great too. And of course Rolling Stone is a rag that cannot be taken seriously.
Yes, Jerry Reed is underrated as far as much of the general public is aware of.... BUT Jerry is one of only 4 guitarists in the ENTIRE WORLD who was honored personally by Chet Atkins with the CERTIFIED GUITAR PLAYER AWARD. Now THAT is recognition!
I don't see how Roy Clark didn't get to tack "CGP" onto his name. His performances of 'Malaguena' (v=Pz2hXI7Ny9I)) with or without a couple of hours of concert straddling either side of that particular six-minute piece -- IMO -- really oughta had marked him up. Roy played a lot, and a lot of styles, too. I'll absolutely throw down with Jerry any day of the week/fortnight/month/year/decade/etc., but I'm saddened when recognition is preceded by "lack of". -- How many people would be upset if I wrote, "Keap you're peddle two the meddle, sun nevvre mind them breaks"?
Truth. I never thought of Jerry as underrated because I was listening to him before I could talk (thanks to my dad). He was extremely popular as a country singer songwriter with great guitar leads and duets on his albums (glad my dad enjoyed his boom*chick instrumentals; it was my mom who liked his country music songs; me not too much). Plus, he was on TV all the time playing his guitar-- mostly on the music TV Hee Haw (sometimes with Chet!), either by himself or dueling with Roy Clark-- another master guitarist, but he was known for his lightning speed flat picking (as opposed to finger picking). My second guitar teacher (I started at age 7 in the mid 1970s) loved Jerry and played like him all the time. Every guitarist I knew knew of and thought Jerry was insanely talented. He was also always mentioned in Guitar Player. Smokey and The Bandit brought him fame outside the country music and Travis and Boom*Chick guitar playing categories, respectively.
@@MWGrossmann It was up to Chet to confer the honor. Some say there were only three, others say five. According to Wiki, the late great Marcel Dadi was one of the CGP's but apparently being able to play Chet and Jerry as well if not better than they could isn't good enough. The Dadi albums with Chet are all superb, however.
Not only is he fluid and speedy, his every riff and lick is nuanced, thoughtful, and tremendously sophisticated--all in stark contrast to his stage persona. Awesome!
he is so underrated. everybody knows him for Smokey and the Bandit and one or two songs but he had insane talent. World class guitarist, awesome singer/song writer and actor and had the personality to go with it. RIP buddy
@@drivernjax You know that that's because Jerry Reed WROTE the song, and recorded it before Elvis', and they couldn't get a guitarplayer that could do it right other than Jerry, don't you?
I spent years as a massive fan of Eric Johnson. I first saw him play in 1978 in essentially a living room of a 1920s bungalow that had been turned in to a nightclub in Houston. I knew he greatly admired Jerry Reed, and even had a song named after him that I'd heard him play many times--but when I finally saw this clip years later I was dumbfounded. A foundation of Eric's style is grabbing chords with all fingers simultaneously, rather than strumming, just like Jerry is doing here. Genius stuff. Jerry Reed was the f***ing man!
I've watched this over and over and just amazed at all of the different rhythms, riffs and different beats in this song! Not one flaw. Absolute perfection! No other person on earth could play this with such energy and feel as Jerry did on lightning.
Clever! I remember watching a "making of" special about Smokey & the Bandit. I'm paraphrasing, but after a number of days of shooting, they pulled Jerry aside and asked about the music he had agreed to create for the film. His response was, "Oh sure, let me play a few licks I've been working on." As he played, no notes, just straight from the brain, the production execs looked at each other as if to say "We were worried?"
How have I never know the brilliance and beauty of this man's playing?? I remember seeing Jerry Reed in some Burt Reynolds movies, and playing some silly bit-parts in old comedy's but damn.....this dude not only set the bar for finger style....he SMASHED it! I have some listening to do.
Every performance is a real gem!! Great stuff!! I stayed away from country in my early twenties... BIG mistake!! So many talented people..... This is the real acoustic metal made in america!! Thank you Mr. Reed... R.I.P.
i only found out today, the saddest thing i've heard in a long while. just goes to show just what a man jerry was. nobody around today has a patch on him, that's true talent that he had. always an inspiration to me, thankyou jerry.
me and 2 buddys seen Jerry at the Watertown SD casino and he looked up at us in the balcony above and looked right at us and said " Good Luck Boys ! You're Gonna Need It ! " I almost cryed. I will allways rememember that night . He was and allways will be a hero of mine. Go Snowman !
this guy had the whole package: charisma, stage presence, a sense of humor, chops from hell AND musicality...a true role model for aspiring musicians of all styles
I've been playing the guitar a lot of years but I'll be able to find a cure for the common cold before I come remotely close to playing like Jerry. Incredible talent!!
Needles to say, Jerry was a great virtuoso. I find it amusing that he cut his guitar with a saw to reach the higher frets, because t that time, there were no nylon string guitars with cutaways avalible on the market.
This crazy effer and Chet Atkins MAKE ME CRY jesus christ legendary does not cut it im so glad some people exist. A lot of others shouldn't bother... but hey hey what can i do? music is the best thing in the worlddddd it makes everyone happy and that matters
He was sure a good guitar picker and a great entertainer,and I sure miss his creativity.He always had a surprise for ya whenever he came out with something new on the radio.
I agree Jerry was a phenomenal guitarist. Check out him and Chet Atkins playing Jerry's breakdown. The two albums he and Chet ( Me and Chet and Me and Jerry) recorded have now been re-released on one cd. They were awesome !!!!
He was so far up there with the best of them and unfortunatly people know him more from smokey and the bandit than his great guitar playing. As scaredpicker said- A true guitar hero!
2nd guitarist from the left is smiling like jethro and waving away on that gitfiddle and at the end he throws up his right fist like he just won the heavyweight title lmao i freaking think it is pricelesss thanx for the post
@@mgordan6355Jerry's early style was based on Merle Travis' fingerpicking style. It was unique in that it heavily incorporated "banjo rolls" as part of the guitar playing approach! So yep, you picked up on that stylistic similarity which remained an influence on Jerry's playing his whole life. He was an amazing talent, but what I rarely hear people mention is, he was also known for practicing 10+ hours a day! Talent + hard work, he was an incredible player...
This legend can't possibly be gone! It is so sad to me! I had to find out like a day late from a friend that he was gone, I didn't hear anything on the radio, on the TV, anything! I am glad that at least here people are remembering him the way he should be remembered! Thank you Jerry Reed and thank you people out there who are missing him too!
Musician, singer, song-writer, and actor. JR did them all competently, but he excelled on the guitar. He makes complex finger-style guitar look easy. Lighting Rod might be the only piece I've seen him do where it looked like he really needed to focus.
I bet those British musicians were watching Jerry closely...Many axmen measure a guitar players talent by his chops. Well here is the man who has them all. R.I.P. Jerry. I do miss you..
Jerry Reed was the MAN during this twilight timezone:) He was so exciting to watch, and this was was real cutting edge guitar at the time, and it is still great:) Miss you Jerry! Saw him at the fair:)
Right on Daniel Reed! I'm sure Jerry watched out to protect his hands and such, but he fished a lot (got his fingers stuck by hooks) and did most of his own chores and general work around his house. By the way, nothing Jerry did on the guitar actually surprised me (he was awesome - awesome), but I find it interesting that in this song he threw in a couple of "octaves." Rare is it that a country picker (call his style whatever you'd like) throws in some octaves in his playing. Jerry had an, over-the-top musical creativity and I'm sure he simply felt those octaves needed to be there at that particular juncture of the song. It sure works. Manoman what a talent. I wish I could had met him, if only for five or ten minutes. Stevo
This is why I'm a bass player.... No way in hell could I ever come close to playin like Jerry Reed. Such amazing talent. One of my all time faves. And I have seen Tommy Emmanuel live(he signed one of my guitars) Tommy is awesome... But he ain't Jerry Reed.
I saw the comments here and checked to see that he is now dead. This had somehow slipped past me. I am totally surprised. Jerry was probably the best country guitarist in my opinion. When beginning guitar, I would water at the mouth when hearing Lord Mr. Ford, or Amos Moses. Jerry, you are gone but not forgotten. I guess God was ready to see your pickin' up close. Rest in Peace,
I will be very honest. I have followed guitar players for 40 years. I knew about Roy Clark, Chet Atkins (obvious) Glenn Campbell, even Clarence White (Byrds) I did not know Jerry Reed was a guitar player, I knew he was a country singer who made movies. Wow this is a great discovery.
Jerry was an old family friend before my time. Always disappointed I never got to meet him myself. My grandmother said she never did like "When you're hot you're hot", but she loved all the rest of his music. He was my Uncle's best friend in high school. :)
