Saturday 9: Eastbound and Down

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week's song was featured in the movie Smokey and the Bandit, the surprise box office hit of 1977. Have you seen it?  Smokey and the Bandit is a favorite around here. I've seen it many times.

2) Though not well received by critics, Smokey and the Bandit had one very famous fan: Alfred Hitchcock. The classic film director enjoyed re-watching the movie on video at home, often while having dinner. Do you ever watch TV with your meal?  More often than not, I'm on my own at dinner time (Tim gets home later) so I almost always watch TV or read while I eat.

3) Jerry Reed not only wrote and performed the movie's theme, he appeared in the movie as truck driver Cledus "Snowman" Snow. Have you ever driven, or ridden in, a big rig?  No, but I think it would be fun.

4) He sings, "We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there." Have you recently felt rushed?  Not really. Since I've been off work recovering from surgery time hasn't meant a whole lot to me. That ends next Friday when I return to work.

5) Director Hal Needham asked Jerry Reed for a song that explained the plot of the movie. He wrote this overnight and always considered it a happy accident. Can you think of a time when something turned out better than you expected?  I am drawing a blank at the moment.

6) Reed was born in Atlanta and, coincidentally, he mentions Atlanta in the lyrics. Has your hometown been immortalized in song?  I don't know about immortalized, but a local guy has this song about our claim to fame as the birthplace of the banana split on YouTube.

 

7) Jerry met Priscilla Mitchell at Capitol Records, where Jerry was a session musician and Priscilla was backup singer. Though she was only 18 when they wed, it seems their union was a happy one and they were together until his death almost 50 years later. If a newly engaged 18-year-old asked you for advice, what would you say?  Wait a while.

8) In 1977, when "Eastbound and Down" was on the radio, nostalgia for the 1950s topped the TV ratings. The two most popular shows that year were Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. If you magically transported back to the 1950s, what do you think you'd like about it? What do you think you'd miss about your life in 2026?  I'd like the fact that most families would still be intact and enjoy doing things together, extended family would likely still live nearby, and people could have differences of opinion and not hate each other. What would I miss from 2026? Maybe the modern technology. Maybe.

9) Random question: Were you ever afraid of monsters in your closet or under your bed?  Not as long as my hands or feet didn't hang over the edge of the bed and I had covers over me. As a leftover of those days I still have to have at least a sheet over me to sleep no matter how hot it may be.