Conan O’Brien’s shout-out to great guitar picker Jerry Reed

Three-time Grammy winner and Fender Telecaster maven Brad Paisley is on record as contending, “Because Jerry Reed was such a great, colorful personality with his acting, songs, and entertaining, sometimes people don’t notice that he was just about the best guitarist you’ll ever hear.” In the intro of the Dec. 5, 2022, SiriusXM Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast with guest Lizzy Caplan, the former late night pro concurred.

Riffing about the excellence of Burt Reynolds’ late ’70s box office behemoth Smokey and the Bandit, the 100% Irish O’Brien’s quick-witted improv lieutenant Matt Gourley, also the songwriter and guitarist for Americana quartet Townland, set the train in motion when he said, “Jerry Reed, the finest musician who ever lived.” Seizing the ball, O’Brien elaborated, “Shout out to the late Jerry Reed, one of the great pickers of all time who wrote wonderful songs for Elvis Presley [‘Guitar Man,’ ‘U.S. Male,’ ‘A Thing Called Love,’ and ‘Talk About the Good Times’], among some [e.g. Brenda Lee’s ‘That’s All You Gotta Do,’ ‘Misery Loves Company,’ a hit for Porter Wagoner and eventually Ronnie Milsap, Dean Martin’s ‘Georgia Sunshine,’ and Johnny Cash’s essential ‘A Thing Called Love’].

“Jerry was a great recording artist in his own right [‘Hallelujah I Love Her So,’ ‘Amos Moses,’ ‘When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,’ ‘Ko-Ko Joe,’ ‘Lord, Mr. Ford,’ ‘She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft),’ and ‘The Bird’]. He went on to be the sidekick in the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy [and wrote the oft-covered theme song, ‘East Bound and Down’]. A terrific actor [Reynolds’ Gator, Robin Williams and Walter Matthau’s The Survivors, Gene Hackman’s Bat*21, and Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy]. I never got to meet him. I wish I had.”

When O’Brien’s absurd comedy gained momentum in the late ’90s—the aspiring guitarist’s trademark red pompadour graced the cover of Rolling Stone—Reed’s career was also on the upswing after a decade of radio silence, major record label indifference, and crummy hole-in-the-wall gigs. The multitalented wild man had a new album named Pickin’, joined the Shel Silverstein-assisted Old Dogs country supergroup with Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, and Mel Tillis, and tormented Waterboy Adam Sandler in the role of redneck college football coach Red Beaulieu. O’Brien’s Elvis adulation knows no bounds, so it’s perplexing why Late Night music booker Jim Pitt never made the call to Reed’s Nashville office.

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