Happy Heavenly Birthday to Jerry Reed. Without a doubt, he was one of the best guitar pickers in Nashville!

Jerry Reed Hubbard was born in Atlanta, Georgia on March 20, 1937. By the time he was in high school he was writing songs and singing them. At 18 years old, he was signed to a record deal at Capitol Records by publisher and record producer Bill Lowery. He was being promoted as a “teen sensation” after recording some rockabilly songs in 1956. His label mate, Gene Vincent helped him get some notoriety as a song writer when he recorded Jerry’s song “Crazy Legs” in 1958.

I had the chance to interview him when I worked in country radio. If I had to rank all the interviews I’ve ever done, his would be in the top three. He was a joy to talk to and he had so many fantastic stories. One of those stories was about recording with Elvis.

In 1967, Jerry’s version of Guitar Man landed on the country chart and it caught the ear of Elvis. Elvis wanted to record the song. The story was recounted in the Tennessean when he passed away:

Reed recalled how he was tracked down to play on the Presley session: “I was out on the Cumberland River fishing, and I got a call from Felton Jarvis (then Presley’s producer at RCA Victor). He said, ‘Elvis is down here. We’ve been trying to cut “Guitar Man” all day long. He wants it to sound like it sounded on your album.’ I finally told him, ‘Well, if you want it to sound like that, you’re going have to get me in there to play guitar, because these guys [you’re using in the studio] are straight pickers. I pick with my fingers and tune that guitar up all weird kind of ways.'”

Jarvis hired Reed to play on the session. “I hit that intro, and [Elvis’s] face lit up and here we went. Then after he got through that, he cut [my] “U.S. Male” at the same session. I was toppin’ cotton, son.” Reed also played the guitar for Elvis Presley’s “Big Boss Man” (1967), recorded in the same session.

You can hear the distinct “Reed” sound that Elvis was looking for in the intro:

It is said that Jerry’s syncopated guitar playing style was influenced by Merle Travis and Earl Scruggs. This style was nicknamed the “claw”, due to the appearance of Reed’s hand as he played. The Claw also happens to be one of the coolest instrumentals that Jerry Recorded. You can hear that same sound heard in Guitar Man in The Claw.

Jerry was great friends with Chet Atkins and they played the song as a duet more than once. They did an album together which featured the song (and a funny video to accompany it):

…and they performed it live on TV quite a few times as well:

Jerry was an amazing talent. Thankfully, he left us plenty of music to enjoy. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Son!