Terry Reid

Terry Reid

Terry Reid is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist from Huntingdon, United Kingdom. He is associated with rock, including classic rock, folk rock and singer-songwriter work, and is remembered for an emotive singing style and for appearing as a vocalist, support act and session musician with a range of major artists.

Early life and first group

Reid is born in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and lives in Bluntisham. He attends St Ivo School in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, and leaves school at 16. He begins performing with a local band, The Redbeats, before being spotted by drummer Peter Jay and joining Peter Jay’s Jaywalkers. The band plays regularly at the River Club in St Ives.

His public profile rises in 1966 when The Jaywalkers are named as a support act for The Rolling Stones at the Royal Albert Hall. At that concert, Graham Nash of The Hollies becomes friends with Reid and suggests that the group sign to UK Columbia Records, an EMI label, to record with producer John Burgess. The Jaywalkers release the soul-influenced “The Hand Don’t Fit the Glove” as their first single, which becomes a minor hit in 1967, but the group has already decided to split by then.

Solo career

Reid comes to the attention of producer and manager Mickie Most, and his first single with Most, “Better By Far,” becomes a radio favourite. His first full-length album, Bang Bang, You’re Terry Reid, is not a commercial success. The album includes “Without Expression,” written by Reid and Graham Nash, which is later recorded by The Hollies as “A Man With No Expression” and by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young as “Horses Through a Rainstorm”; both versions are not released until years later.

With Peter Solley on organ and Keith Webb on drums, Reid tours the United States with Cream in 1968, which helps build him a loyal following. His final performance on that tour at the Miami Pop Festival receives positive reviews. Jimmy Page later wants Reid to join the New Yardbirds, the group that becomes Led Zeppelin, but Reid has already committed to the Cream tour and instead suggests Robert Plant. Reid is also offered the singer role in Deep Purple after Rod Evans leaves, but he declines because of contractual obligations, and Ian Gillan takes the position.

In 1969 he supports British tours including Jethro Tull and Fleetwood Mac, and he again tours the United States while opening for The Rolling Stones. He does not appear at Altamont. In December 1969 he falls out with Mickie Most, who wants him to work in a balladeer style. Reid leaves England for California to wait out the remainder of the contract, with only occasional live performances during that period.

Albums, labels and later work

Reid returns briefly to England in 1970 for the Isle of Wight Festival, with support from David Lindley and Tim Davis, and also performs at the Atlanta II Pop Festival. He is filmed performing in Glastonbury Fayre, the 1971 film by David Puttnam and Nicolas Roeg.

In 1973 he returns with a new contract with Atlantic Records and the album River, produced by Yes’s Eddie Offord. The record receives favourable reviews but does not sell strongly. Over the following decade he moves between labels in search of a commercial breakthrough, releasing Seed of Memory on ABC Records in 1976, produced by Graham Nash, and Rogue Waves on Capitol Records in 1979. Across his solo career he releases seven studio albums and four live albums.

Reid retires from solo work in 1981 to concentrate on session work. He appears on albums by Don Henley, Jackson Browne, UFO, High Stakes & Dangerous Men and Bonnie Raitt. His songs are also recorded by a wide range of 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. Cheap Trick record “Speak Now” for their debut album, REO Speedwagon record “Without Expressions (Don’t Be The Man)” for Ridin’ the Storm Out, John Mellencamp records “Without Expression (Don’t Be The Man)” for The Best That I Could Do: 1978–1988, The Raconteurs record “Rich Kid Blues” for Consolers of the Lonely, and The Split Squad record “Tinker Taylor” for their debut album Now Hear This....

Return to recording and live work

Reid returns in 1991 with The Driver, made with former Yes producer Trevor Horn. The album includes a cover of the Spencer Davis Group song “Gimme Some Lovin’,” which previously appears on the Days of Thunder soundtrack. “The Whole of the Moon,” written by Mike Scott, is issued as a single and receives considerable radio play, with backing vocals by Enya.

He continues to play occasional live dates with a band that includes Brian Auger. In the 1990s he also tours in the United States and Hong Kong with former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. Marianne Faithfull releases “Rich Kid Blues” on an album in 1998, after her earlier recording had remained unreleased for 14 years.

Later performances and film use

Reid returns to the UK for a tour in 2005. That year, “Seed of Memory,” “To Be Treated Rite” and “Brave Awakening” appear on the soundtrack to Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects, and “Faith To Arise” appears in the 2003 film Wonderland. He tours the UK again in 2007, backed by The Cosmic American Derelicts, and appears with them and others in 2009 at Great Yarmouth and at Glastonbury Festival. In 2009 he also performs on the Park stage at Glastonbury with his band.

He later performs with Shine, debuting the pairing at the Pigalle Club in London in August 2009. A studio collaboration, Shine featuring Terry Reid, is released as an MP3 EP, and a live recording from his Jazz Café shows is issued as the live album Live in London.

A documentary about his career, Superlungs, is released in 2016 and includes Robert Plant’s comment that Reid is probably the best singer of that period. Reid’s voice also appears on “Listen” by DJ Shadow on the producer’s best-of album.