On September 10, 1967, Jerry Reed was enjoying a fishing trip on the Cumberland River with his seven-year-old daughter when someone came running down the dock looking for him.
Elvis Presley was waiting in a Nashville recording studio. And the King of Rock and Roll needed something only Jerry Reed could provide.
It sounds like the beginning of one of Jerry Reed’s funny songs. But this time, the story was real.
The Little Girl, the Big Fish, and the Call From Nashville
Jerry Reed’s daughter, Seidina Reed, never forgot that afternoon.
Years later, Seidina recalled catching an enormous carp with a tiny green fishing pole. Father and daughter were celebrating the catch when someone hurried down the dock calling for Jerry Reed.
The reason was extraordinary: Elvis Presley wanted Jerry Reed at RCA Studio B.
Earlier that year, Jerry Reed had written and recorded “Guitar Man,” a lively country number built around a guitar part that sounded unlike anything else on the radio.
The record reached only No. 53 on Billboard’s country chart. But it had caught the attention of Elvis Presley.
And that created a problem nobody in Nashville seemed able to solve.
Why Nashville’s Best Guitarists Couldn’t Play Like Jerry Reed
Elvis Presley had assembled an impressive group of session musicians, including Scotty Moore, Harold Bradley, and Chip Young. These were experienced professionals who could handle nearly anything placed before them.
But “Guitar Man” was different.
Elvis wanted the guitar sound from Jerry Reed’s original recording, and the musicians couldn’t quite reproduce it.
The secret wasn’t simply speed or technical skill. Jerry Reed had developed an unusual fingerpicking style, combining rhythm, melody, and unexpected accents in ways that were difficult to imitate.
Jerry Reed also used a special guitar tuning. For the Elvis session, Reed raised the B string a whole tone and lowered the low E string a whole tone.
Those adjustments helped create the unmistakable sound of “Guitar Man.”
Producer Felton Jarvis knew Jerry Reed from earlier days in Atlanta. The obvious solution was to find the man who had created the sound in the first place.
That meant interrupting a fishing trip.
The Moment Jerry Reed Picked Up His Guitar
When Jerry Reed arrived at RCA Studio B, the session finally had its missing ingredient.
Reed connected his guitar, adjusted the tuning, and began playing the familiar opening lick.
Jerry Reed later recalled watching Elvis Presley’s eyes light up as soon as the guitar part began.
But the recording didn’t come together in one effortless take.
The surviving session recordings reveal Jerry Reed working with the other musicians, adjusting the arrangement, discussing the introduction, and keeping the performance moving.
By the twelfth take, they had the master recording.
Jerry Reed also stayed to play guitar on Elvis Presley’s recording of “Big Boss Man.”
For a musician whose original single had barely entered the country charts, it was quite an evening.
Yet the most surprising part of Jerry Reed’s visit was still ahead.
Jerry Reed Wouldn’t Surrender His Song
After the recordings, a dispute developed over publishing rights to “Guitar Man.”
Music publisher Freddy Bienstock wanted an arrangement involving rights to the composition. Jerry Reed, who controlled his own publishing interests, wasn’t willing to surrender them simply because Elvis Presley had recorded the song.
According to accounts of the session, Jerry Reed became so frustrated that the possibility of not releasing the recording was openly discussed.
Jerry Reed stood firm, and the disagreement disrupted an otherwise successful evening.
Scotty Moore later remembered how determined Jerry Reed had been not to sell away his rights.
The recording was eventually released, with Jerry Reed’s name remaining attached to the song as its writer.
The Guitar Man Returned Years Later
In 1980, after Elvis Presley’s death, producer Felton Jarvis revisited several Elvis recordings with new instrumental arrangements.
Jerry Reed returned to contribute guitar to a new version of “Guitar Man,” built around Elvis Presley’s original vocal performance.
In March 1981, that recording reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country singles chart.
Fourteen years after Jerry Reed was called away from the Cumberland River, the song had become a country chart-topper for Elvis Presley.
And Jerry Reed’s guitar was there again.
That’s what makes the 1967 fishing story so memorable. Elvis Presley had access to some of the finest musicians in Nashville, but when it came to “Guitar Man,” the original sound belonged to Jerry Reed.
He had written the song, invented the guitar part, and refused to give away his rights without a fight.
Not bad for a man who had been fishing with his little girl that afternoon.