The Death of a Legend
No, I am not talking about Isaac Hayes. His lame South Park stunt killed my love. No, I’m not referring to Bernie Mac either, although he was a great standup comedian (but no legend). I’m talking about Jerry “East Bound and Down” Reed. The man had a great influence on my life - allow me explain. Of course, he starred in Smokey and the Bandit, one of THE movies in my life. All red-blooded boys fell in love after witnessing that magical elixir of Sally Field (in hot mode), Burt (that ’stache!), and of course the fiery Phoenix. Fell in love with what exactly, I don’t know. The V8? The stereotype of the racist Southern cop? The banjo? Maybe all that, and the open road and the t-tops to boot. But it goes much farther than that, all the way to what I call the “Holy Trinity of B-Movie Actors” of my childhood - Burt, Jerry and Dom DeLuise.
Years before HBO was known as “Hey, Beastmaster’s On!”, I swear Hot Stuff was on ten times every lazy Summer weekday in Louisiana. It starred Dom and Jerry as two cops working undercover in a fencing operation or some crap. There was pot smoking, which just puzzled my young mind - my dad didn’t get hysterically giggly when HE lit up a cigarette. All I know is back then, HBO didn’t show R-Rated movies during the day, which limited it’s library - drastically it seems. Speaking of The Dom, I can’t believe that guy is still alive. Him and Burt just didn’t give a f*ck back in the day. Could you imagine a group of actors, even B-listers, all getting together to make Cannonball Run now? Hell no - there’s not enough trailers and fruitbaskets in Hollywood. I can imagine stiffs like Kathy Griffin and Ashton Kurcher fighting (through their agents) over who’s going to drive the Lambo Reventon. Screw you both - you can share the beaten-up Yugo that Flea pushes over a cliff in his Hummer.
Anywhoo, Jerry was a prolific singer, songwriter and fake truck driver. He will be missed.
