Jerry Reed Here I Am (CD)

Jerry Reed has never been fashionable among those erudite journalists who endlessly rhapsodize over Merle Haggard, George Jones, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Perhaps his brash, blue-collar attitude never seemed as alluring or romantic as those country performers once labeled as outlaws. But in a career spanning nearly a half-century, Reed has produced a remarkable body of work that remains largely unappreciated.

Reed's core audience fan base will always be the uncritical fans who best know him through his hit records and frequent acting roles in movies and television. But other Reed enthusiasts view him from more sharply defined perspectives. Guitarists know the dexterous fingerpicker with a style and original repertoire that defies imitation. Perceptive country music critics treasure the innovative albums he made for RCA Victor between 1965 and 1976 – his peak creative years. And then there's the collectors who treasure Reed's seminal work for Capitol between 1955 and 1958 - a joyous mix of honky tonk country, rockabilly and fifties pop. This long overdue reissue is for them.

In speaking to reporters, Reed generally dismissed these early recordings, preferring to start his story in 1965, when Chet Atkins began producing his records and got his musical career on track. He graciously responds to inevitable queries about his early years, retelling the story about receiving his first guitar and acknowledging mentors like publisher Bill Lowery and Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson. Not surprisingly, Reed would rather jump ahead to catalog his successes than relive the frustrations and failures that marked his first ten years in music. 

Jerry Reed Hubbard was the second child born to Robert Spencer Hubbard and Cynthia Hubbard, two Atlanta cotton mill workers who barely earned enough money to keep the family together. Jerry's birth on March 20, 1937 strained an already troubled marriage, and four months later the couple separated. For the next seven years Jerry and his sister were shuttled between Georgia orphanages and foster homes. They finally returned home in 1944 when their mother married Hubert Howard, another mill worker.

Music provided a welcome diversion for the family. "When I was a kid of six or seven, I used to get up on the stove woodpile for a stage and I'd put on the wildest show," Reed told Bob Anderson in a 1979 'Pickin'' interview. "I'd sit beside the radio and listen to the Grand Ole Opry and play rhythm on a hairbrush."