The recent passing of rock legend, Terry Reid, prompts the discovery of a song he wrote at 14, plus the several covers it whelped! Some artists changed the title, and some didn't get theirs released!
Terry's death has gone somewhat unnoticed compared to the worldwide mourning of Ozzy, but I suppose that sums up his career. He was a legendary and respected musician's musician who was always overlooked by the mass public. I have a handful of his albums, but 'River' remains my favorite.
And, as I alluded in the piece, I'm borderline mortified at how little I knew about him, and how (apparently) uncurious I was, even at the time his records were dropping! I suppose I'm purging some of that regret here, but, lover of songwriters and their art that I am, I was intrigued by the odd life and plight of the one song, here....again, covered by bands I listened to and enjoyed for years.....Nash, CSNY, and The Hollies!
Terry, I hardly knew ye....trying to make up for lost time.....R.I.P., indeed. Thanks, Michael.🙏
I was sad to hear that Terry Reid had passed away and spent some time over the last week with a couple of his albums, 1973’s River and the 2004 compilation Superlungs. I first heard of Reid about 15 years ago in the marvelous book “The Best Music You’ve Never Heard” which is chock full of fantastic music. What a voice he had and it’s sad he wasn’t more well known than he was.
That "Best Music You've Never Heard" book sounds incredible! Talk about ideas/motivation for future articles! Plus, if they included Reid (as we've discussed a lot in these comments), it sounds like they're spot-on in their assessment that he (and the others the book might include) were little- to never-heard!
One of my favorite things, Ellen! That’s what got me so excited about this song….that, and finally getting to hear something by this artist who had, for whatever reasons, eluded my ears for decades!
It was particularly telling to see just how taken with the song was one Mr. Nash!
Yes, seems Terry Reid was very good friends with everyone, including Graham, and so well-regarded but we didn't know him. It's baffling who makes it and who doesn't!
Yeah....as I mentioned elsewhere here, he was on 5 major labels (sure, he moved around a lot....but, major labels!) in a decade, so promotion, generally, shouldn't have been a problem. Loving, as I do, to blame radio, it may be appropriate here, but, we can't extend that finger of blame to the AM side....he fit, and belonged so solidly on the FM side!
And, goodness knows, when I had my shot on the FM band, I didn't help in the slightest! Well, this article will be my attempt at absolution!
Sometimes it’s possible to be aware of the existence of an artist, aware they are highly rated, and yet rarely listen to their music. That’s me with Terry Reid too. Thank you for this post, Brad.
This was so interesting because, as you can most probably imagine, I was completely unaware of his existence... I mean, if not even YOU knew much about him... what's left for a mere mortal like myself?🤣 It's fascinating to see how a song can go through so many iterations and transformations through the years. It goes to show that even what we believe may be the final version of a song is never really a fully finished product. Of all the different versions, my favourite was the very first one (the one sung by Reid himself). There's something truly special about that performance: the stripped down arrangement, the longing in his voice, the soulful bluesy vibes, and the feeling he put in every word he sang. Such a skilled vocalist, as well!
That's us, Andy.....The Incredulous Twins! IKR? That part where I explained how I probably felt filing his records in the bins at the late-'70s record stores is quite accurate! Which STILL makes me wonder how he could be so talented and on a major label (actually, 5 different labels for 5 different albums in 10 years, '68-'78...Capitol, Columbia, ABC, Atlantic, Epic), and still have a hit album elude him.
I wouldn't have expected singles being pitched to hit radio, but his albums should've been played on FM rockers, and I reckon they were to a large degree.....none, though, led to sales of any kind (or one of those labels woulda hung onto him)!
So right about songs! Which makes music so much more of a malleable and fascinating art form! You don't see other painting artists doing "covers" of a Monet or Rembrandt! But, this one was SO malleable, apparently, that it underwent more title changes than I thought could even be possible! And, then, all the recordings actually made (that were released decades later on re-release/compilations!) that never saw the light of day (or the PVC of records)!
I've never heard of such a bizarre travelogue for one song! I think Reid can be credited with composing a song that was just that alluring, captivating, and ripe for interpreting! It certainly captivated Graham Nash!
Not being very familiar with Terry Reid, in particular "Without Expression", I found your tale of this song and the different versions of it to be super interesting, Brad! Great work!
Thanks, Phil! When I began to see the thread from Reid and his song (I also didn't know) to artists I A) knew well and B) loved, I couldn't wait to have this be the song that, really, introduces me to Reid! As you well know, music is the best motivation and inspiration!
One of my favorite all-time vocalists, Graham Nash (the info in this article proved to me) seemed to all but "own" this song, certainly artistically (by virtue of his volume of renditions alone!), and, curiously, by placing his name next to Reid's in that one intro!
Man, rock history is so deliciously entangled!! One just needs to find a thread, and start pulling it!
I also love Graham Nash and, you're absolutely right: rock history is wonderfully entangled with umpteenth cases of give and take which took place between musicians. And as music lovers, we're so much the richer for it!
And, it's always killed me how telescoped time was back in (mostly) the '60s....'70s, too, but there was something about how "all this was happening right in that decade" that sure made it seem like monumental things happened so rapidly (before at artist's "people" felt the need to get involved with everything....what seems like in the '70s, with each band having 4 managers, 3 booking agents, and a small army of press agents...not to mention lawyers)!
Case in point: Nash leaps from the gigantic Hollies to a couple of guys (Stills and Crosby, and soon after, Young) in just a few short weeks, and they oh-by-the-way become superstars in their own right seemingly overnight!
Plus, I've always been taken by the oh-so-British Nash becoming such an L.A.-rooted musician so quickly and firmly (of course, so did Joni, from Canada...and others....an amazing dynamic).
Yes, later in the '70s as the music "biz" became the music "industry" with much higher profits, in came more in the way of managers, booking agents, etc. (Mind you, with the hgh-powered managers, there was generally much less in the way of labels ripping off artists.) The informal circles musicians ran in such as when they'd meet at Mama Cass' home in Laurel Canyon were responsible for fateful encounters changing the course of the musicians' lives, not to mention rock history. I also find it all very fascinating as Mr. Spock would put it. :)
Terry's death has gone somewhat unnoticed compared to the worldwide mourning of Ozzy, but I suppose that sums up his career. He was a legendary and respected musician's musician who was always overlooked by the mass public. I have a handful of his albums, but 'River' remains my favorite.
RIP Mr. Superlungs
And, as I alluded in the piece, I'm borderline mortified at how little I knew about him, and how (apparently) uncurious I was, even at the time his records were dropping! I suppose I'm purging some of that regret here, but, lover of songwriters and their art that I am, I was intrigued by the odd life and plight of the one song, here....again, covered by bands I listened to and enjoyed for years.....Nash, CSNY, and The Hollies!
Terry, I hardly knew ye....trying to make up for lost time.....R.I.P., indeed. Thanks, Michael.🙏
I was sad to hear that Terry Reid had passed away and spent some time over the last week with a couple of his albums, 1973’s River and the 2004 compilation Superlungs. I first heard of Reid about 15 years ago in the marvelous book “The Best Music You’ve Never Heard” which is chock full of fantastic music. What a voice he had and it’s sad he wasn’t more well known than he was.
That "Best Music You've Never Heard" book sounds incredible! Talk about ideas/motivation for future articles! Plus, if they included Reid (as we've discussed a lot in these comments), it sounds like they're spot-on in their assessment that he (and the others the book might include) were little- to never-heard!
The book was excellent and I wish I’d kept it in my move to the UK. It’s only available in paperback so just last night I ordered a second hand copy
Really fun to listen to all the different versions and see how different artists interpreted it.
One of my favorite things, Ellen! That’s what got me so excited about this song….that, and finally getting to hear something by this artist who had, for whatever reasons, eluded my ears for decades!
It was particularly telling to see just how taken with the song was one Mr. Nash!
Yes, seems Terry Reid was very good friends with everyone, including Graham, and so well-regarded but we didn't know him. It's baffling who makes it and who doesn't!
Yeah....as I mentioned elsewhere here, he was on 5 major labels (sure, he moved around a lot....but, major labels!) in a decade, so promotion, generally, shouldn't have been a problem. Loving, as I do, to blame radio, it may be appropriate here, but, we can't extend that finger of blame to the AM side....he fit, and belonged so solidly on the FM side!
And, goodness knows, when I had my shot on the FM band, I didn't help in the slightest! Well, this article will be my attempt at absolution!
Sometimes it’s possible to be aware of the existence of an artist, aware they are highly rated, and yet rarely listen to their music. That’s me with Terry Reid too. Thank you for this post, Brad.
You're welcome, Ian.....thanks, too, for your kind mention in your post today!
I knew Terry Reid before he was not in Led Zeppelin. I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.
😂I knew Jeremiah before he was a bullfrog!
Jeremiah was my father's name.
This was so interesting because, as you can most probably imagine, I was completely unaware of his existence... I mean, if not even YOU knew much about him... what's left for a mere mortal like myself?🤣 It's fascinating to see how a song can go through so many iterations and transformations through the years. It goes to show that even what we believe may be the final version of a song is never really a fully finished product. Of all the different versions, my favourite was the very first one (the one sung by Reid himself). There's something truly special about that performance: the stripped down arrangement, the longing in his voice, the soulful bluesy vibes, and the feeling he put in every word he sang. Such a skilled vocalist, as well!
That's us, Andy.....The Incredulous Twins! IKR? That part where I explained how I probably felt filing his records in the bins at the late-'70s record stores is quite accurate! Which STILL makes me wonder how he could be so talented and on a major label (actually, 5 different labels for 5 different albums in 10 years, '68-'78...Capitol, Columbia, ABC, Atlantic, Epic), and still have a hit album elude him.
I wouldn't have expected singles being pitched to hit radio, but his albums should've been played on FM rockers, and I reckon they were to a large degree.....none, though, led to sales of any kind (or one of those labels woulda hung onto him)!
So right about songs! Which makes music so much more of a malleable and fascinating art form! You don't see other painting artists doing "covers" of a Monet or Rembrandt! But, this one was SO malleable, apparently, that it underwent more title changes than I thought could even be possible! And, then, all the recordings actually made (that were released decades later on re-release/compilations!) that never saw the light of day (or the PVC of records)!
I've never heard of such a bizarre travelogue for one song! I think Reid can be credited with composing a song that was just that alluring, captivating, and ripe for interpreting! It certainly captivated Graham Nash!
Not being very familiar with Terry Reid, in particular "Without Expression", I found your tale of this song and the different versions of it to be super interesting, Brad! Great work!
Thanks, Phil! When I began to see the thread from Reid and his song (I also didn't know) to artists I A) knew well and B) loved, I couldn't wait to have this be the song that, really, introduces me to Reid! As you well know, music is the best motivation and inspiration!
One of my favorite all-time vocalists, Graham Nash (the info in this article proved to me) seemed to all but "own" this song, certainly artistically (by virtue of his volume of renditions alone!), and, curiously, by placing his name next to Reid's in that one intro!
Man, rock history is so deliciously entangled!! One just needs to find a thread, and start pulling it!
I also love Graham Nash and, you're absolutely right: rock history is wonderfully entangled with umpteenth cases of give and take which took place between musicians. And as music lovers, we're so much the richer for it!
And, it's always killed me how telescoped time was back in (mostly) the '60s....'70s, too, but there was something about how "all this was happening right in that decade" that sure made it seem like monumental things happened so rapidly (before at artist's "people" felt the need to get involved with everything....what seems like in the '70s, with each band having 4 managers, 3 booking agents, and a small army of press agents...not to mention lawyers)!
Case in point: Nash leaps from the gigantic Hollies to a couple of guys (Stills and Crosby, and soon after, Young) in just a few short weeks, and they oh-by-the-way become superstars in their own right seemingly overnight!
Plus, I've always been taken by the oh-so-British Nash becoming such an L.A.-rooted musician so quickly and firmly (of course, so did Joni, from Canada...and others....an amazing dynamic).
Yes, later in the '70s as the music "biz" became the music "industry" with much higher profits, in came more in the way of managers, booking agents, etc. (Mind you, with the hgh-powered managers, there was generally much less in the way of labels ripping off artists.) The informal circles musicians ran in such as when they'd meet at Mama Cass' home in Laurel Canyon were responsible for fateful encounters changing the course of the musicians' lives, not to mention rock history. I also find it all very fascinating as Mr. Spock would put it. :)
Thanks Brad. You have dug deeper than I did.
Thanks, Michael, but one song had me transfixed!