Terry Reid - Original Album Series

 

Although I have heard many people talk about Reid for decades, I was never familiar with his work, so when I found this bargain 5 CD set, I sought it out to give me an overview of his work. Famously, Jimmy Page asked Reid to join his New Yardbirds but he declined due to other commitments and recommended Robert Plant instead. Apparently, Ritchie Blackmore was also interested in having Reid replace Rod Evans in Deep Purple although that obviously never happened, either. Despite his critical acclaim and a number of people covering certain songs of his, Reid never really gained the fame'n'forture of many of his peers.

On his debut, apparently his producer convinced Terry to cover Sonny'n'Cher's "Bang Bang", with limited success, but the following "Tinker Tailor" is a groovy, super catchy, upbeat riff-rocker that highlights Reid's voice and has some hiply simple guitar interactions. The rest of the album, unfortunately, is somewhat forgettable - nicely sung and performed, with a mix of pop and a touch of psych'n'soul (and, oddly, some calypso!), but the songs just aren't "there", although there is an interestingly jazzy take on "Season of the Witch" and he borrows from the Yardbirds' "Still I'm Sad" for "Writing on the Wall" that bizarrely segues into a weird reading of "Summertime Blues". 

I think that his second album, simply titled Terry Reid, works better overall - maybe he had more of a hand in the production - and the bluesy opening "Superlungs, My Supergirl" is damn catchy, with a bass riff that the Heavy stole outright, showing Reid's continuing influence. Again, the songs are not super strong, in general, although "Making Time" (not the Creation tune) is a powerful, organ-dominated, (slightly Santana-ish?) bluesy jam that flows into the soulful take on Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby" that almost sounds as if the Small Faces were doing it! Not so sure about his jazzy version of Dylan's "Highway 61", especially after hearing so many other people do it so well. Of course, the song here that most people will know due to Cheap Trick's pretty damn spot on cover is the great "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" and this album closes with another tough one, "Rich Kid Blues". 

For his third album, River, Reid's sound is a bit more southern'n'swampy - I was just listening to the Black Crowes and the initial number, "Dean", could easily have been done by that combo. This feel continues in the slide-guitar-driven "Avenue" and "Things To Try" while "Live Life" has a fine, funky groove, the title cut "River" is a somewhat Latin-flavored acoustic ballad which is followed by another acoustic ballad, this one being the very sparse'n'quiet "Dream" before the finale, yet another quiet, David Crosby-ish, harmony-fueled acoustic ballad, "Milestones". This record started out particularly strong but three long acoustic ballads at the end, while not bad songs, completely brought down the energy and the initial feel of the record. 

Totally reinventing himself, 1979's Rogue Waves is pretty much a clean-cut guitar power-pop record, although quite a bit heavier on the pop than the power! After a decent power-pop-ish opening, he does two Phil Spector songs, "Baby, I Love You" and "Then I Kissed Her", but they kinda lose their power as they are slowed down to a dirge-like pace. "Stop and Think It Over" is more AM Radio-oriented pop, as is the title cut, while the odd, slower take on "Walk Away Renee" sounds somewhat like Artful Dodger! "Believe in the Magic" is pretty amazingly bland but "Bowangi" (no idea what or if the title is supposed to mean anything) is actually a pretty good, soulful groover, even if it could have been given a bit more "oomph". and for the closer, Reid shows that he was having a hard time writing for this album as it's yet another cover, this time a strange, incredibly slow, power-ballad take on "All I Have to Do Is Dream", which, unfortunately, loses most of it's lovely melody in this manner. 

Regrettably, the 5th CD in this set is Reid's 1991 release, simply called Driver, which is pure, over-produced, keyboard/synth-dominated, easy listening, 90's drivel. I'm sorry to say, but this is so bad that it is truly unlistenable.

I wish I could say that I liked Reid's stuff more than I do. I can tell the man had talent, but he was not much of a songwriter and didn't get suitable material for his records. There's a few good cuts here'n'there, but nothing to really rave about.