This is an I-Heart podcast.

The Michael Berry Show.

If you've listened to our show for any length of time, you know that I love Jerry Clower.

I love storytelling.

I think he's one of the best storytellers to ever walk the earth.

I think he could have been a great pastor.

Of course, he was a great comedian.

He was a great salesman before that.

He was a great speaker at fertilizer conventions and the like,

which is kind of how he developed, kind of fell into being a comedian.

And when a country comedian like him tells a story,

it's not about the punchline. It's about the journey.

It's about how he tells the story. In most cases, the punchline itself is not set up and then,

you know, this explosive punchline. It's the, the, the humor is in the journey.

It's in the telling.

So this is one that I don't think we've ever played from Jerry Clower.

And it's called, Why Can't Johnny Reed?

Ever now and then, I get aggravated.

And most of my albums, express myself about certain issues. Here lately I've been reading in the paper, I've been listening on the radio, and I've been watching on television,

and everybody is saying at one time or another, why can't Johnny

read? Yeah, that's the topic of America right now. And I got to thinking about this. And the other

day I read about a bunch of PhD learned folks what met for about three days at a seminar.

...