January 22, 2003

A decade or so after the late 1960s, which was the moment in rock history when British musician Terry Reid was going to, but didn't, become a rock star, people might have remembered a musician whose future once seemed like a sure thing. Time passed, and it became hard to remember the things that did happen, much less those that didn't, and Reid became another footnote – the guy who could have, but didn't, become Led Zeppelin's singer; who could have, but didn't, join Deep Purple; whose career was low-bridged by bad management and lawyers; who made a few nice but not great albums and disappeared.

River, released in 1973, was Reid's third album and, though he was only 23, his last real shot at the big time. Listen to it along with the first two, Bang, Bang, You're Terry Reid (1968), and Move Over for Terry Reid (1969), and what you take away is Reid's riveting voice, its high, almost fragile warble. The music is all over the map, with covers of Sonny Bono's "Bang, Bang" and Lorraine Ellison's "Stay with Me," among others, and a lot of Reid-penned material. The first two (and most coherent, if not necessarily best) albums were full of fuzz-laced R&B, some blues rock, and delicate, acoustic musings that were in step with the late '60s. River, on the other hand, features seven cuts, five recorded with a band that included David Lindley on various stringed instruments and Willie Bobo on percussion, and two, from earlier sessions, with Reid singing and playing acoustic guitar.