"East Bound and Down" is a song written by
Jerry Reed and
Deena Kaye Rose,[a] and recorded by Reed for the soundtrack for the film Smokey and the Bandit. The song features Reed on the lead vocal, and vocalist Gordon Stoker of
the Jordanaires on the harmony vocal. It was released in August 1977 as a single on
RCA Records. The song's lyrics tell the basic
plot line of the movie (leaving out the runaway bride element) of making a 28-hour round-trip run from
Atlanta, Georgia, to
Texarkana, Texas, and back to
illegally transport 400 cases of
Coors beer for an after-race celebration.
The song spent 16 weeks on the U.S. country music charts, reaching a peak of No. 2.[1] It also reached No. 3 on the
Bubbling Under Hot 100.
The "...and Down" in the title and lyric is
CB radio jargon for "I'm finished transmitting, but still listening to the channel." "[Direction] bound and down" remains a common sign-off for
truckers on CB radio.
A variant version of the song, titled "West Bound and Down," was also recorded by Reed and included on the Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack. This variant is played during the westbound portion of the movie. The lyric "East bound and down -- loaded up and truckin'" is changed to "West bound and down -- eighteen wheels a-rollin'." The music and the rest of the lyrics remain the same.
"East Bound and Down" was performed by
Midland at the 52nd
Country Music Association Awards in 2018. The band now regularly includes the song in their live shows.
"East Bound and Down" was recorded by Po' Ramblin' Boys featuring Jason Carter & Bronwyn Keith-Hynes as a single in 2021.
The
Ford Motor Company revived the song's popularity as part of its
F-Series truck advertisements in 2018, where a host of pickups from different years and towing various items, such as barbecue grills, a 1960s-era
Ford Bronco, and a statue of the
Big Boy mascot, is seen driving down the highway.
An instrumental version of "East Bound and Down" was recorded by
Herb Alpert on his 2023 album Wish Upon A Star.[3]
Notes
^Credited as Dick Feller; the song was written and released before Rose came out as transgender.
References
^
abWhitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 343.
ISBN978-0-89820-177-2.
^Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004