How different the history of rock music could have been. It’s 1968 and guitar hero Jimmy Page is looking to recruit for The New Yardbirds. His first call was teenaged vocalist Terry Reid, nicknamed ‘Superlungs’, and already drawing attention. The year previously Aretha Franklin had said, ‘There are only three things happening in England: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Terry Reid.’ Sadly for the young singer, Page’s timetable didn’t work for him – Reid was already committed to touring with, respectively, the Rolling Stones and Cream as a support act and Page was in a hurry to get started. Reid said he’d be happy to pull out if Jimmy covered the money it would cost him, and also spoke to Keith Richards to explain the situation. Whether it was the money or the thought of crossing Richards that was decisive, Page opted to look elsewhere. Reid did suggest an alternative though, a young singer from the midlands. That singer, by the name of Robert Plant, was soon on board, bringing his drummer friend John Bonham with him, and along with bass player John Paul Jones the New Yardbirds evolved into Led Zeppelin.

It's a story that sums up Terry Reid, a man whose talent deserved to make him a far bigger name than he was. He also subsequently turned down the chance to join Deep Purple when they were regrouping for what became their classic ‘mark 2’ line up. We’ll never know how Led Zeppelin might have developed if Page had got his first choice, although the reason Reid turned down Purple – apparently he thought their music was ‘too metal’ for his taste – suggests that he might have pushed to send them down a different route to the one they ultimately took.

River, the album that I included in the 100 records that Dave Masters took with him for his post-death life, was recorded in 1971 but got lost in a corporate shuffle at Atlantic Records, meaning it wasn’t released until 1973 – another instance of Reid’s ability to be in the right place at the wrong time. If it had been shared with the world while fresh, if he’d been able to follow it up quickly – the (also excellent) next album Seeds of Time wasn’t recorded until 1976 – perhaps he’d be remembered more widely as something more than ‘the guy who turned down Led Zepellin’.

River has been described as funky folk blues, which isn’t a bad summary. It’s also been likened to the abstract jazz-tinged musings of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, but at the heart of the album are Reid’s soulful vocals and David Lindley’s impeccable guitar work. It’s an album to get lost in, rather than one to pick out individual tracks as highlights (although when forced to do so for the Dave Masters 100 playlist, I went for Things to Try, which combines a muscular rhythm with a light acoustic touch and Lindley’s electric licks intertwining with Reid’s vocals).

I missed the news of Reid’s death a few weeks ago (which somehow seems apt for a man whose career was so beset by missed moments), but was saddened to hear of his passing. He could have been a much bigger name, but when asked in 2019 about the opportunities he turned down, Reid said that he had no regrets and was satisfied with his own career, adding that he didn’t ‘sit around going over old coals’. That’s a wise attitude to life, and his own career provides much to be proud of, not least the two albums I’ve mentioned. If his body of work isn’t familiar to you, it’s well worth seeing what got Jimmy, Aretha and many others (including Dave Masters) so excited.