55 Years Ago, Jerry Reed Was at No. 1 With His Signature Hit About an Ill-Fated Game of Craps

You may know him best as Burt Reynolds’ wisecracking bootlegging buddy Cledus “Snowman” Snow in the 1977 cultural touchstone film Smokey and the Bandit. But Jerry Reed also left his mark as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. On this day (June 29) in 1971, the much-beloved “Guitar Man” topped the country charts with “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot”, a song where things go from bad to worse in no time.

The Song Spent Five Weeks at No. 1

Written by Jerry Reed himself and produced by the legendary Chet Atkins, “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” takes the listener on a journey beginning with an illegal craps game in a back alley.

At first, everything is going swimmingly. My luck was so good, I could do no wrong / I just kept on rollin’ and controllin’ them bones, Reed sings. Finally, they just threw up their hands and said / “When you hot, you hot”.

All good things must come to an end, however, and the narrator’s lucky streak doesn’t last. Soon, the police arrive to break up his card game, hauling him into the station.

When he later appears in court, he is floored to see that the judge is an old fishing buddy of his. However, his hopes for leniency are quickly dashed. The judge sentences him to 90 days in jail, all while letting his friends off with a small fine.

The song ends with our narrator verbally unleashing on his judge friend, letting him know in no uncertain terms that only his long black robe is saving him from a physical assault.

Who’s gonna collect my welfare? / Pay for my Cadillac?, Reed sings in the final verse. What do you mean “Contempt of Court”?

“When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” topped the country singles chart for five weeks. It also became his second Top 40 hit, reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

More About Jerry Reed

“When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” earned Jerry Reed a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Recording 50 albums, his other number-one hits included “Lord, Mr. Ford” (1973) and “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” (1982).

Reed remained active in music all the way up until his death from complications of emphysema on September 1, 2008. He was 71 years old.

[RELATED: Born on This Day in 1937, the “Guitar Man” and Country Music Hitmaker Who Starred Alongside Burt Reynolds in This Beloved 1977 Action-Comedy]

“He was still recording right up until he couldn’t anymore,” his booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, said after his death.

Featured image by Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

The post 55 Years Ago, Jerry Reed Was at No. 1 With His Signature Hit About an Ill-Fated Game of Craps appeared first on American Songwriter.