Darrell Toney : An Introduction
By Marco Passarelli

Darrell Toney photo by Russ Harrington

It would be literally impossible for me to count how many times I’ve sung the praises of Jerry Reed, only to be met with one of the following questions: “Who?” or “That guy from Smokey and the Bandit?”

Guitarists are usually the worst offenders since they have no idea of the massive six-string talent they are missing out on.  So, how did I come to discover the wonderful world of Reed?  By watching Smokey and the Bandit of course!  However, that movie was the reason I bought a copy of the album “Eastbound and Down”; a fantastic compilation of seven Jerry Reed classics along with the three tracks he recorded for the first “Bandit” film.  By the time the record ended, I had all the convincing I needed; Reed was an incredible talent, an inspired songwriter, charismatic singer and a devastating guitarist.

The older I got, the more I would marvel at Jerry’s staggering talents.  He is the equivalent of Jeff Beck on a gut-string (nylon) guitar; quirky, idiosyncratic and instantly identifiable.  Both instrumentalists are so difficult to emulate that few come close although countless will try.

So, imagine my surprise one night as I was surfing the excellent Jerry Reed fan site, www.alabamawildman.com and I came across the news headline that a brave soul named Darrell Toney had not only released a tribute album to Jerry but one that was comprised solely of Reed’s instrumentals!  I’ll admit the ‘jaded music journalist’ side of me emerged as I clicked the link to his website.  “Let’s see how lame this is”, I chuckled as the sound clips loaded.  Within a fraction of a nanosecond, my doubts vanished as Mr. Toney tore into “Jerry’s Breakdown” with aplomb. 

I hit every page on his site to hear the different sound samples and was knocked out with every one of them – this was no tired, star-studded debacle; this was a heartfelt tribute to an overlooked talent that featured some serious pickin’!  Throughout “Jerry Reed…Revisited”, Darrell Toney manages to nail the “Reed feel” without sounding like a guitar instructional method.  Toney also ups the ante by composing an original song as a tribute and in the style of his hero, “Reed That Thang”, showing that he is a fully realized talent in his own right.

I recently had the pleasure to talk with Darrell Toney about his fantastic new album, “Jerry Reed…Revisited”.  So, fellow Tappers, allow me to introduce, Darrell Toney: 

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MusicTAP (Marco Passarelli) - How did you discover Jerry Reed?

Darrell Toney - My Dad came home one day and said, “Man, I heard this guy on the radio who absolutely blew me away!” and he started telling me about him.  So, every time we’d get in the car we’d put the country station on waiting to hear this guy and finally one day, Boom, here he came and I was just like my Father; absolutely knocked out! 

It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever heard!  Shortly after that I saw him perform on television and when I saw what he was doing (laughs) I was even more impressed!  He would play all this complicated stuff and he’d be singing at the same time!  I was hooked, I was absolutely hooked.

MT - This was not an easy project to tackle, I would imagine but you managed to be respectful to the source material while having some fun with it. 

DT - My co-producer Rodney Ingle is really the one that pushed me to do this because I’ve always thought of myself as a singer first and a guitar player second.  I’ve never dreamed of doing a guitar project.  I had, like you, been captured up in Jerry’s playing since I was a kid and it had been a life-long quest to learn to play it.  I remember the excitement of getting a new Jerry Reed album and just being amazed by the rhythms and the licks and ideas; it fascinated me.  When we did this record, I wanted people to have an opportunity to take that ride one more time.  And I knew if I took it too far out of what it actually is and put too much of myself in it, then it’s not that anymore and I though, “I’ve heard guys take Jerry’s tunes, and do other things to them and it’s kind of cool to hear but I want to hear what Jerry’s ideas were”.  So, that’s why we decided to keep my performances as close to Jerry’s as possible so people could still have that feel and I think it worked.

And the song selection; was that was a challenge (laughs)!  You know, Jerry’s got such a deep catalogue, not only in his hits like “Amos Moses”, “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot”, “Eastbound and Down”, all the stuff people know; but the instrumentals!  I think Chet Atkins cut like thirty of Jerry’s over his career; probably, maybe even more than that!  So I went through and wanted to make sure that we sample the diversity of Jerry’s influences and writing – a little bit of Jazz, a little bit of R&B, a little Gospel, a little rock; it’s all there!.

MT - Jerry’s tunes are anything but simple; how did you go about learning them?

DT - Well, Jerry plays a fairly complicated finger-style of guitar.  I would get these records and turn them down to 16 rpm, and then I would take my gut-string and tune it down an octave and listen to it in slow motion!  It was great because it helped me train my ear since I was hearing all these notes and rhythms and I would figure a lot of it out that way.  That’s really how I learned to play.   

MT - You and the band really captured the sound of a Reed album - what was the overall vibe in the studio?

DT - It was great!  You shouldn’t be allowed to have that much fun – it shouldn’t be legal; especially with these guys!  Most of them had worked with Jerry in the past – they had recorded and played live with him as well.  I remember the day we got together on the first tracking session, there was just an excitement in the air because Jerry’s music is just, so interesting. 

And for a musician to play it it’s not just what you would expect; Jerry always has ways of putting the unexpected into his tunes.  Dave Hungate (bassist) said to me, “This is gonna be a blast, everybody in the room here is Jerry Reed Alumni (laughs)!”  They were so great, and are such legends.  They made me feel so comfortable; we just had a blast.

Photo by Russ Harrington

MT - The record is billed as Darrell Toney & Friends.  there is some serious talent playing with you!

DT - One of my dearest friends is Terry McMillan who played harmonica and percussion on this project and he’s just a session legend in Nashville.  He’s a great, bluesy singer – an R&B, roots kind of guy.  Chet Atkins discovered him playing on a street corner when he was just a young kid and brought him to Nashville and started using him on sessions.  He also played with Jerry for awhile in his live band.  And getting to play with Dave Hungate out of Toto; how cool is that?  He’s such a great guy and a consummate professional. 

MT - Brent Mason even appears on some of the electric guitar parts! 

DT - I don’t think he’s human – he’s an alien (laughs)!  I told him, “You’ve come up with some kind of musical steroid you’re taking haven’t you!”  But Brent’s amazing!  You know, he’s a thumb picker and he has sort of taken Jerry’s style to the next level.  But to have a whole album of tunes where you’re swapping licks with Brent Mason is a pretty big thrill, I think, for any guitar player.

MT - How did you begin your musical journey?

DT - I grew up South of Detroit and I used to sing in my church.  My father sang in a gospel quartet, so that was my first influence and where my interest was.  In the 70’s, I started a group with my cousin and my sister called The Renaissance.  Within the first year of being together, we signed a recording contract with the Zondervan Corporation which was based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan at that time.  We did that for fourteen years and it was an incredible run; it was just wonderful, I loved it. 

During that period we spent a lot of time in Nashville, we made our records in Nashville and I met some really key people in the music business who are friends to this day.  When the group disbanded, I moved to Nashville from Michigan and I was there about ten or eleven years.  I was doing the ‘Nashville thing’, writing some songs, singing on demos, working here and there, stealing licks (laughs), everything that you’re supposed to do!  And it was great, I loved it. 

MT - The album is certainly a labor of love for you as your performances amply demonstrate.  Any final thoughts you would like to share? 

DT - Jerry, as you said, certainly has a huge following, I mean, the guy’s had a tremendous career.  But I’m amazed how many folks that know the movie acting stuff don’t realize that after that’s all said and done; he’s going to be remembered for his guitar playing.  I’m amazed a guy could have the catalogue that he has out there and the whole world is not thinking, “He’s one of the greatest guitar players of the 20th century!” 

To my knowledge, there’s never been a project like this to Jerry.  There probably will be one where they’ll bring all the country acts in and do “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot”, “East Bound and Down” and all the hits and that would be great.  But no one has ever done a tribute like this; actually I take that back, Chet recorded an album of Jerry’s tunes back in 1974 and it was called “Chet Atkins Picks on Jerry Reed”.  Other than that, this is the only other one and my hope is that, because I love Jerry so much, it will bring some attention to Jerry’s incredible contribution to the world of guitar.

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I would like to thank Don Egle for helping to set this interview up and Darrell Toney for being such a cool, new friend – let’s have another “Reed summit” soon!

Guitarists!  Want a copy of Jerry’s famous, Baldwin guitar?  Check out - http://www.mcculloughguitars.com  Here’s what Darrell has to say about them; “I just recently purchased a guitar from a guy up in Indiana named Mel McCullough and he’s building a guitar that’s sort of a replica of Jerry’s old Baldwin.  It’s incredible!  If you’re a finger style player and are looking for a gut string; man, you can’t beat it.  I’m hooked – he’s built me one and he’s already building me a second one!”  ‘Nuff said.  

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