4. Terry ReidSeed Of Memory
This will actually blow your mind. I’m not just saying that. Terry is the ultimate artist, as far as I’m concerned. ‘Cause he’s still got it, he’s still passionate and creative, everything he does is still brilliant. He is still just as fired up as he ever was, and you can’t say that about everyone in their sixties who’s been there, done that. The story about Terry is that… everyone thinks Terry Reid is the guy who turned down Led Zeppelin. What really happened was that he was Jimmy Page’s first choice to be the singer in what would be Led Zeppelin, but Terry couldn’t do it because he’d signed up to be the support act for the Stones on the 1969 world tour. But he said he knew this guy called Robert [Plant] and his mate John from Birmingham, and he would hook them up. And he couldn’t find Robert anywhere – he eventually tracked him down, and put them together in a pub and the rest is history. So he put Led Zeppelin together! Robert came to his gig recently in Dudley or somewhere, in the Midlands, much to the astonishment of the people in the venue, which was a small pub.
This album was produced by Graham Nash, and you hear his backing vocals all over it. I first heard it when one song came on someone’s iPod and I was like, ‘What the fuck is that?’ And I couldn’t listen to anything else for about a month. It’s just a ridiculous record, insane. His voice is amazing. As far as I’m concerned he’s the greatest rock vocalist of all time, but he’s never had his moment. I’ll say ‘yet’, but maybe it’s yet to come.
