Ep. 405: Revisiting Jerry Clower
Bear Grease
MeatEater
4.9 • 7.4K Ratings
🗓️ 31 December 2025
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of the Bear Grease Podcast, we’re diving deep into the heart of southern cultural identity and the mind of Jerry Clower. Does that name ring a bell? Jerry was thrust into national fame in the 1970s when a story he told about coon hunting topped the country charts. I’m interested in those odd places where rural culture -- and specifically hunting -- crosses tracks with the mainstream. Wilson Rawls bridged that gap with his book “Where the Red Fern Grows,” and Jerry did it with comedy about hunting varmints. He’s been gone for a long time, but I was able to meet up with his old Amite County neighbor in East Fork, Mississippi: a man named John Newman. He’ll give us a behind the scenes look into who Jerry was, and some of it may surprise you. And believe it not, Brent Reaves met Jerry Clower and saw his famed Gold Cadilac. Brent swears it was as long as a battleship. Trust me boys and girls, you’re not going to want to miss this one!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.1 | This episode is brought to you by FHF Gear, American-made gear that's built to take a beating. |
| 0:10.9 | I've used their bino harnesses and chest rigs from the swamps of Florida to the mountains of Alaska, |
| 0:16.5 | and they've held up every step of the way. |
| 0:18.7 | When you're in a rough country, wet, cold, dusty, and hot, |
| 0:22.6 | you don't have to wonder if your gear can hang. |
| 0:25.4 | And with FHF gear, I don't have to. |
| 0:27.7 | It's tough, practical, and it's built by folks who understand the demands of the wild. |
| 0:33.8 | Check it out at FHFgear.com. |
| 0:36.3 | Thank you. Check it out at FHFgear.com. |
| 0:47.4 | On this New Year's Eve, I'd like to go back into the Bear Greece archives to a unique standalone episode about Southern comedian Jerry Clower. |
| 0:52.4 | Something about the holidays can make us nostalgic. |
| 0:55.8 | And I've been thinking about this one, which originally aired on March 23, 2022. |
| 1:01.6 | That seems like so long ago. |
| 1:04.4 | Man, the years just kind of roll by. |
| 1:07.8 | I vividly remember that I drove eight hours just a few days before this episode aired to meet with Jerry Clower's former neighbor in A-Mitt County, Mississippi, after we called the town hall and asked if they knew anybody that knew Jerry, and sure enough, they gave us this fellow's name. |
| 1:30.6 | I even on that trip stopped by to talk with old Brent Reeves, who was on this episode, |
| 1:36.5 | who met Jerry Clower and had a great description of meeting the man. |
| 1:42.5 | I really think you're going to enjoy this one. And I just want to |
| 1:45.9 | take a minute and just thank you all so much for the support of Bear Greece and this country life |
| 1:51.7 | and Backwoods University in 2025. Truly, it's the honor of my life to be able to bring this |
... |
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