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Hendrix, Jagger, Bowie and me: Terry Reid, the British pop outlier adored by the greats

He was courted by Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, toured with Tina Turner and the Rolling Stones and was idolised by everyone from Aretha Franklin to Dr Dre. British pop’s nearly man tells his astonishing story

Atlantic Records finally intervened and on his 1973 album River, Reid discarded hard rock histrionics, instead embracing a loose, scratchy eclecticism that draws comparison with what Tim Buckley, Van Morrison and John Martyn were also then striving for. Inspiration began flagging – 1979’s Rogue Waves features uninspired re-workings of Phil Spector hits – and Reid, disillusioned with both the industry and the music he was making, worked as a session musician across the 1980s. Since then Reid has released only live recordings: “I’d like to do another album but I need to pay my musicians and, right now, no label is offering a deal where I could do so.” But, loving “the challenge of being asked to help on someone else’s project”, he’s had regular employment as a sideman with everyone from Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt to DJ Shadow, Alabama 3 and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry.

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