Jerry Reed In The Back Seat Of A Baby Blue Lincoln Continental

Jerry Reed passed away this past week and although he has been off the celebrity radar for some time, his name being back in the news brought back a flood of memories for me. Being a young man in my late 30's (although I'm sure I'll still be a young man in my head at whatever age I am), my first recollections of country music are Reed's "East Bound and Down" and "She Got The Goldmine, I Got The Shaft." Smokey and the Bandit with Jerry as the "Snowman" was in theaters and he was as popular as any country artist of his time.

And while I wouldn't admit it at the time, because country wasn't cool for school, there was something semi- appealing listening to that music in my first listening studio- the sticky vinyl back seat of my mom's late 70's baby blue Lincoln Continental. It was here that fate introduced me to Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams, Jr., The Judds, CW McCall and more. Back then, I was "forced" to listen to it, now when it pops up on the radio during a classic music hour on the radio, the tunes bring a smile to my face- partly because of the charming music, partly because my backside isn't sweating against that vinyl seat.

Long live Jerry Reed, one of the reasons I'm East Bound and Down Low with country music. RIP.