East Bound and Down

Sad news that Jerry Reed has died. I thought about him just the other day. I was watching Hurricane Gustav coverage and somebody mentioned that the storm was heading over Thibodaux, Louisiana and I spent the next couple of minutes trying to figure out why I knew that town's name. The answer, I finally remembered, was Reed's great song Amos Moses ("about 45 minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana/lived a man named Doc Milsap and his pretty wife Hannah").

I'm not a huge country music fan, but Jerry Reed is some of the good stuff---one of those good natured artists that transcends genre. Besides having an incredibly distinctive voice, when I was growing up, Reed was one of the kings of the novelty song--Amos Moses, When You're Hot You're Hot, She Got the Goldmine (I Got The Shaft). Not to mention starring in Smokey and The Bandit (and stealing The Survivors out from under Robin Williams and Walter Matthau if you remember that obscure movie constantly shown on HBO in the 80s) .