Jerry Reed R.I.P.

I remember as a kid watching Scooby Doo, and finding it utterly enjoyable. This was years before I started thinking things like "They are always eating, they drive around in a van with flowers painted on it, their dog talks to them, and they are always seeing ghosts and monsters, so they must be stoners." Anyway, my favorite season was when they were always having celebrity guest stars like Don Knotts or the Harlem Globetrotters. (Something Futurama has copied to great success.) One of the best guest star episodes was when Jerry Reed guest starred and performed "Pretty Mary Sunlight."



When I was 9 years old, my mother took me to see "Smokey and the Bandit." At the time I found the film utterly enjoyable. Jerry Reed played Tonto to Burt Reynolds Lone Ranger, and he also performed the title song "East Bound and Down."



I must admit, outside of these two performances I never gave Jerry Reed much thought. And now he is gone and the world seems just a little sadder.