*(1967) RCA ''Guitar Man'' (Takes 1 3FS, 2 LFS, 5 FS Complete) (Fade-out) Elvis Presley & Jerry Reed

'''Guitar Man'' (UPA4-2765) (Take 1 3x FS, Take 2 LFS, Take 5 FS Complete) (6:00 PM - 12:00 AM)
Recorded Sunday September 10, 1967 at RCA Studio B., Nashville, Tennessee

Name (Or. No. of Instruments)
Elvis Presley - Vocals & Rhythm Guitar
Jerry Reed - Fingerpickin Guitar Style
Scotty Moore - Guitar
Chip Young - Guitar
Harold Bradley - Guitar
D.J. Fontana - Drums
Murrey ''Buddy'' Harmon - Drums and/or Percussion
Bob Moore - Bass Guitar

Producer - Felton Jarvis
Recording Engineer - Jim Malloy

"Guitar Man" is a 1967 song written and originally recorded by Jerry Reed, who took his version of it to number 53 on the Billboard country music charts in 1967. Soon after Reed's single appeared, Elvis Presley recorded the song with Reed playing the guitar part, and it became a minor country and pop hit.

According to Peter Guralnick in his two-volume biography of Presley, the singer had been trying unsuccessfully to record the tune, but wasn't happy with the groove. He said something to the effect of: "Get me that redneck picker who's on the original tune", and his staff brought Reed into the studio - who nailed it on the first take (though this romantic account is contradicted by a studio tape of the session that documents the first, second and fifth takes which are available on video-sharing website YouTube). The single spent one week at number one on the country chart.

In 1968, Presley opened his 1968 comeback special with this number. With dark, moody lighting highlighting his sneer, the sequence alluded to Presley's checkered past and "dangerous" image and served to prove that the singer was still "sexy, surly and downright provocative''. The song was featured in a medley along with "Trouble" against a "Jailhouse Rock" backdrop featuring male dancers in cells.

In 1981, "Guitar Man" was re-recorded in a new electric arrangement, with Presley's original vocal left intact, and it was the last of his eleven number-one country hits. The record also peaked at number twenty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was his last top-40 pop hit in the U.S.

Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 - September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. His signature songs included "Guitar Man", "U.S. Male", "A Thing Called Love", "Alabama Wild Man", "Amos Moses", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" (which garnered a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male), "Ko-Ko Joe", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "East Bound and Down" (the theme song for the 1977 film ''Smokey And The Bandit'', in which Reed co-starred), "The Bird", and "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)". Reed was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Reed was announced as an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame in April 2017; he was officially inducted by Bobby Bare on October 24.

In July 1967, Reed had his best showing on the country chart (number 53) with his self-penned "Guitar Man", which Elvis Presley soon covered. Reed's next single was "Tupelo Mississippi Flash", a comic tribute to Presley. Recorded on September 1, the song became his first Top 20 hit, going to number 15 on the chart. Coincidentally Presley came to Nashville to record nine days later on September 10, 1967, and one of the songs he became especially excited about was "Guitar Man".

Reed recalled how he was tracked down to play on the Presley session: "I was out on the Cumberland River fishing, and I got a call from Felton Jarvis (then Presley's producer at RCA Victor) He said, 'Elvis is down here. We've been trying to cut "Guitar Man" all day long. He wants it to sound like it sounded on your album.' I finally told him, 'Well, if you want it to sound like that, you're going have to get me in there to play guitar, because these guys you're using in the studio are straight pickers. I pick with my fingers and tune that guitar up all weird kind of ways'''.

Jarvis hired Reed to play on the session. "I hit that intro, and (Elvis's) face lit up and here we went. Then after he got through that, he cut (my) "U.S. Male" at the same session. I was toppin' cotton, son''. Reed also played the guitar for Elvis Presley's "Big Boss Man" (1967), recorded in the same session.

On January 15 and 16, 1968, Reed worked on a second Presley session, during which he played guitar on a cover of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business", "Stay Away", and "Goin' Home" (two songs revolving around Presley's film Stay Away, Joe), as well as another Reed composition, "U.S. Male" (Reed's quoted recollection of "U.S. Male" being recorded at the same session as "Guitar Man" being incorrect).

Reed died in Nashville on September 1, 2008, of complications from emphysema at the age of 71 .

Source and more information see: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

* - Digitally Remastered

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