Jerry Reed - Patches/Stray Dogs and Stray Women 7" - 1981

This one goes out for all the people my age who grew up on "Smokey and The Bandit" and "Scooby-Doo". You may relate to my love o Jerry Reed. Now I'm not any sort of authority on his work, but he does hold a special place in my heart because if the strong influence and memories of "Smokey And The Bandit" and "Scooby-Doo". Both of which Jerry played keys rolls.

Such a strong impression Jerry made on me as a little kid that even when I was trying to be a cool kid growing up who would have nothing to do with country I still would sing along to "Pretty Mary Sunlight" and "East Bound and Down". And now as an adult I am trying to pass on some of his legacy. A few years ago I picked up Jerry's "Eastbound and Down" album that come out with "Smokey And The Bandit". That title track became a a bit of a tradition during out family road trips. If you haven't tried it, it is the perfect song to play as you are pulling onto the expressway on ramp. It really gets the blood pumping and gets you excited to head out on a long trip.

Then there was "Pretty Mary Sunlite" which he sang on the "Phantom Of the Country Music Hall" on "The New Scooby-Doo Movies". The early days "Scooby-Doo" featured a lot of great little pop tunes. Davy Jones was a guest as many will remember and there were also some bubble gum pop songs by some generic Archie-type band during that first or second year. Well among those songs was "Pretty Mary Sunlite" and many years later I was happy to find the song on Cartoon Networks "Scooby-Doo Snack Tracks" CD, which I discovered while writing this must be out of print and is quite expensive on Amazon. It now gets frequent play on the Ipod. It is catchy as all get out and simple as hell.

Anyways, neither of those songs are here. Maybe I'll post them in the future. Today's selection is from the early 80's, 1981 to be exact. Again I new nothing about either of these songs when I bought the record. I saw Jerry Reed and figured it was worth the 50 cents. Well, "Patches" is great. It's one of those great country "story" songs about a guy named "Patches" who grew up in Alabama who is told by his dad on his dying bed that at the age or 13 the family is relying on him to hold everything together. At its heart the song has a lot of emotion, but at the same time the chorus has a funky/rocky groove to it.

The second song is a classic honky tonk about a man who is a "fool for stray dogs and stray women." It's nice enough and has a traditional country flavor to it.

Enjoy!

01 Patches.m4a

02 Stray Dogs And Stray Women.m4a

Bonus tracks

East Bound And Down

Pretty Mary Sunlite