When our BHO Dean of Tab Jack Baker posted a very nice tab of this song a few weeks ago, I remembered that I had worked this up myself a decade ago at the request of one of my banjo students. It is, of course, the theme song from the 1977 Universal Studios movie Smokey and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds (as "The Bandit"), Sally Field, Jackie Gleason (as Sheriff Buford T. Justice) and Jerry Reed (as Cledus "Snowman" Snow). Reed wrote and performed East Bound and Down, the movie's theme. Before his successful career as a country singer and actor, Reed was for years a highly respected Nashville session guitarist, second only to his close friend Chet Atkins in stature. Reed recruited the legenday Nashville session play Bobby Thompson to play on the movie theme and soundtrack. Unfortunately, there is no real banjo lead on the recording; the banjo mostly rolls in the background, and is generally not audible enough, at least to my ear, to accurately deconstruct what Thompson is playing. As a result, I put together most of the banjo arrangement myself, incorporating Thompson's signature phrasing where it occasionally comes out front in the recording. Reed's soundtrack recording can be found on a number of albums, including The Essential Jerry Reed, an RCA record that came out in 1995. I have attached the tab in PDF format, along with a chart showing some of the more complicated left hand fingerings, that I used in the lesson. Or you can download the Tabledit file here. I'm picking my 1964 OME Model 42 banjo that my old pal Ed Britt found for me, in open G tuning (gDGBD).
"What we are dealin' with here is a complete lack of respect for the banjo." - Sheriff Jack R. Baker 
Edited by - Don Borchelt on 11/30/2022 06:07:34
Love it! Hope you're doing good Don. I miss the chatroom days.
-Jim
Nice Job!
I love that song.
“Watch ole Bandit run”
Interesting story about the recording. Your creative Scruggs-style arrangement artfully brings the melody alive.
quote:
Originally posted by Ceres Banjo WorksLove it! Hope you're doing good Don. I miss the chatroom days.
-Jim
Thank you, Jim, and I am doing fine for an old man. I still play my banjo every day. I miss the Chatroom, too, very much. That was a special place where we made some wonderful friends. I still talk to Don Couchie occasionally; the two of us stopped to visit with Jim Reed after Clifftop a few years ago. Jim isn't playing banjo much anymore, if at all, due to some muscle problems, I forget exactly what. Jim was my favorite five string picker, hands down, and during those Chatroom days he came up with some wonderful tunes. Don Buedel left us long ago, and I saw the post a week or so ago that Ronnie Collins recently passed. But I still have some more pickin' to do. Stay well, and keep trading!
quote:
Originally posted by gordo1100Nice Job!
I love that song.
“Watch ole Bandit run”
Thanks, gordo, I appreciate the encouragement. Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed are gone, so ole Bandit ain't runnin' anymore, but Sally Field just turned 76!
quote:
Originally posted by Paul RobertsInteresting story about the recording. Your creative Scruggs-style arrangement artfully brings the melody alive.
Thank you, Paul. I can't remember anymore how many of the notes are Bobby Thompson's, and which ones are my fill-ins, when his banjo was relegated to the background, and I couldn't make out the notes. As for conjuring up some Scruggs style, I am reminded of the classic line from the movie character Matthew Quigley, " I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn't know how to use it."
Nice one Don.
(Slaps the money on the bar) “I’ll have another round of that if you will!”
Really nice there Don… smooth as silk and carry’s the embodiment of the tune seamlessly!
Had me watching the movie in my mind!
P p p pp perfect.
