Jimmy Page. Somebody’d say, “Solo!” and they both were on forward. [ laughs ] Me and Jeff still joke about that.Then, just when you thought, “Ah, I’m worn out,” [you’d hear,] “Ladies and gentlemen, the Rolling Stones!” They just don’t do shows like that anymore. It was very important to the Stones to do shows with all different kinds of people. I mean, they’re R&B based, so they’d just get all their heroes on. There was still a lot of shit going on in the South then, and I hadn’t been in the United States yet, so it hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought that [racism] had sort of gone away, but it was in full flight— Montgomery, Alabama, and all that. People were not happy seeing me, not at all. [In spite of that,] it was great being with the Rolling Stones—their name precedes them. They just roll over everything. They always took care of me. I was really young and they knew it. By the time I did the ’69 tour with them, we were good friends; they’d watch over me...Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman especially—they really care about people. Keith and Mick do too, they do.The Stones all care about the people they work with. Chuck Berry though, Keith would always say,“Don’t lend him your amp,Terry! Chuck is gonna ask to borrow your amp, watch. He took mine. Don’t lend yours to him!” So you know, next show, Chuck comes up to me, and it’s Chuck Berry, you know? It’s very hard to say no to him, ’cause he’s Chuck Berry . He’s being really nice: “Anything I can do for you, man. Let me know.” So I say, “Oh, all right” [and let him borrow my amp]. Next gig I get to, I’m like, “Where’s my Twin?” And I realized the fucker took it. Chuck Berry stole my Twin Reverb! Keith came in and gave me all sorts of shit: “I told you! Have you got your guitar?” [ laughs ] Keith went and got me another Twin though. So is this when you first met Mick Taylor? I know he’s played with you a bunch over the last twenty years or so. No, no. I knew him from John Mayall, a long time before. He was living at my house in L.A. for a while, ’cause he’s my mate.We get on like peas and carrots. He’s the sweetest guy. He’s having a ball back in the Stones.
A friend in Austin gave me Seed of Memory , which was produced by Graham Nash.You are quoted in Record Collector as saying Graham Nash is“my idol, my mentor.” Can you talk about how your friendship with Graham came about and memories of making this record? Terry Reid: I was fourteen [when] I was introduced, and it seemed I had known this fellow all my life.I was in a local group where I lived, in Cambridge, [England], called the Red Beats, for lack of a [better name], and we got this gig backing up the Hollies.They were one of my favorite groups. I couldn’t believe it. Then things go on a bit further, and I was with Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers who started touring a bit, like with the Stones in ’65. I’m going around London one day, and who do I run into but Graham again:“Hey Tex!” you know? So we start hanging out together a lot, ’cause he’s real easy to get on with, and then we start writing some songs together. So then a few years later when he came to the States, he was rehearsing with Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young up in Sag Harbor, Long Island. I get a car and go up there, thinking it’s like a five-person band; but when I arrive, there’s this whole entourage of people—you know, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell. They’re rehearsing all those songs we all know now, like “Marrakesh Express” and “Judy Blue Eyes,” and the harmonies are unbelievable. I remember they were in the bathroom working out harmonies a cappella with Joni and everyone doing “Blackbird.” It was like six- or seven-part harmony, like some kind of Gregorian choir or something. On your first post–Mickie Most LP, River , you used drummer Conrad Isidore. Yeah, I’d known him in London, as well as his younger brother, [Reg,] who’s a hell of a drummer. [Conrad] played with Stephen Stills. He’s from Trinidad, and I’d know him forever. I saw him a few years ago when we were playing in L.A. at a club called the Joint. We were there every Monday, and people would come by I hadn’t seen in years. It turned into kind of a thing.
I heard about this. Robert Plant and Keith Richards sat in, right? Oh yeah, Keith comes rollin’ up: “So, what songs are we gonna do?”“I dunno,whaddaya fancy?” I say. As soon as he gets up, boy, it’s take no prisoners, ’cause we had Daryl Johnson on bass and Steve Jordan on drums jump on too, and suddenly the train left the station! We went into “Street Fighting Man,” and the hair on my arms and on the back on my neck just stood up. Wow.Am I right that you were on the ’69 Stones tour that ended with the ill-fated Altamont free concert? I was, but I didn’t go to Altamont. We were in Boston, and Keith goes, “Terry, you coming with us to San Francisco?” We’d done forty-eight cities in a row, and everybody is absolutely naggered. I mean, between partying and God knows what else. We’d fly out every night to the next city, so, basically, you’d arrive, party, get up in the daytime, do sound check, do the gig, and then fly out again.After forty-eight shows, it got a little thick.You had to stop everything for a minute and say, “Where we going?” We’d get the itinerary and be like, “Wait, what city were we in last night?” [ laughs ] So what did you come away with from your days touring with the Rolling Stones? Did they make an impact on you personally and musically? Oh hell yeah. See, I left school at fifteen. I’d tell all my mates, and they wouldn’t believe me. I’d say, “I’m goin’ on tour with the Rolling Stones,” and they’d say, “Get out of here!” Nobody would believe me until they saw the riot on TV, everybody running for their lives. Then it started to click, you know? What are your main memories of those shows opening for the Stones? Oh man, pandemonium! Never heard a thing. [ laughs ] It was just you opening for the Stones or more of a revue-type thing? No, no, no. These were the days when you got value for your money. Me and Peter Jay [billed as Peter Jay and the New Jaywalkers] started the show [at the Royal Albert Hall in 1966]—a little R&B band with horns, great, lots of fun. Then the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, [and then] Jimmy Thomas [played]. Everyone was insanely good.Then the Yardbirds were on with Jeff Beck and
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( previous spread ) Promo photo of Terry Reid for 1978’s Rogue Waves (Capitol) by Wayne Wilcox.
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