Jerry Reed singer and guitarist, RIP Snowman

Jerry Reed Hubbard was born in 1937 in Atlanta, and was known professionally as Jerry Reed.  His parents separated when he was a baby and he spent some of his childhood in foster homes.  He worked in cotton mills but soon became more interested in music.  After serving in the US army for 2 years, he went to Nashville and in the early 1960's he started song writing.  One of his most famous songs was Guitar Man which he wrote for Elvis Presley. Another one was “A thing called Love” which was recorded in 1971 by Johnny Cash.
In the early 1970s Reed used to appear on the Glen Campbell show, where he played with Campbell, also a brilliant guitarist.   One of his biggest hits was the novelty song, “When you’re hot, you’re hot”.  He also recorded one of his own Songs “Amos Moses” a mixture of rock, country, funk, and Cajun styles.  He became an actor, mostly in comedies.  He was cast as “the Snowman” in the Burt Reynolds movies, Smokey and the Bandit and sequels. His singing and playing career began to take second place to his acting, but he had a hit with “East Bound and Trucking” from the "Smokey" movies.

I never saw Jerry Reed playing live, and I don’t even like Smokey films!  But he had enormous talent as a guitarist and song writer, and great charm as a performer, with his Southern accent and lovable smile....  I wish I’d met him. He died in Nashville in 2008, and his wife, Priscila Mitchell passed away a few years later.