G'night, Jerry.

Good Night, Jerry:

A sad headline passed across the screen today, and with it, I knew that Jerry Reed had passed from the world.

He was one of Georgia's greats, a simple man with a long laugh. I guess most people know him best -- or only -- from his role as the Snowman, the outlaw truck driver in Smoky and the Bandit. He also wrote and sang the theme song, and indeed all the songs from that movie.



He had quite a talent, though, for jazz, blues, and rockabilly, as well as country music. If you were from the South in that time, you probably saw him far more often than that once. He and Chet Atkins did a large number of pieces together. Here they are playing our state's song.



You might have heard this song during the high gas prices of the summer:



Along with the Late, Great Lewis Grizzard, Jerry Reed was a pretty good icon for what Georgia was about in the 1970s and early 1980s. It's amazing how much the place has changed in so short a time.

Thanks, Jerry. Goodnight.