Terry Reid
River

Terry Reid is the typical example of an artist who just can't catch a break. For the teenage prodigy, praised by Aretha Franklin and nicknamed “the silver scream” for the power of his voice, joining Mickey Most's roster seemed like a ticket to a bright career. Unfortunately, it wasn't so, despite his undeniable natural talents. Those few who know his name today remember him more for his infamous and fatal refusal than for his actual merits. The one who declined Jimmy Page's offer to join the New Yardbirds, the future Led Zeppelin and millionaire rockstars. In life, fate always plays a decisive role, no matter how much determination each of us can muster. But damn it! In the end, in his illusory solo success chase, Terry Reid still left us with some excellent music. Starting from the early works, rougher and more electric, to reach the mature ones, among which the album subject of this review holds a special place.

“River” is indeed the singer-songwriter's most intense and troubled work, that not only marks the detachment from Most's yoke but also captures the artist's desire for rebirth and rediscovery of himself. An odyssey straddling two worlds, two ways of understanding music, living on contrasts and appreciated in nuances. The river serves a new wandering knight and his melancholic poetry, seeming to come from the edge of the world. High-level musicians accompany Terry on this journey: notably the multi-instrumentalist and psychedelic pioneer David Lindley, but also Lee Miles on bass, Alan White and Conrad Isidore on drums, and Willi Bobo on percussion. A journey through the electric and rhythmic blues of the first side, the result of the definitive sessions on American soil with producer Tom Dowd, and the bucolic and dreamy soul of the second part, which includes some tracks recorded in Albion with Eddie Offord. A clash between different lands and cultures. The eternal breath of the waters is the common thread, as well as the impalpable presence felt within the grooves of this work. Reid’s scratchy and soulful voice accompanies our adrift feelings, while the banks flow slowly away, in the ebb and flow of notes that mark the rhythm of our lives. Simple notes, that gradually take shape, free the mind and lighten our thoughts. The existential melancholy of blues contaminated with jazz and folk elements, in a language that has no patterns or direction.

“River” is a record to savor slowly, one of those that let us relish our bitter lives more sweetly.