Category: LYRICIST

Terry Reid (75) – formidable British singer/songwriter – was born in Little Paxton, St Neots, Huntingdonshire, England. He lived in the village of Bluntisham and attended St Ivo School, St Ives.

As a young teenager, Reid was playing for a local band, The Redbeats, who regularly performed at the River Club in St. Ives. A teen prodigy of sorts, Reid turned professional at the age of 15 to join Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers, after being spotted by the band’s drummer/leader Peter Jay. His first couple of singles as a headliner found him singing in a sort of poppy blue-eyed soul vein.  His public profile was enhanced in 1966 when The Jaywalkers were named as a supporting opening act for the Rolling Stones during their 23-show British Tour from September to October 1966.

At the concert at the Royal Albert Hall, Graham Nash of The Hollies became acquainted with Reid and suggested The Jaywalkers sign up with UK Columbia Records—an EMI label—to record with producer John Burgess. Their first single, the soul-inspired “The Hand Don’t Fit the Glove” was a minor hit in 1967, but by then The Jaywalkers had already decided to disband. In the later ’60s, Reid became the solo supporting act for the Rolling Stones, Cream, Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac tours.

In the second half of the sixties Reid was brought to the attention of producer Mickie Most, who became his manager and who was also in partnership with Zeppelin manager Peter Grant at the time. His first single with Most, “Better By Far“, became a radio favorite. His debut album ‘Bang Bang, You’re Terry Reid’, was released in 1968, produced by Mickie Most, Reid had switched to more of a hard rock approach. Most was also handling Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group at the time, and similarities to both of those acts can be heard in Terry Reid’s first two albums — proto-hard rock on the louder tunes, sweeter folk-rock on the mellow ones (Reid in fact covered a couple of Donovan compositions, although he wrote most of his own material). Reid’s high voice was reminiscent of Robert Plant’s, though not as shrill, and his folksy numbers especially are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s most acoustic early cuts. With accompanying musicians Peter Solley on organ and Keith Webb on drums, a 1968 tour of the United States with Cream did much to gain Reid a loyal following. His final performance of the tour at the Miami Pop Festival garnered raving reviews from the music press.

Reid, oddly, was considerably better-known in the U.S. at the time, than the U.K. His first album, very oddly, was not even issued in Britain, although it made the American Top 200.

The song “Without Expression”, from Bang Bang, You’re Terry Reid, was written by Reid at age 14 and later recorded under different titles. The Hollies released it as “A Man With No Expression” in 1968, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded it as “Horses Through a Rainstorm” in 1969 (with Graham Nash once again singing lead), and REO Speedwagon covered it as “Without Expression (Don’t Be the Man).” John Mellencamp also included it on his greatest hits album The Best That I Could Do: 1978–1988. “Horses Through a Rainstorm” was slated to appear on Déjà Vu before being replaced at the last minute by Stephen Stills’s “Carry On”. Both versions were not released until years later.

In hindsight it always seems a bit easier to define why something happened or not. Terry Reid could have been a legend, a superstar household name. He had the voice, he could write the songs, he had the stage presence and he could play guitar. His nick name was “Superlungs”. Here are several reasons why in the end he only became an insider promise, instead of a global superstar.

First there was his manager/producer, Mickey Most, who wanted to market him as a solo star and exercised his rights legally. Secondly Reid was in so much demand in his early years, that the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, Peter Green‘s Fleetwood Mac and Cream all wanted him as their supporting opening act.

An opening spot on the Rolling Stones’ famous 1969 tour of America seemed to augur even brighter prospects for his future, but this is precisely where Reid’s career stalled, at the age of 20. First he became embroiled in litigation with Mickey Most, which curtailed his studio activities in the early ’70s. After a couple of personnel changes, he disbanded his original trio, leading a group for a while that included David Lindley and ex-King Crimson drummer Michael Giles (this quartet, however, didn’t release any records).

The ultimate Fall Out of all this was: He at least in part declined Jimmy Page’s offer to join Led Zeppelin owing to his contractual commitments to record for Mickie Most as a solo artist, while he had committed to Keith Richards to perform as an opening solo artist on the Rolling Stones’ late-’60s U.S. tour. He did however influence Led Zeppelin’s history in a big way by recommending Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham as suitable candidates for the group’s lineup, after Plant and Bonham‘s pre-Led Zep outfit (the Band of Joy) played support at one of Reid’s early gigs. Reid felt confident enough in his solo prospects to also turn down an offer from Ritchie Blackmore to join Deep Purple as a replacement for Rod Evans. The style of what he was doing, that kind of opening up for superstars, combined with a flexibility and power and control, allowed him to go from a whisper to a scream in split seconds.

To better understand his choices, Reid unlike Plant, was also a guitarist, and the opportunity to head his own group no doubt played a part in his decision to gun for a solo career. Leading a guitar-organ-drums power trio, he recorded a couple of respectable, though erratic, hard rock albums while still a teenager in the late ’60s. Some bad breaks, management issues and creative stagnation combined to virtually bring his career to a halt, and he never truly cashed in on the momentum of his promising start.

In 1971 he moved to California  and signed to Atlantic, but his long-delayed third album didn’t appear until 1973. Reid would release albums for other labels in 1976 and 1979, but none of his ’70s recordings were well-received, critically or commercially (though 1976’s Seed of Memory did briefly chart). He rarely recorded, though he did play some sessions and The Driver appeared in 1991.

Over the next decade, Reid switched to different labels in search of a winning formula. Seed of Memory was released by ABC Records in 1976, and produced by Graham Nash. (Sadly ABC filed for bankruptcy the week the album was released), and Rogue Waves was produced by Chris Kimsey for Capitol Records in 1979. For Rogue Waves, Reid enlisted Lee Miles on bass, Doug Rodrigues on lead guitar and John Siomos on drums, recording at Brother’s Studios in Santa Monica, California.

1980s–1990s
Reid retired his solo career in 1981 to concentrate on session work, appearing on albums by Don Henley, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. In 1991, Reid returned with producer Trevor Horn for the WEA album The Driver. The album featured a cover version of “Gimme Some Lovin'” which also appeared on the soundtrack for the Tom Cruise movie Days of Thunder by Tony Scott. In the 1990s, he also toured the US and Hong Kong with Mick Taylor. “Rich Kid Blues” was the eponymous song on an album released by Marianne Faithfull, produced by Mike Leander in 1984 but unreleased for 14 years. Reid and friends put together an informal group in March 1993, calling themselves The Flew. Members included Reid, Joe Walsh, Nicky Hopkins, Rick Rosas, and Phil Jones. They played one show at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. This was Nicky Hopkins’ last public performance before his death.

2000s–2025
In late 2002, Reid returned to the UK with longtime bass player Lee Miles for three shows at the WOMAD festival near Reading, his first live appearance in years. Inn the years that followed he stayed mostly live between the UK and the US, exchanging a number of high exposure venues on both sides of the Atlantic. A run of regular visits by Reid, who has toured the UK every year since, with many of his friends dropping by when they were in town including Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Bobby Womack, Roger Daltrey, and Eric Burdon.

Terry Reid was diagnosed with cancer and cancelled a 2025 tour due to “medical issues” arising from his treatment. His death was announced on August 5, 2025.

As a solo recording and touring artist, he released seven studio albums and four live albums. His songs have been recorded by numerous artists including The Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Arrival, Marianne Faithfull, Cheap Trick, Jack White with The Raconteurs, Joe Perry, Rumer, Christopher, Charles Romero and Chris Cornell.

Recognition:
Aretha Franklin once said of Reid, “There are only three things happening in England: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Terry Reid.”

Many songs originally written and recorded by Reid have been covered by numerous artists including The Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Arrival, Marianne Faithfull, Cheap Trick, Jack White with The Raconteurs, Joe Perry, Rumer and Chris Cornell.

Reid’s early song “Rich Kid Blues” was covered on an album by Marianne Faithfull in 1984. The UK artist Rumer recorded “Brave Awakening” on her Boys Don’t Cry 2012 album and appeared at his London shows at the Jazz Cafe and Half Moon. Cheap Trick recorded Reid’s “Speak Now” for their 1977 debut album. The Raconteurs with Jack White also recorded a version of Reid’s “Rich Kid Blues” for their second album Consolers of the Lonely in 2008.

The American rock group The Split Squad recorded a cover of Reid’s “Tinker Taylor” for their debut album, Now Hear This…, released in 2014. Joe Perry’s album Sweetzerland Manifesto, released in 2018, features three tracks co-written and sung by Reid. In 2020, a recording of Chris Cornell covering Reid’s “To Be Treated Rite” was released on his posthumous album No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1, which also included a cover of “Stay with Me Baby” based on Reid’s own version.