Guitar Man (song)

"Guitar Man"
Single by Jerry Reed
from the album The Unbelievable Guitar and Voice of Jerry Reed
Released	1967
Genre	Country
Writer(s)	Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed singles chronology
"If I Don't Live Up to It" (1965) "Guitar Man" (1967) "Tupelo Mississippi Flash" (1967)

"Guitar Man" is a 1967 song written by Jerry Reed, who took his version of it to number 53 on the country music charts in 1967.

Soon after Reed's single appeared, Elvis Presley recorded the song^[1] 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.com). The single spent one week at number one on the country chart.^[2]

Thirteen years later, "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.^[3]

Chart performance

Jerry Reed

Chart (1967)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	53

Elvis Presley

Chart (1967)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	38
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	42
U.K. Singles Chart	—

Chart (1981)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	28
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks	16
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Dutch Top 40	39
Australian Kent Music Report	73

References

1. Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 8 - The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 273.
3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 504.