NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol' boy actor in car-chase movies such as "Smokey and the Bandit," has died of complications from emphysema at 71.
His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday.
"He's one of the greatest entertainers in the world. That's the way I feel about him," Moore-Reed said.
Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante called Reed a larger-than-life personality.
"Everything about Jerry was distinctive: his guitar playing, writing, voice and especially his sense of humor," Galante said. "I was honored to have worked with him."
Reed's catalog of country chart hits, from 1967 through 1983, was released under the label group's RCA imprint.
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As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, Reed had a string of hits that included "Amos Moses," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," "East Bound and Down" and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)."
In the mid-1970s, he began acting in movies such as "Smokey and the Bandit" with Burt Reynolds, usually as a good ol' boy. But he was an ornery heavy in "Gator," directed by Reynolds, and a hateful coach in 1998's "The Waterboy," starring Adam Sandler.
Reynolds gave him a shiny black 1980 Pontiac Trans Am like the one they used in "Smokey."
Reed and Kris Kristofferson paved the way for Nashville music personalities to make inroads into films. Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers (TV movies) followed their lead.
"I went around the corner to motion pictures," he said in a 1992 AP interview.
Reed had quadruple bypass surgery in June 1999.
Born in Atlanta, Reed learned to play the guitar at age 8 when his mother bought him a $2 instrument and showed him how to play a G chord.
He dropped out of high school to tour with Ernest Tubb and Faron Young.
At 17, he signed his first recording contract, with Capitol Records.
In the mid-1960s, he moved to Nashville, where he caught the eye of music legend Chet Atkins.
He first established himself as a songwriter. Elvis Presley recorded two of his songs, "U.S. Male" and "Guitar Man," both in 1968. Reed was voted instrumentalist of the year in 1970 by the Country Music Association.
He won a Grammy for "When You're Hot, You're Hot" in 1971. A year earlier, he shared a Grammy with Atkins for their collaboration "Me and Jerry." In 1992, Atkins and Reed won a Grammy for "Sneakin' Around."
LOCAL ANGLE
Jerry Reed made at least two singing appearances in Tucson. In September 1981, he was at the Outlaw nightclub for two shows. At that time, he apologized for having a bad sore throat, but he then proceeded to perform an hour-long set of his hits, as well as some tunes by Jim Croce. In Tucson again in September 1986, Reed performed at the UA's Centennial Hall. One of the highlights of that show was an acoustic tribute to the history of the guitar.
Arizona Daily Star
