Barefoot Jerry is an American

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

band from Nashville, Tennessee. Fusing

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, they have been described as a seminal

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

band. The band was most active from 1971 to 1977. It was composed of area

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s under the tutelage of

Wayne Moss Wayne Moss (born February 9, 1938 in Charleston, West Virginia, United States) is an American guitar player, bassist, record producer and songwriter best known for his session work in Nashville. Moss was one of the founders of Area Code 615 and Bar ...

and

Mac Gayden McGavock Dickinson "Mac" Gayden (born June 5, 1941) is an American rock and country singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is also president of Wild Child Records, formed in 2004. Background Mac Gayden was born in Nashville, Ten ...

. Barefoot Jerry was named after a country fiddle player who performed inside a store next to Gayden's home in the Smoky Mountains. Both Moss and Gayden had been lead guitarists for

Area Code 615 Area codes 615 and 629 are area codes in Tennessee serving Nashville ( Davidson County) and the 12 surrounding counties. 615 is the main area code, while 629 is an overlay covering the same area that began service in 2014. Murfreesboro, Frankli ...

and also for other 615 alumni. This name is also used to refer to Moss and his sidemen in current reunions and other projects. Moss founded Cinderella Recording Studios and has operated it since 1960. Moss had previously played in many sessions, including

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's ''

Blonde on Blonde ''Blonde on Blonde'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musicians, ...

'', and played the guitar riff on

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

's "

Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), La ...

". In addition to Moss and Gayden, band members included Terry Dearmore,

Kenny Buttrey Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to Country Music Television, CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history". Buttrey was born in Nashvi ...

, Jim Colvard, Dave Doran, Si Edwards, John Harris, Warren Hartman, Russ Hicks,

Kenny Malone Kenny Malone (August 4, 1938 – August 26, 2021) was an American drummer and percussionist. Life and career Malone was born in Denver, Colorado. From the 1970s onwards, he was a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acoustic ...

Charlie McCoy Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...

, and Fred Newell.

Career

Barefoot Jerry's first lineup consisted of: *Wayne Moss, guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass *Mac Gayden, lead guitar, vocals, slide guitar * Kenneth A. Buttrey, drums *John Harris, keyboards Moss, Buttrey and Gayden originally played together on many of

Mike Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

's Nashville sessions and had been in Area Code 615. Gayden wrote the number one UK

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

by the Love Affair, "

Everlasting Love "Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since remade numerous times, most successfully by Love Affair, as well as Town Criers, Carl Carlton, Sandra Cretu, and Gloria Estef ...

". He also played the first slide wah wah guitar, on JJ Cale's "Crazy Mama." This lineup of Barefoot Jerry recorded ''Southern Delight'' before Gayden left in 1972 to form his own band, Skyboat; Buttrey joined

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

's band. Moss and Harris were soon joined by Russ Hicks (guitar, steel guitar, horn, vocals) and Kenny Malone (drums) on the album ''Barefoot Jerry'', released by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 1972. This lineup later expanded to include Buddy Skipper (keyboards), Fred Newell (banjo, harmonica, vocals), Dave Doran (guitar, bass, vocals), Si Edwards (percussion), and (Area Code's) Bobby Thompson (bass, guitar, vocals) for ''Barefoot Jerry'' and the 1974 follow-up ''Watchin' TV''. The lineup of Moss, Hicks, Doran, Edwards, Skipper and Newell were recorded in a live performance in 1973, released in 2007 as ''Barefoot Jerry Live''. Moss was the last original member of the band. Retaining Hicks and Edwards, they added Terry Dearmore (vocals, guitar, bass), Jim Colvard (guitar, bass) and Warren Hartman (keyboards). In 1975 they recorded ''You Can't Get Off With Your Shoes On''. Colvard took his own life in 1976. With the departure of Hartman, Barry Chance (guitar) and Steve Davis (keyboards, guitar, vocals) joined the band for ''Keys to the Country'' in 1976. Davis and Dearmore departed, and Charlie McCoy (keyboards, harmonica, flutes, Jew's harp) and Mike McBride (bass, guitar, percussion, mandolin) joined for ''Barefootin in 1977. The band split up in that year. Wayne Moss appears as "Barefoot Jerry" along with Charlie Daniels,

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffet ...

and

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly i ...

in the 1981 music documentary ''

Heartworn Highways ''Heartworn Highways'' is a documentary film by James Szalapski whose vision captured some of the founders of the Outlaw Country movement in Texas and Tennessee in the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976.AllMovie entry for Heartworn Hig ...

''. Barefoot Jerry were mentioned in Charlie Daniels's song "The South is Gonna Do It Again."

Discography

Albums

*1971: ''Southern Delight'' (

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

) *1972: ''Barefoot Jerry'' (

) *1974: ''Watchin' TV'' (

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

) *1975: ''You Can't Get Off with Your Shoes On'' (Monument Records) *1976: ''Grocery'' (double-LP reissue of the first two albums; Monument Records) *1976: ''Keys to the Country'' (Monument Records) *1977: ''Barefootin (Monument Records) *1997: ''Southern Delight/Barefoot Jerry'' (2-on-1 CD reissue on See For Miles) *1997: ''Watchin' TV/You Can't Get Off with Your Shoes On'' (2-on-1 CD reissue on See for Miles) *1997: ''Keys To The Country/Barefootin (2-on-1 CD reissue on See For Miles) *2006: ''Keys To The Country/Barefootin (CD reissue; Hux Records) *2007: ''Barefoot Jerry Live'' (recorded at the Exit Inn in 1973 - available only from the official website)

Singles

Guest singles

References

*''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll''. Random House, 1980. "Southern Rock" entry by Joe Nick Patoski. . *Kemp, Mark. ''Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race, & New Beginnings in a New South''. New York, New York: Free Press/Simon & Schuster, 2004, p. 17. *Charlie Daniels Band, "The South's Gonna Do It Again." In the second verse "And all the good people down in Tennessee are diggin' Barefoot Jerry and CDB."

External links

Official website

Cmt.com

Rollingstone.com

Tennesseeconcerts.com
{{Authority control Rock music groups from Tennessee American progressive rock groups American southern rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Capitol Records artists Warner Records artists Monument Records artists 1971 establishments in Tennessee American country rock groups