"There are only three things happening in London: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Terry Reid."
I've seen this comment by Aretha Franklin quoted more times than I can remember... It sounds like something one says on a whim rather than after carefully thinking it through; and though far fetched almost to the point of absurdity, it makes perfect sense. This 18 year old mod-turning-hippie must have made a strong enough impression on her - which is precisely the part that doesn't surprise me. It's a fairly typical reaction of an unprepared listener: Never heard of him, but OMG what a voice! The same sentiment echoed in hundreds of posts and comments by spellbound metalheads, scattered all over the Internet. "How did I never hear this song till Devil's Rejects came out! Fantastic song, so much depth..... Music like this will never fade away." *
40 years later** Terry's vocal performance still has that show-stopping quality. If your back was to the stage in the beginning of the gig for whatever reason, he'd make you turn around. Effortlessly.
And 40 years later after the (in)famous quote was printed in New Musical Express, it's highly amusing to read about his side of the story:
'I was doing a gig down at this place called the Revolution Club, which was a bit upscale London club. Me and Joe Cocker, we were residents - we came up through there. Ike and Tina Turner came into town, and they're doing concerts, and I toured with them and the Stones, and they did a gig at this club. "Oh, hold the phone! I mean, the whole bandin a small room it's a little awesome. I was sweating bullets. So they did it, and Aretha came down with Ahmet Ertegun to see the whole show, so she didn't exactly come down to see me. It's even more ridiculous. The next day I go up to the office to pick up the check - you know, I get paid, right? - and I go walking in there. Every day I get in there I don't get a coffee, never had a dinner - it's like a Red Buttons deal. I walk in and everybody's looking at me. The secretary's going, 'Oh, hi, Terry!' I go, 'What the hell is going on?' "I almost did a 360: perhaps it wasn't me that came in! And I sit down. 'Do you want a coffee?' I go, 'Uh-oh. Something's wrong.' 'Would you like a sandwich?' A sandwich! Something's wrong. I'm going home. Either I'm going to be indicted for murder or something. So Peter goes, 'Come on in. I hope everybody's treating you nice.' 'Yeah, what's going on?' 'He goes, 'I'll explain you.' I walk in and he slaps out this New Musical Express, the middle pages. 'Aretha says there's nothing going on in England except the Rolling Stones and Terry Reid.' Well, we know who the Glimmer Twins are. A couple of hits - they might go somewhere. Terry Reid - who the hell is that? So I'm looking at this going, 'Who said this?' 'Aretha Franklin. Terry, I couldn't afford to pay her that much money to say that, and nor could you. None of us. I would have paid her if I could get her to say it, but frankly it never crossed my mind. But she said it, so you're screwed.' That's Peter Grant for you! I said, 'Why?' 'Well, you walk out that door, everybody's going to treat you like a different person.' I said, 'Yeah - for how long?' He said, 'Well, it'll wear off. Next week. We'll all get a free sandwich.' ***
P. S. Terry is playing a live gig in New York on January 30th, at B. B. King Blues Club and Grill
Then in February a possible date in LA (McCabe's Guitar Shop) and then off to the UK in May.
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*comments to Seed Of Memory -YouTube, various users
**(I actually mistyped 40 as $0, and unfortunately this freudan slip is also too true to even laugh about - the total lack of commercial success despite the massive talent... but that's another story, folks)
*** hijacked in its entirety from here: Out Through The In Door by Hays Davis
