could have been a lot more famous if he had been able to accept the slot of lead singer for the New Yardbirds in 1968. That slot, of course, went to
. Unlike
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 and creative stagnation combined to virtually bring his career to a halt, and he never cashed in on the momentum of his promising start.
A teen prodigy of sorts,
Reid had turned professional at the age of 15 to join
Peter Jay & the Jaywalkers. His first couple of singles as a headliner found him singing in a sort of poppy blue-eyed soul vein. But by the time of his 1968 debut
Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid, produced by
Mickie Most, he'd 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 nearly as shrill, and his folky numbers especially are reminiscent of
Led Zeppelin's most acoustic early cuts.
Reid, oddly, was considerably more well-known in the U.S. than the U.K. His first album, very oddly, was not even issued in Britain, although it made the American Top 200. It's been reported that 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, and to perform as an opening solo artist on
the Rolling Stones' late-'60s U.S. tour. He did influence
Led Zeppelin's history in a big way by recommending
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 to join
Deep Purple (
Ian Gillan was recruited instead).
An opening spot on
the Rolling Stones' famous 1969 tour of America seemed to augur even brighter prospects for the 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). He moved to California in 1971 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's barely recorded since, though he did play some sessions, and
The Driver appeared in 1991.
–
Richie Unterberger, Rovi