| Guitar Man | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Jerry Reed |
| Album: | The Unbelievable Guitar and Voice of Jerry Reed |
| B-Side: | It Don't Work That Way |
| Recorded: | 1967 |
| Genre: | Rock and roll |
| Label: | RCA Victor |
| Producer: | Chet Atkins |
| Prev Title: | If I Don't Live Up to It |
| Prev Year: | 1965 |
| Next Title: | Tupelo Mississippi Flash |
| Next Year: | 1967 |
"Guitar Man" is a 1967 song written and originally recorded by Jerry Reed, who took his version of it to number 53 on the Billboard country music charts in 1967. Soon after Reed's single appeared, Elvis Presley recorded the song with Reed playing the guitar part, and it became a minor country and pop hit.
| Guitar Man | |
| Cover: | Elvis_Presley_Guitar_Man_1968_Picture_Sleeve.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Elvis Presley |
| Album: | Clambake |
| B-Side: | High Heel Sneakers |
| Recorded: | September 10, 1967 |
| Studio: | RCA Studio B, Nashville |
| Genre: | Rock and roll |
| Label: | RCA Victor |
| Producer: | Felton Jarvis |
| Prev Title: | Big Boss Man" b/w "You Don't Know Me |
| Prev Year: | 1967 |
| Next Title: | U.S. Male" b/w "Stay Away |
| Next Year: | 1968 |
According to Peter Guralnick's two-volume biography of Presley, the singer had been trying to record the tune, but missed the sound Jerry Reed had brought to the original release. So RCA managed to locate Reed and brought him to the session at RCA's Studio B in Nashville. The twelfth take eventually became the 1968 single master, after Reed overdubbed some additional guitar and the length was edited to omit Elvis ad-libbing "What'd I Say" during the close.
Presley opened his 1968 comeback special a medley of Leiber and Stoller's "Trouble" and this number. With dark, moody lighting highlighting his presence, the sequence alluded to Presley's original "dangerous" image, and served to prove that the singer was still "sexy, surly and downright provocative."[1] [2]
The track was later remade in 1980 with a new backing track that again included Jerry Reed playing some of his unique guitar licks, and spent one week at number one on the country chart the following year.[3]
Personnel (Elvis Presley versions)Credits sourced from British fan Keith Flynn's research.[4]
1967 recording
1980 re-recording
Credits from Keith Flynn's research of RCA and AFM paperwork.[5]
| Chart (1967) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada[6] | 36 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [7] | 43 | |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 42 |
| Chart (1981) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [8] | 28 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles [9] | 1 | |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary [10] | 16 | |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks [11] | 1 |
