“Nobody can play like Jerry Reed.” Darrell Toney, baritone singer-acoustic guitarist for Terry Blackwood and the Imperials, swears in an exclusive interview that Reed overdubbed the

15-second gut string guitar solo on Elvis Presley’s cookin’ cover of “Talk About the Good Times,” the penultimate cut on 1974’s _Good Times._ Reed, also signed to RCA Victor, originally

wrote and released the quasi-gospel barn burner yearning for days gone by “when a friend would meet you and a smile would greet you” on 1970’s _Georgia Sunshine_. His style is unmistakable

starting at the 74-second mark. It’s pianist David Briggs and Master of Telecaster James Burton, who were tracking live with Elvis in Memphis’s Stax Studio, that you hear during the break on

untimely demise, took the basic tracks, cut on December 14, 1973, to Nashville the next month for sweetening without any further involvement from Elvis. Reed was a Nashville resident

inspired by rock and R&B who had earlier contributed to Elvis’s September 1967 [e.g. “Guitar Man”] and January 1968 [“U.S. Male”] RCA Studio B sessions at the behest of Jarvis. Neither

of those Reed compositions reversed the Hillbilly Cat’s downward chart trajectory but were nonetheless artistic reawakenings after years buried in insipid Hollywood soundtracks.

Incidentally, Elvis’s third of four Reed renditions was “A Thing Called Love,” a rare gospel foray for the Atlanta-raised wild man [three years before his death from emphysema at age 71 “A

Brand New Me” appeared on _Jerry Reed ‘Live’! Still!_]. In 1980 Jarvis, who had received a kidney transplant on Elvis’s dime but would soon succumb to a stroke, invited Reed to overdub

Fender Telecaster on an electric remake of “Guitar Man,” attaining Elvis’s first posthumous number one. The Imperials — Blackwood is the sole remaining original member who worked with Elvis

from 1969 to 1971 — perform “Talk About the Good Times” to this day, including the Graceland Soundstage during Elvis Week. Toney knew Reed, has a 2006 instrumental guitar record on CDBaby

called _Jerry Reed…Revisited_, and often appears onstage at the annual Reed tribute show in Nashville. Toney persuasively demonstrated Reed’s licks during our conversation and had researched

Elvis’s sessions. Without any prompting he named Stax and was aware of drummer Ronnie Tutt, Briggs, and Burton playing on Elvis’s “Talk About the Good Times.” A couple of years before

emphysema claimed his life at age 71 in 2008, Reed was one of the 140 participants who went on the record for Ken Sharp’s _Writing for the King. _Reed confirmed Toney’s account. I believe

them. JERRY REED’S GUEST GUITAR ON RINGO STARR’S COUNTRIFIED ‘$15 DRAW’ THAT’S JERRY REED COUNTING OFF EX-BEATLE RINGO STARR’S “$15 DRAW” AND CLAWIN’ UP A CATCHY GUITAR RIFF. THE BEST SONG

ON… medium.com EXILE KEYBOARDIST MARLON HARGIS APPLAUDS PHENOMENAL SIX STRING SLINGER JERRY REED THE FOUNDING EXILE ALUM OF “KISS YOU ALL OVER” FAME EXPLORES THE ECLECTIC ARTISTRY OF THE

“WHEN YOU’RE HOT, YOU’RE HOT”… medium.com BASS MAESTRO RAY WALKER EVOKES SIZZLING NASHVILLE NIGHTS WITH ELVIS AND JERRY REED THE ONLY ORIGINAL JORDANAIRE STILL STANDING, GENIAL BASS

EXTRAORDINAIRE RAY WALKER HAS EXPERIENCED AN ASTRONOMICAL… medium.com AN UNRIVALED JERRY REED SONGWRITING LIST THE FUNKY “EAST BOUND AND DOWN” GUITAR MAN FROM HOT ‘LANTA PENNED 323 CONFIRMED

SONGS SPANNING A 53-YEAR CAREER WITH… medium.com RAY CHARLES’ ‘HALLELUJAH I LOVE HER SO’ BY WAY OF GUITAR HOTSHOT JERRY REED JERRY REED’S FAULTLESS ARTISTRY KNOWS NO BOUNDS IN THIS PLAYFUL,

UNPLUGGED TAKE FROM 1968’S “NASHVILLE UNDERGROUND”… jeremylr.medium.com CONAN O’BRIEN’S SHOUT-OUT TO GREAT GUITAR PICKER JERRY REED DAVID LETTERMAN’S SUCCESSOR DUBS THE MULTITALENTED WILD

MAN ONE OF THE GREAT PICKERS OF ALL TIME WHO WROTE WONDERFUL… medium.com _© Jeremy Roberts, 2019. All rights reserved. To touch base, email [email protected]_ and mention which story

led you my way. I appreciate it sincerely._