Terry Reid, one of the greatest Rock'n'Soul singers, dies

The Herald Scotland

5 days ago

Reid did indeed have a remarkable career, and was highly regarded by other musicians, as was evident in the tributes paid to him following his death.
Glenn Hughes, whose bands have included Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, described him as 'one of the greatest Rock n Soul singers of any generation, and a beautiful, wonderful, soulful Boy'. The guitarist Joe Bonamassa declared: 'It was an honor to get to know you as friend and a musical mentor'.
Robert Plant, formerly the lead singer with Led Zeppelin, had been friends with Reid since the late Sixties.
Posting on social media he wrote: 'Terry Reid's enthusiasm and encouragement were incredible back then ... still teenagers we crashed each others' gigs and crucified [Donovan's] Season of the Witch time and time again … So much fun. So on it. He was all of everything ... such charisma. His voice, his range ... his songs capturing that carefree era ... Superlungs [Reid's nickname] indeed. He catapulted me into an intense new world he chose to decline ... I listen now to his album The River and shed a tear for my brother in arms. RIP'.
Reid, who had been receiving treatment for cancer, had recently been forced to postpone a tour, including a date at the Glasgow venue, Cottiers, on September 25.
Those heartfelt words of Plant's have special resonance in the story of Terry Reid. In 1968 he turned down Jimmy Page's invitation to sing with The New Yardbirds, a band that Page was assembling from the ashes of The Yardbirds. The new group would soon become Led Zeppelin.
'Jimmy wanted to put this group together and he said he wanted me to be the singer', Reid told Barney Hoskyns, author of Trampled Under Foot, an oral history of Zeppelin. 'I said, 'what's the band?' But there was no band. He was just formulating what he was doing. He asked Stevie Winwood, he asked Steve Marriott; he wanted a certain type of singer'.
Reid, who had been singing with Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, and had signed a contract to do a solo album with the record producer Mickie Most, was flattered by Page's approach, but because he had already agreed to support the Rolling Stones on a US tour, his suggestion that Page wait until the tour was over, was rejected. Page urgently wanted to get his new group off the ground.
Led Zeppelin in 1970: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Bonham. Not pictured: John Paul Jones Reid, however, had been impressed by singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham when they played with a Midlands group, The Band of Joy. Plant, his good friend, was by now singing with another band. At Reid's urging, Page checked Plant out, and he liked what he saw. Plant in turn recommended Bonham.
'When I saw Robert Plant and John Bonham, to me, it was like 'Wow, that's exactly what [Page] is looking for', Reid told Mojo magazine last October. 'The trouble is, it worked so bloody good, [people say] 'Why didn't you do it?' But it's quite the feather in my cap that I put the thing together', he added with a laugh.
He was again flattered when, in 1969, he was asked by Ritchie Blackmore to front Deep Purple, but he again declined.
Reid had been just 17 when he toured with the Rolling Stones for the first time, and 21 the second time in the States. He had already impressed lots of influential names in the business; in 1968 Aretha Franklin famously observed, after a trip to the UK: 'There are only three things happening in England: the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Terry Reid'.
Reid recorded two albums – Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid (1968) and Terry Reid (1969). The first of them contained a song, Without Expression, which he had written while in his early teens. It would later be covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, under the title of Horses Through a Rainstorm, though it did not make the final cut on their bestselling Deja Vu album.
One US critic, reviewing the second album, observed that Reid was 'monstrously talented' and had great composing ability. 'His writing is original, unpretentious and effective. His adaptation of Donovan's 'Super Lungs' quite amply shows his astonishing vocal abilities. Terry is probably the most powerful and expressive singer to appear on the scene in quite a number of years'.
A contractual dispute with Mickie Most sidelined his career for a few years, and he relocated to Los Angeles. He played the huge Isle of White Festival in 1970 and, in 1971, Glastonbury Fayre, part of a bill that also included David Bowie.
His next album, River (1973), contained some of his finest moments, including Dean, Dream, Milestones and the title track. A compelling blend of such genres as blues, folk and jazz, it has come to be seen as his masterpiece.
'The only thing on this LP that isn't a surprise is Terry's voice: crystal-clear, perfect, cutting, and never out of context', another American reviewer enthused. 'His singing has always been in a class with Paul Rodgers and Steve Marriott, far above such stuffy anachronisms as Rod Stewart and [Three Dog Night's] Chuck Negron. No real surprise that Aretha Franklin was the first musician to 'discover' Terry, and that she is reportedly wild about River. Terry is easily one of the best and most able vocalists ever'.
Looking back at the River album, in an interview with Uncut magazine, Reid said that when he handed the finished product to the record company, Atlantic, 'they said I've made a jazz album and they wanted a rock 'n' roll record. So they paid me $20,000 to go away and didn't get behind it. But I love that record because it was the first time I've got to do what I wanted to do.'
Despite its obvious strengths River was not a commercial success – Atlantic did not give it much promotional support and released him from his contract.
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Reid made two other fine albums in the Seventies: Seed of Memory (1976), which was produced by Graham Nash, and Rogue Waves (1979). There would be a dispiritingly long wait until his next record – The Driver, in 1991. He had, in the meantime, devoted his energies to session work for other musicians, including Don Henley.
When a journalist from the Independent asked him, in 2007, why there had been such a long gap between Rogue Waves and The Driver, and why he had released nothing since 1991, he responded: 'Nobody asked me. A lot of people said they couldn't find me, but I was around. If I'd owed them money, they'd have found me then.' Family had also become important to him: 'I'd had two children. There were lots of babies running around. You can blame record companies, but you've got to get on and live your own life'.
In later years Reid worked with other artists, gigged frequently – his Scottish venues included the Green Hotel, in Kinross – and saw his songs being covered by acts ranging from Rumer to Cheap Trick.
"I love an audience," he told the Herald in 20125, "and for me, setting up and playing to people is what music is all about. When I come back to the UK to tour, there's just me and my guitar and Jim, my driver. I don't need a set-list - well, I might write one out but someone will ask for a song, or just say something, and the set-list goes out the window. There's always at least one character in the room who shouts out and the whole thing about going out on to a stage and not knowing what might happen still gives me a thrill after all this time".
In his 2018 memoir, The Who's Roger Daltrey said that Steve Marriott and Terry Reid were two of the finest British rock singers of all time. It's a verdict that fans and musicians alike will share.