Terry Reid RIP

I have just heard the sad news that Terry ‘Superlungs’ Reid has left us. In 1965, he had the great good fortune to meet me at the Guildhall in Gloucester.

Terry Reid died of cancer on August 4 2025 at the age of 75. Tributes flowed in from rock’s surviving superstars. Robert Plant, who became Led Zeppelin‘s vocalist after Reid was otherwise engaged, said, “Terry Reid’s enthusiasm and encouragement were incredible back then … still teenagers we crashed each others’ gigs and crucified Season of the Witch time and time again … So much fun. So on it. He was all of everything … such charisma.”

Graham Nash wrote, “Finding it hard to put into words how sad I am about the passing of my dear friend Terry. How was it just a few short months ago we were smiling on my bus together? He was such a force. A talent beyond what I can express right now. It is still one of my proudest moments having produced his beautiful album Seed of Memory. That voice. That guitar playing. That wonderful person we will all miss so dearly. My love goes out to his family and everyone who loved him.”

Reid claimed to have no regrets about missing out on being a member of Led Zeppelin but wanted some credit for advising Jimmy Page about putting the band together. He was also close to Jimi Hendrix and advised him on staffing The Experience. Reid told Uncut in an interview in 2023: “Before he passed, he was working on an album with Miles Davis. Boy, I would be really interested to hear what came out of that. Because I was [with Jimi] in New York one time and Miles came round. They were in the other room playing, and it was nothing like Purple Haze…”

Holding a Students’ Ball

In 1965, I was a member of the Gloucester Schools Students Ball Committee. Our mission was to make arrangements for a dance to be held at the Gloucester Guild Hall (former site of my venerable school, Sir Thomas Rich’s -Tommy’s). I cannot remember how I was co-opted to the committee. I cannot remember the names of the representatives from Denmark Road (Girls) or Crypt (Boys). I do remember that the Crypt representative quickly took charge, did most of the talking (I was a not-so-strong silent type in those days. The pen was mightier than the tongue) and Mr Crypt made all the decisions. He probably became a successful politician (Conservative, at a guess). I cannot remember what we talked about.

I do remember that the Ribston Hall representative was Janet Sage. She had a Mary Quant hair-style, skinny-rib sweater, short skirt, elegant legs, high, slightly freckled cheekbones. Mostly, she had an aristocratic air of hauteur. I still know very little about her. I had a very wide circle of friends from all the Gloucester schools (including many lovely and interesting ladies from Ribston Hall) but Janet Sage was never a part of this scene.

I can’t remember what her voice sounded like. I can’t remember what she said (if anything). I can’t remember what I said. I probably sat silent with my mouth open, dribbling.

Peter Jay

Somehow, we, as a committee, decided on a band to book for the event – Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers. This Peter Jay was no relation to the Peter Jay who was the austere and intimidating presenter of the dour and improving Weekend World. That Peter Jay had glamorous twin sisters who were in all the magazines in their minuscule skirts; the Peter Jay who married James Callaghan’s daughter; became UK ambassador in Washington; and humiliated himself by becoming the major domo (slave and lickspittle) of the grotesque Robert Maxwell (Harold Wilson dubbed him ’the bouncing Czech’) who among other crimes against humanity (such as stealing the pensions of his employees and supporting tyrants like Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu) sired the convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Putting the Great in Great Yarmouth

This Peter Jay was a drummer who was the son of the Jack Jay, who owned and managed the Windmill Theatre in Great Yarmouth, together with several cinemas and nightclubs. This Windmill was not to be confused with the famous Windmill Theatre (although Google’s AI is confused about this) in London which nurtured the careers of many famous comedians as well as presenting statuesque and static naked ladies. During the war, the London Windmill boasted, “we never closed.” It should have been, “our girls never clothed.” The Great Yarmouth Windmill was primarily known as a cinema. In 1945, local impresario Jack Jay took over the cinema and re-opened it as a theatre, which hosted stars of the era including George Formby and Tommy Steele. The Great Yarmouth Windmill seemed to specialise in that kind of naughty prurient substitute for sex that the English had a watery taste for. One of Jack’s productions was Stop It Nurse, starring two stalwarts of On the Buses, Stephen Lewis and Anna Karen. This great cultural event was presented in 1972, with Jack’s drummer son as co-producer. Other productions included The Mating Game and Space in My Pajamas (featuring soft porn star Fiona Richmond) and Further Confessions of a Window Cleaner featuring Robin Askwith and The Famous I Go Bare Girls.

Jaywalkers’ Modest Success

Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers had a Gloucester connection – their one hit record, Can Can 62, (no. 31 after entering the UK chart in November 1962) was produced by Gloucestershire boy Joe Meek, Newent’s answer to Phil Spector. Meek later murdered his landlady, committed suicide and had a film made about him.

Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers appeared on national TV shows including Ready Steady Go! (“The weekend starts here!”) and Thank Your Lucky Stars ("Oi'll give it foive") . They toured with the Beatles and the Stones, Ike and Tina Turner and the Yardbirds before disbanding in 1966. I thought of myself as quite hip in those days and they had not really entered my consciousness apart from vague name recognition. I was not much impressed that we had booked this band. I acknowledged that we had to be realistic. It was an improvement on the band who played at the Tommy’s dance - The Piltdown Men.

Meeting Superlungs Mighty Mouth

I arrived at the Guildhall early on the night of the ball. The band had a fairly new recruit as lead singer and guitarist. We exchanged some words and he seemed a bit of a mouthy sort. He was complaining about something but I do not recall what it was. He reminded me of the Small Faces’ Steve Marriott – small-made, high cheekbones, Mod Cockney attitude.

They put on a storming show and the lead singer was particularly impressive. His name was Terry Reid. He was 15. I was a schoolboy (aged 18); he was younger than me but already a phenomenon. He had joined his first band, the Redbeats, when he was 12. He was barely 15, when he was offered the job with Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers. – a seven-piece, with two electric bass players and a horn section.

Superfriends

Graham Nash of The Hollies became friends with Reid (the year after I met him) at the Rolling Stones’ 1966 Albert Hall concert. A song that Reid wrote when he was 14 was recorded by The Hollies in 1968 as “A Man With No Expression”, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young recorded it in 1969 as “Horses Through a Rainstorm”, REO Speedwagon in 1973 recorded it as “Without Expression (Don’t Be the Man)”, and John Mellencamp did it on his greatest hits album The Best That I Could Do: 1978–1988, with Nash singing lead on the first two. “Horses Through a Rainstorm” was slated to appear on CSNY’s Déjà Vu before being replaced at the last minute by Stephen Stills’s “Carry On”.

Terry met Gilberto Gil at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. (Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix were also there. Terry Reid performed with David Lindley.) Gil won political asylum in the UK. “So we became best friends. He came and lived with me in the countryside up in Huntingdonshire. That woke the neighbourhood up! We had ten Brazilian percussionists in a little thatched cottage.“ Gil became Minister of Culture in Lula’s first administration from 2003 to 2008.

Mickie Most, who was in partnership with Peter Grant, managed Reid at that time and got his single, “Better by Far”, a lot of airplay. The album, Bang. Bang, You’re Terry Reid, did not sell well and is somewhat lacking in cohesion but is still well-regarded today. Reid toured the States with Cream in 1968. Five Reid albums are available for a tenner from Original Classic Albums. I have them and they are impressive.

Thanks to Diane Strauss on YouTube.

Missing from Zeppelin

Peter Grant managed the Yardbirds and their guitarist Jimmy Page wanted Reid to be the lead singer for his proposed new venture, the New Yardbirds, which was to become Led Zeppelin, managed by Peter Grant. Reid did not accept the offer because he was committed to touring with the Stones, Cream, Jefferson Airplane and the Doors. The job went to Robert Plant, whom Reid had recommended. Legend has it that Reid turned down Led Zeppelin. Reid did not turn down Led Zeppelin, because that entity did not exist. He passed on nine shows with The New Yardbirds. If Reid had been in Led Zeppelin, it might have been hard to accommodate his virtuoso guitar playing with Jimmy Page’s leadership. In 1969, Reid toured with Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix and Fleetwood Mac.

Reid rejected an offer from Ritchie Blackmore to replace the departing Rod Evans in Deep Purple.

Carrying On

Reid fell out with Mickey Most, who wanted him to stick to the Most formula. Litigation prevented Reid putting out records but he continued with live work, appearing at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, the wedding of Mick Jagger and Bianca, Glastonbury Fayre in 1971 (also featured were Traffic, David Bowie and Fairport Convention, Linda Lewis) and at several subsequent Glastonbury Festivals. Glastonbury Fayre took place from 20 to 24 June 1971 in rural Somerset, and was the precursor of the mighty Glastonbury Festival of today.

There used to be a video clip of Terry Reid’s Glastonbury Fayre slot on YouTube but now it seems to be audio only. The whole concert is available on Netflix (including the incredible Arthur Brown whom I saw more than once). One of the directors was Nicolas Roeg, no less! Producer was David (now Lord) Puttnam, who, despite being a peer of the realm is an Irish citizen who lives in Skibbereen.

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81506636?source=35

Reid was signed to Atlantic Records in 1971 but never really achieved the sales his talent deserved. There were a number of unfortunate events relating to the record business that were out of Reid’s control which served to prevent big success. He retired from solo work in 1981 to concentrate on session work with the likes of David Lindley, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley. Aretha Franklin was quoted as saying, “There are only three things happening in London. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Terry Reid”.

Later Years

In the 21^st Century, Reid returned to live performance at Ronnie Scott’s, the Jazz Café, The Borderline, The 100 Club, Dingwalls, The Half Moon.

Terry Reid told Mojo in 2016 the story of a scruffy bum turning up unannounced at his front door in California wanting a chat. Reid did not recognise him at first and nearly shot him. It turned out to be Bob Dylan, in whose house Reid had once lived. Reid’s glory was that he had such friends.

Over the past months he endured a serious decline in health, battling cancer aggressively and relying on the help of his musical community to get through. Tour cancellations, cancellations of UK, Irish and Norwegian shows for late 2025 were announced as his condition worsened.

Jack White’s band the Raconteurs, Marianne Faithfull and Chris Cornell were among the artists who covered his songs. Tributes have been paid by musicians including Joe Bonamassa, who said Reid was “one of the greatest to ever do it and a beautiful person and soul”.

Seeds of Memory is a classic album.

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