POP MUSIC REVIEW : Jerry Reed: Folksy Tales Between Tunes

Jerry Reed spent as much time talking as he did singing at the Crazy Horse in Santa Ana on Monday. Playing only 10 songs during his 75-minute show, Reed filled many of the gaps with patter, often in the form of extended lead-ins to the various songs he was playing.

Were it any other performer, it is doubtful that he would have been able to hold the crowd’s attention. But Jerry Reed more than rose to the challenge, entertaining and amusing the sold-out house with observations about the music of the ‘50s, having Elvis Presley cut one of his songs and having worked with Glen Campbell.

Of course, with a $25 ticket, one wouldn’t have been upset if he had sung a few more songs. Granted, Reed included most of the big hits: “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “She Got the Gold Mine (I Got the Shaft),” “The Bird,” “East Bound and Down (The Theme From ‘Smokey and the Bandit’)” and the song Elvis took to No. 1, “Guitar Man.” But it also would have been nice to see Reed play a few more of his lesser known hits.

A section devoted to music of the ‘50s opened the show by revisiting Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City,” Johnny Ray’s “Cry” and Big Joe Turner’s “Lipstick, Powder and Paint.” Reed’s jazz-inflected guitar solo hinted at his instrumental prowess--during the ‘60s Reed was one of Nashville’s most in-demand studio guitarists. But that side of his talent was never fully demonstrated Monday.

For all the nit-picking, Reed’s audience loved the show and reveled in the stories the singer wove about his career. With a self-deprecating stage demeanor and robust sense of humor, Jerry Reed maintains a talk show host’s personable delivery as he weaves his tales about the things that he has seen and experienced.

To compare what Jerry Reed does to Garrison Keillor’s now defunct “Prairie Home Companion” is probably stretching things a bit. Yet, Reed maintains that same homeyness when dealing with an audience, talking as if he were addressing old friends who had stopped by to sit on the front porch and share some iced tea.

A parrot puppet he brought out for “The Bird” proved a popular visual device. Then Reed stoked up the band for a quick rendition of “East Bound and Down” before leaving the stage.

An encore of “Amos Moses,” his 1971 Top 10 pop hit, followed, finding the band in a particularly strong groove. The funky arrangement was guitar heavy, though, leaving Reed to fight the sound in an attempt to get the vocal across.