Jerry McGill was born October 25, 1939 in Memphis, TN and died May 30, 2013 of respiratory failure at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, AL.

He attended Messick High School and attended summer school at Memphis Tech High School.

His final wish was for his body to be placed on a raft, the raft set on fire, burning as it floated down the river. Joyce Rosic, the woman he loved, asked for permission to do this, but just as she suspected, it was denied. His next choice was to be cremated and stay with his Huntsville family. His body was cremated at Spry Funeral Home in Huntsville, AL on June 4th. His ashes remain with his beloved Joyce.

There will be a memorial service in Memphis for Jerry in October.

Joyce told me she had always been very reserved to the point of being boring (Joyce's words, not mine) and Jerry spent years rambling around acting wild and crazy. She gave him roots and he gave her wings. He had no regrets. "It's not the length of life, but the depth"…Ralph Waldo Emerson…

Newspaper article-Jerry L. McGill ,the "original rock and roll outlaw," — a native Memphian, onetime Sun Records artist, notorious road manager, felon and documentary film subject — died Thursday, May 30, at Huntsville Hospital at age 73. Needless to say, he was a colorful character.

Born and raised in the Binghamton neighborhood, McGill attended Messick and Memphis Technical High School, and led one of the city's earliest greaser rockabilly outfits, the Topcoats. Among record collectors and rock enthusiasts, McGill is best known for his brief tenure on the Sun Records roster. He released one single for the label in 1959, "Lovestruck," backed with "I Wanna Make Sweet Love."


With his devilish good looks and gift for gab, McGill was a natural hustler with a wide criminal streak. His reputation in local law enforcement circles was already notorious by the late-1950s; McGill himself, claimed he was arrested 97 times in Memphis alone for everything from public drunkenness to harassing a police officer to armed robbery. Gordon says he found records of nearly 40 arrests.


His sometime producer and songwriting collaborator Jim Lancaster was quoted as saying "He was charming — but the kind of charm where he'd smile at you, and then run off with your wife. He really was like the last of the bad-guy cowboys. He was an outlaw down to his soul."


Jerry remained in Memphis "until music and crime took him on the road," noted Gordon, "and for McGill they were sometimes one in the same." Through the late '60s and much of the '70s, McGill — mostly under the pseudonym Curtis Buck — would serve as a sometime rhythm guitarist, songwriter, road manager, protector and procurer for country star Waylon Jennings. McGill is credited as a co-writer on Jennings' classic "Waymore's Blues" and was described vividly in the singer's 1996 autobiography.


Jerry reappeared again in Memphis during the early '70s, cutting several still unreleased recordings with producers Lancaster and Jim Dickinson, and making a memorable gun-wielding cameo in William Eggleston's pioneering video-art document of the era, "Stranded in Canton" Several bullet holes made by McGill remain in the ceiling of the Sam Phillips Recording studio.

*** Note ***Jerry was a Civil War buff and read every book he could find on the subject. Just talking about it agitated him. He was at Phillip's recording "With Sabers In Our Hands", a Bob Frank song about the Civil War. He finished the song, added a few personal words, then pulled out his gun and fired into the ceiling. It's all on record. Besides his love of Civil War history, he was also very interested in the history of the American Indians.


By the late '70s, Jerry had become an elusive character living on the lam. During the next 25 years, often under various aliases, he would be arrested, tried, and occasionally convicted, for crimes ranging from illegal weapons possession to attempted murder. In the early 2000s, McGill served a term in prison for attempted murder in Florida under the alias Billy Thurman.
"He had luck riding with him, over his shoulder, all his life," said Gordon, "Might've been good luck or bad luck, but it was always there." I have to say, talent accompanied that luck.


In 2009 an old girlfriend heard he had vanished, decided to find him… He read the message she left him on the music website, Boogie Woogie Flu - Jerry McGill, went to visit her and never left…

A grant from the Irish Film Board helped Duane and Gordon document Jerry's battle with the disease, his relationship and his attempt to record a final album and reunite with some of his old musical cronies in Memphis.
In the spring of 2010, Jerry cut sessions in Florida and Memphis, and performed a "homecoming" gig at Midtown's Hi-Tone Café — it was, as he stated, his first public performance in Memphis "without the feds after me in more than 30 years."


"Very Extremely Dangerous" was completed, screening officially last fall the Indie Memphis Film Festival, where it earned a Special Jury Prize for Documentary Feature. It was a sometimes difficult to watch portrayal of Jerry McGill as an addict, abuser and con man.


The Commercial Appeal's film critic John Beifuss praised it, noting that "the camera loves this ‘dying outlaw looking for redemption,' even if some viewers will recoil from what it reveals."


The film continues to make the rounds of the festival circuit, and is still seeking distribution for a DVD release. A companion CD of McGill's music is also being readied for release.

Here are some of the songs Jerry wrote or co-wrote "Waymore's Blues" by Waylon Jennings and Jerry McGill, aka Curtis Buck, "Dr. Love" by Dan Penn, Jerry McGill and Johnny Christopher, "Run Gypsy Run" by Dickey Betts, Jim Paramore and Jerry McGill aka Curtis Buck and "The Clown", by Roy Orbison and Jerry McGill.



As director Paul Duane noted, Jerry was present for a secret preview screening of the film in Memphis in 2011, and saw it as an honest, if brutal, look at what his life had been. "Jerry knew that the film represented the worst side of his nature. It showed him in some pretty dark times," said Duane. "But he didn't flinch. He stood up said, ‘I'll take it on the chin.' For all his faults, that was the best side of him: the courage to accept who and what he was...

Jerry leaves his beloved sister Jeanne Cutrer (Homer) of Texas ,2 son's Jerry Jr. and Cody ,numerous nephews and neices and his Huntsville Family --Joyce Rosic,,Kellie Rosic ,Chance Rosic and Emily Rosic .

Written by Linda Wayman with information and help from Joyce Rosic. Joyce spoke with the people who wrote articles mentioned above and was given permission to add them to this memorial.

Jerry McGill was born October 25, 1939 in Memphis, TN and died May 30, 2013 of respiratory failure at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, AL.

He attended Messick High School and attended summer school at Memphis Tech High School.

His final wish was for his body to be placed on a raft, the raft set on fire, burning as it floated down the river. Joyce Rosic, the woman he loved, asked for permission to do this, but just as she suspected, it was denied. His next choice was to be cremated and stay with his Huntsville family. His body was cremated at Spry Funeral Home in Huntsville, AL on June 4th. His ashes remain with his beloved Joyce.

There will be a memorial service in Memphis for Jerry in October.

Joyce told me she had always been very reserved to the point of being boring (Joyce's words, not mine) and Jerry spent years rambling around acting wild and crazy. She gave him roots and he gave her wings. He had no regrets. "It's not the length of life, but the depth"…Ralph Waldo Emerson…

Newspaper article-Jerry L. McGill ,the "original rock and roll outlaw," — a native Memphian, onetime Sun Records artist, notorious road manager, felon and documentary film subject — died Thursday, May 30, at Huntsville Hospital at age 73. Needless to say, he was a colorful character.

Born and raised in the Binghamton neighborhood, McGill attended Messick and Memphis Technical High School, and led one of the city's earliest greaser rockabilly outfits, the Topcoats. Among record collectors and rock enthusiasts, McGill is best known for his brief tenure on the Sun Records roster. He released one single for the label in 1959, "Lovestruck," backed with "I Wanna Make Sweet Love."


With his devilish good looks and gift for gab, McGill was a natural hustler with a wide criminal streak. His reputation in local law enforcement circles was already notorious by the late-1950s; McGill himself, claimed he was arrested 97 times in Memphis alone for everything from public drunkenness to harassing a police officer to armed robbery. Gordon says he found records of nearly 40 arrests.


His sometime producer and songwriting collaborator Jim Lancaster was quoted as saying "He was charming — but the kind of charm where he'd smile at you, and then run off with your wife. He really was like the last of the bad-guy cowboys. He was an outlaw down to his soul."


Jerry remained in Memphis "until music and crime took him on the road," noted Gordon, "and for McGill they were sometimes one in the same." Through the late '60s and much of the '70s, McGill — mostly under the pseudonym Curtis Buck — would serve as a sometime rhythm guitarist, songwriter, road manager, protector and procurer for country star Waylon Jennings. McGill is credited as a co-writer on Jennings' classic "Waymore's Blues" and was described vividly in the singer's 1996 autobiography.


Jerry reappeared again in Memphis during the early '70s, cutting several still unreleased recordings with producers Lancaster and Jim Dickinson, and making a memorable gun-wielding cameo in William Eggleston's pioneering video-art document of the era, "Stranded in Canton" Several bullet holes made by McGill remain in the ceiling of the Sam Phillips Recording studio.

*** Note ***Jerry was a Civil War buff and read every book he could find on the subject. Just talking about it agitated him. He was at Phillip's recording "With Sabers In Our Hands", a Bob Frank song about the Civil War. He finished the song, added a few personal words, then pulled out his gun and fired into the ceiling. It's all on record. Besides his love of Civil War history, he was also very interested in the history of the American Indians.


By the late '70s, Jerry had become an elusive character living on the lam. During the next 25 years, often under various aliases, he would be arrested, tried, and occasionally convicted, for crimes ranging from illegal weapons possession to attempted murder. In the early 2000s, McGill served a term in prison for attempted murder in Florida under the alias Billy Thurman.
"He had luck riding with him, over his shoulder, all his life," said Gordon, "Might've been good luck or bad luck, but it was always there." I have to say, talent accompanied that luck.


In 2009 an old girlfriend heard he had vanished, decided to find him… He read the message she left him on the music website, Boogie Woogie Flu - Jerry McGill, went to visit her and never left…

A grant from the Irish Film Board helped Duane and Gordon document Jerry's battle with the disease, his relationship and his attempt to record a final album and reunite with some of his old musical cronies in Memphis.
In the spring of 2010, Jerry cut sessions in Florida and Memphis, and performed a "homecoming" gig at Midtown's Hi-Tone Café — it was, as he stated, his first public performance in Memphis "without the feds after me in more than 30 years."


"Very Extremely Dangerous" was completed, screening officially last fall the Indie Memphis Film Festival, where it earned a Special Jury Prize for Documentary Feature. It was a sometimes difficult to watch portrayal of Jerry McGill as an addict, abuser and con man.


The Commercial Appeal's film critic John Beifuss praised it, noting that "the camera loves this ‘dying outlaw looking for redemption,' even if some viewers will recoil from what it reveals."


The film continues to make the rounds of the festival circuit, and is still seeking distribution for a DVD release. A companion CD of McGill's music is also being readied for release.

Here are some of the songs Jerry wrote or co-wrote "Waymore's Blues" by Waylon Jennings and Jerry McGill, aka Curtis Buck, "Dr. Love" by Dan Penn, Jerry McGill and Johnny Christopher, "Run Gypsy Run" by Dickey Betts, Jim Paramore and Jerry McGill aka Curtis Buck and "The Clown", by Roy Orbison and Jerry McGill.



As director Paul Duane noted, Jerry was present for a secret preview screening of the film in Memphis in 2011, and saw it as an honest, if brutal, look at what his life had been. "Jerry knew that the film represented the worst side of his nature. It showed him in some pretty dark times," said Duane. "But he didn't flinch. He stood up said, ‘I'll take it on the chin.' For all his faults, that was the best side of him: the courage to accept who and what he was...

Jerry leaves his beloved sister Jeanne Cutrer (Homer) of Texas ,2 son's Jerry Jr. and Cody ,numerous nephews and neices and his Huntsville Family --Joyce Rosic,,Kellie Rosic ,Chance Rosic and Emily Rosic .

Written by Linda Wayman with information and help from Joyce Rosic. Joyce spoke with the people who wrote articles mentioned above and was given permission to add them to this memorial.