Burt Reynolds Helped Prove That Country Music Was Cool
Either you wanted to be him, or you wanted to sleep with him. That was just the way it was with Burt Reynolds. Nobody ever rocked a mustache or a feather-brimmed cowboy hat harder, and no matter how hard your tried with your T-Top American-made sports car and hairy chest, you never were going to be as cool. Burt Reynolds broke the mold, and left a damn good-looking corpse even at 82.
By the bullet points on the resume, Burt Reynolds had little to do with country music. Sure there was his overdubbed singing parts with Dolly Parton on Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, or that silly song “Let’s Do Something Cheap and Superficial” he released as part of the Smoky and the Bandit II soundtrack (it actually charted briefly on Billboard). But the guy was an actor; a leading man. He wasn’t a musician. Yet Burt Reynolds arguably did just as much or more to make country music cool as any other non performer, and many performers too.
Jerry Reed was one bad mother in the 70’s with his feather sideburns and trucker hat, burning licks on the guitar that have yet to be topped, and bringing a funky Georgia flavor to country music like no other. But he wasn’t a superstar, or even a household name. He was a session musicians with a few semi hits, until they put him beside Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit.
Trust me, even your friends who profess to hate country music with all their everloving heart can’t resist the heart-pounding temptation when they hear the first crack from that rolling banjo in “East Bound and Down,” and and then those dueling Jerry Reed guitar grooves come in and lay a mean whipping on you. Yeah it’s a badass song, but it was the fact that it was embedded in a movie with Burt Reynolds that made it a timeless American anthem.
It may sound cliché as hell, but Burt Reynolds made everyone around him better, and some of those people had a big role in country music. His machismo was so thick and effusive, it hung around him in a 100-foot radius. Everyone knew that Dolly Parton could be a superstar behind the microphone, but her chemistry with Burt Reynolds on Best Little Whorehouse in Texas proved she could be a superstar on the silver screen. Dolly had an entire generation gripped, and grabbing for her albums. Maybe they came for the boobs, but they stayed for the ballads, and soon Dolly became a leading lady and a massive crossover star.
Not since Gram Parsons did a figure in American pop culture act like a bigger bridge to country music, and proved how it could be cool. It didn’t matter if you weren’t from the South. Burt Reynolds was from Lansing, Michigan. And Burt didn’t portray some Urban Cowboy-style Hollywood version of a modern man. This was the real deal. Dolly Parton, Jerry Reed and others validated Burt’s authenticity, and Burt upped their appeal in return. He didn’t just perform with these people. Burt and Jerry Reed were close friends. Burt had a big friendship with Tammy Wynette, and helped make sure Mel Tillis made it into Smokey and the Bandit II and Cannonball Run. Songs sung by Don Williams were all over Burt Reynolds movie soundtracks.
And thank god Burt Reynolds didn’t try to parlay his acting career into some kind of Nashville recording deal, and not just because he couldn’t sing. That move would have been too obvious. That wouldn’t have been Burt Reynolds. He was too cool for that. It’s exactly what a hot actor who had hobnobbed with country stars would do. That’s why Burt Reynolds didn’t do it.
Even in his older age, Burt Reynolds held on to his dignity, deciding to fade out-of-sight and forgo the facelift as opposed to try and hold onto a myth that had outlived him. His memory was more virile without him trying to ride off it past his prime. Even as the shrived shell of his former self occasionally showed up at movie premiers in his rose-colored glasses, the son-of-a-bitch was still cooler than all of us, and knew it. Because he was Burt Reynolds.
Burt Reynolds the man is gone, but from small kids to grown ass men, and to women young and old, they still pretend to be him, or be with him. For most famous humans who walk the earth, the myth precedes them. But with Burt Reynolds, the myth really was the man.
TX MUSIC JIM
September 6, 2018 @ 6:46 pm
RIP Burt thanks for all the entertainment over all those years!!!
DJ
September 6, 2018 @ 6:49 pm
Excellent eulogy!
Aggc
September 6, 2018 @ 7:05 pm
A great tribute. Thank you!
Colter
September 6, 2018 @ 7:12 pm
They call you the bandit
An outlaw untamed
Shackled only by freedom
You wear no man’s chains
I’ve been listening to that on repeat all day.
Thoroughbred
September 6, 2018 @ 7:13 pm
Most famous running back our Seminoles ever had…RIP Bandit, Gator, Stroker, Jack Horner, and JJ McClure
sbach66
September 6, 2018 @ 7:28 pm
A Nole even this diehard Gator will miss.
sbach66
September 6, 2018 @ 7:27 pm
RIP, Bo Darville.
Todd Villars
September 6, 2018 @ 7:47 pm
Well I have known the Reynolds family for years. He was born in Michigan but his family moved to West Palm Beach when Buddy was 1years old. Buddy was the name everybody knew him by when he was growing up. Burt was a 1951 graduate of Palm Beach HS and classmate of George Hamilton, Mr. Suntan. Burt’s dad was a lawman and was the Chief of Police of Riviera Beach, Fl. Burt’s Dad was a man’s man, knew him quite well. Burt was a football star first, RB at Florida State and roomate of Lee Corso’s from ESPN Game Day fame. Go Noles! Burt never forgot his hometown and his upbringing and lived in Palm Beach County until today. He owned a feed store at the Burt Reynolds Ranch in Jupiter Farms, which his Dad ran. I used to go there all the time and got to know his Dad. Burt had a private Museum at his ranch and his Dad would let us go in and take a look around. He had all of his cars from his movies in there including the Bandit car, along with all of his clothes worn in the movies along with his iconic cowboy. He loved country music, he was a Florida Redneck through and through. Yes, he was great friends with Tammy Wynette, she lived fulltime in Jupiter, Fl until the day of her passing. Georgette and I are the same age and she graduated from Jupiter HS in 1987. I could go on and on about Burt and his life, but he was a humble man and didn’t act like a star, he was a proud Florida Cracker and Seminole!
Coincidently, you mentioned Gram Parson’s in the article. Gram was from Winter Haven, Florida and his Grandfather John Snively was the largest citrus grower in the state of Florida at one time. If you have ever been to Cypress Gardens the house was Gram’s Grandfathers house. Gram’s Aunt was Cornellia Wallace, George Wallace’s 2nd wife. Cornellia saved George when she dove on him after being shot when he was running for President. Just some Florida history for y’all this evening. Sad day for us Crackers! Todd Villars
TwangBob
September 7, 2018 @ 5:40 am
Thanks Todd for the additional background stories on Burt and Gram!
Todd Villars
September 7, 2018 @ 6:02 pm
Thanks Twang Bob, just proud of Burt and what he has meant to us, here in South Florida. I do know Burt was in poor health for awhile. My Cousin worked on his air conditioning last year at his house and his caretaker said he rarely left the 2nd floor of his house. My cousin did say Burt waved to him from the upstairs and gave him the Seminole chop! He took a picture of his car and his license plate was a Florida State tag with his football jersey number 22. His house was on the Intercoastal waterway on Jupiter Island.
RD
September 7, 2018 @ 7:03 am
Thank you, Todd. That is all great history.
Jackie Treehorn
September 6, 2018 @ 8:29 pm
To quote the opening song to Smoky and the Bandit- “a foot like lead, nerves like steel, he’s gonna go to glory ridin eighteen wheels”. RIP Mr Reynolds
Kyle N
September 6, 2018 @ 9:38 pm
“Maybe they came for the boobs but they stayed for the ballads” not to be immature but that sentence is way more hilarious than you realize Trig
R.I.P Bandit
Ann Stokman
September 7, 2018 @ 2:40 am
Definitely agree he help make country music cool!
Tunesmiff
September 7, 2018 @ 3:22 am
And don’t forget the bluegrass music in Deliverance…
Erik North
September 7, 2018 @ 7:43 pm
And just as a footnote to that–“Dueling Banjos”, as done by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell, is actually “Feudin’ Banjos”, written and recorded originally in 1955 by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith and banjo master Don Reno. It became a big hit all over in early 1973 in Weissberg and Mandell’s famous banjo/guitar breakdown.
Setting aside Reynolds’ great performance in it (both it and his role in THE LONGEST YARD are his best film roles, in my opinion), however, I think there is more to DELIVERANCE than being a “macho action film”, as some like to call it. It really is a frightening film if you look at it very closely, with its underlying theme as to just how thin the line is by what we think of as “civilized” behavior and, well, barbarism. For those reasons, I would argue that DELIVERANCE is actually one of the great horror films of modern times as well.
Scotty J
September 7, 2018 @ 8:41 pm
The Dueling Banjos or banjo and guitar scene to be exact is one of the best scenes in movie history. It’s not just the music it’s Reynolds talking to the hillbilly and Voight and Beatty reacting to it all. What an unbelievable cast. Reynolds and Voight were two huge stars of seventies and Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox were character actors extraordinaire. Great stuff.
Tunesmiff
September 8, 2018 @ 6:36 am
Definitely on ALL counts… & if you’re interested, google/YouTube Raymond Fairchild / Raymond’s Repeating Banjos for an awesome, one-man version of this song (that sounds like three guys trading licks)
TwangBob
September 7, 2018 @ 5:41 am
What an incredibly well written tribute to Burt Reynolds. Enjoyed the read. Cheers!
Bill
September 7, 2018 @ 6:16 am
Very nice eulogy! The state of GA owes a large debt of gratitude to Burt who filmed several movies in GA long before GA became the filming juggernaut it is today. One of those movies was The Longest Yard. I was attending GA Southern in Statesboro when The Longest Yard was being filmed at the GA State Prison in Reidsville which is less than an hour away from Statesboro. One night when I was at The Flame, the local bar near the campus of GA Southern and where I spent too many nights when I shoulda been in the library studying, Burt and several of his fellow cast mates showed up at The Flame to shoot pool and throw back a few cold ones. It wasn’t that big of a deal at that time since Burt was not the superstar he would become later with Smokey and The Bandit, Semi-Tough, Cannonball Run, Evening Shade and other blockbuster movies and tv shows. But still, when I was 19 years old it was pretty cool seeing a movie star in person. RIP, Paul Crewe…..
Tom Smith
September 7, 2018 @ 7:11 am
Excellent.
RD
September 7, 2018 @ 7:15 am
He might not have been the best actor ever, but he was my favorite actor.
A couple notes: Jerry Reed appeared with Burt Reynolds in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings and Gator before Smokey and the Bandit. Of course, Smokey and the Bandit was a smash hit and made Reed a big star alongside Reynolds, but W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings was a surprise hit and Gator was a great, underrated movie.
As others have pointed out, Burt Reynolds was a Southerner, not a Michigander. He was a year old when his family moved to Florida.
I have always seen a ton of similarities between Reynolds and Reed. Both were immensely talented, but regarded by many critics as choosing light, humorous, novelty material instead of serious stuff. I think these criticisms are unfair. Reynolds was great in Run Simon Run, Deliverance, White Lightning, Gator, Sharky’s Machine, and other serious roles. Of course, he chose to make many lighthearted movies, mostly about the South, because, as he said “I think the South has a lot of stories to tell.” He was correct. Reed is known for his humorous songs, but he was equally adept at mind-boggling instrumentals or serious songs. Neither man was given their due, in their time.
Aggc
September 8, 2018 @ 6:39 pm
Jerry Reed’s “The Claw” is a classic. The Hellecasters did a nice cover of it.
Rd
September 8, 2018 @ 9:54 pm
He has dozens of classics. greatest guitar player that ever lived.
H.P. @ Hillbilly Highways
September 7, 2018 @ 7:58 am
“It’s a downright joy for a country boy when he hears those engines moan…”
Jim
September 7, 2018 @ 8:40 am
Also, he was such a bad-ass in “Deliverance.”
I caught him on “Burn Notice” a few years back, and the guy still had it! Watching him and Bruce Campbell interact was classic.
Dobe Daddy
September 7, 2018 @ 8:57 am
The first album I ever bought on my own was the soundtrack to Smokey and the Bandit. I was nine years old. RIP Burt Reynolds, you magnificent bastard. Thanks for all the joy.
RD
September 7, 2018 @ 9:27 am
I bought that on cassette when I was nine. Still have it.
DimM
September 7, 2018 @ 9:11 am
”Oh, and if you see Burt Reynolds would you shake his hand for me
And tell ol’ Burt I’ve seen all his movies”. They all gone to Heaven now but the movies and the songs remain.
Pedals Down
September 7, 2018 @ 11:10 am
Stroker, why don’t you show ’em how to cluck real good?
Tony Kepuska
September 7, 2018 @ 12:20 pm
And he killed a hillbilly in Deliverance 👍
CraigR.
September 7, 2018 @ 1:28 pm
I loved Burt. He was a great part of my childhood. I will never speak a bad word about him.God Bless him. He was one of a kind.
Dirt Road Derek
September 7, 2018 @ 2:21 pm
At nine years old, Smokey and the Bandit was my introduction to Burt Reynolds. He was the coolest of the country cool with his smooth drawl, infectious laugh, sweet Trans Am, a way with ladies, and heroic lawlessness. He was the Han Solo of the highway, and I would’ve given anything to be his co-pilot.
Rest in peace, Bandit \m/
Scotty J
September 7, 2018 @ 8:49 pm
Smoky and the Bandit and the Cannonball Run movies were big parts of my youth. Still remember seeing Cannonball Run in the theater and watching the bloopers the ran over the end credits. Reynolds had an amazing charisma that only the biggest stars possess.
BobPeter
September 8, 2018 @ 12:29 am
Burt Reynolds actually dip his toes into the music biz by released an album back in ’73 at Mercury Records, called “Ask Me What i am. It’s absolutely horrible and plays like a country equivalent of William Shatner’s abomination “The Transformed Man” LP. I’m pretty sure Burt was well aware that this was a one-time-only-novelty-cash-in and that he really wasn’t a singer, but hey, if you can make an extra buck why the hell not? It’s one of those so-bad-its-good album and is worth a listen for the curious ear. It’s still better than Zac Brow Band’s “Jekyll + Hyde” album… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkokCpZUZWk
Tom R.
September 10, 2018 @ 2:00 pm
Didn’t he also make the charts in 1980 with a song from one of the Smokey movies, “Let’s Do Something Cheap” or some title like that. It didn’t get very high in Billboard and was probably a bad little novelty song but hey it apparently got played on some radio stations so kudos to him.
Nick Brown
September 8, 2018 @ 6:33 am
“Oh, and if you see Burt Reynolds, would you shake his hand for me, and tell ol’ Burt I’ve seen all his movies” – Don Williams
This was the first thought I had after hearing about Burt’s death.
Bear
September 8, 2018 @ 9:08 am
God made Burt and Burt don’t hurt… unless he means to.
SenorBB
September 10, 2018 @ 10:25 am
Fantastic words! A true badass. RIP.
Tom R.
September 10, 2018 @ 1:57 pm
I wasn’t crazy about his movies but I respect the way he gave a showcase for a lot of country stars – casting Jerry Reed, Don Williams, Mel Tillis, and Brenda Lee in his movies and having country soundtracks for many of his films. He also unsuccessfully tried to get Lynn Anderson to be his leading lady in one movie (she thought the script too risque’ for country fans to accept, this was back in the mid 70’s, he eventually cast hitless country singer Conny Van Dyke in the part) and did cast Tammy Wynette in one but alas she did not make the final cut for some reason. Dolly Parton, however, already proved herself a movie star before she worked with Burt. 9 TO 5’s success was largely credited to her and she was named the 1981 female box-office star of the year, a year before she worked with him. I guess it could be said that Whorehouse cemented her movie stardom but she was definitely considered one going into the production. RIP Burt.
Chandler Sorrells
September 15, 2018 @ 7:09 am
Shooter Jennings old rock band Stargunn had a song in one of his movies
Nancy
August 17, 2023 @ 5:51 pm
Great read! I have loved looking at that man since the first time I saw him, although most would agree he rocked the Bandit role. I loved all the words, including the comments. A fantastic fellow Floridian.