Music Legends – Uriah Heep Special Edition (The David Byron Years)

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Contents Introduction................................................................................ 5 Chapter 1 The Spice Boys.......................................................................... 7 Chapter 2 Early Triumphs and Power Struggles....................................... 53 Chapter 3 Demonic Wizardry and the First Gold Discs.............................. 83 Chapter 4 Friday Night in Birmingham..................................................... 115 Chapter 5 Top of the Heep........................................................................141 Chapter 6 The Best and the Worst of Times.............................................. 159

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Introduction

t never ceases to amaze me how this music has retained a hold over so many of us for so long. It is now over fifty years since the young men collectively known as Uriah Heep first stepped into a recording studio and here we are still discussing, dissecting and enjoying the fruits of their labours.

Despite numerous attempts over the years I’ve never managed to encapsulate just what makes this music so special. I know it’s the best there is, I know it’s got something to do with the magical, dramatic ‘gothic’ quality of the Uriah Heep sound, but the exact words to express that enchanting quality have always eluded me. So this time round it’s time to hand things over to our panel of Heep ‘superfans’ and see if collectively they can get nearer to explaining the source of the enduring power of Heep music.

Here, in addition to the painstakingly researched and expertly compiled excerpts from Wizards and Demons – The Uriah Heep 5

Story by Dave Ling, we have an in-depth track-by-track analysis of each Heep studio album.

Reviewing for us here you will find the most knowledgeable gathering of Heep aficionados ever assembled. This super concentrated mass of Heep memory and brain power is the musical equivalent of a black hole in space sucking in every scrap of Heeprelated wisdom. Here you will find a gravitational pull so strong that no single musical detail or piece of Heep trivia has ever managed to escape their clutches.

This mighty assembly of Heep lore masters includes Dave White (Heep’s webmaster), Alan Hartley (Uriah Heep Appreciation Society founder), Jeff Perkins (Author of Born to Perform – The Biography of David Byron), Pete Wharton (a Heep fan since the first album) and Mike Taylor (who was introduced to Heep at the time of Look at Yourself by original bassist Paul Newton).

We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed bringing it all together here.

Bob Carruthers Executive Producer

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Chapter 1

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The Spice Boys

riah Heep’s incredible story has seen more twists and turns than the Great Wall of China – and some might even say that it’s almost as long. A unique, complex and fascinating account of human endurance, it’s comprised of all the classic ingredients, including such emotions as triumph, agony, acrimony, jealousy, compassion, vanity, indulgence, tragedy and above all tenacity. But hopefully, you’ll also notice a generous dash of humour in there as well.

The fulcrum of this remarkable tale is Heep’s ever-present guitarist Mick Box. Faced with the prospect of growing up in the tough East London suburb of Walthamstow, like many before him, Box soon realised that there were two ways of moving on to bigger better things.

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‘It’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s also true that the only ways of getting out of the mire were music and sport,’ he says now. ‘Fortunately, I was pretty good at both. I played football for London Schoolboys and of course I’d like to have represented the local team that I supported, Tottenham Hotspur.’

Box is letting his modesty run away with him here. He was better than ‘pretty good’ at football. In fact, he actually had trials for the Spurs.

‘Oh yes, I went for all of those,’ he says. ‘Pat Jennings [a legendary goalkeeper who’d represented Northern Ireland in two World Cups] actually trained me back then. He used to love picking me out to take shots at him, because I could kick with both feet.’

Boxing was another big interest for the young Mick.

‘I suppose it had to be with a name like mine,’ he chuckles. ‘I remember when I was in the Second Year at school, me and a couple of mates used to get on well with all the Fourth Year girls, so of course the older boys used to hate us. One day three of them trapped my arms through the railings and kicked seven buckets of shit out of me. My knackers were the size of footballs for weeks afterwards.

I had to spend about ten days in bed recovering, and I remember thinking I’d get my own back on those bastards. I joined a boxing club as soon as I was better, and one by one I got each of those kids back.’

Mick soon took a liking to the odd scrap, although not always to Queensbury Rules. He relates: ‘I even got entered into the ABA championships. Being from a one-parent family, I didn’t really have all the proper gear – all I had was a pair of gloves and some shorts which were far too big. Of course, I had to fight some right flash herbert who had all the latest stuff, and I got really pissed off with him for making me look a wally.

‘In the end I lost my rag; I got him in the corner of the ring, nutted him, and carried on punching him while he was on the floor! I got dragged off by the referee and chucked out of the hall; I had to walk 8

all the way home with my gloves, vest and shorts still on! Needless to say, that was the end of my boxing career.’

By then, the fairer sex were becoming another distraction to studies at Walthamstow’s William Fitt Secondary School.

‘Yeah, I was getting into other things – birds and that,’ says Mick. I remember one time at a party, me and this bird were having fun on a bunk-bed – how appropriate! – when suddenly all these gatecrashers came in. I jumped up with my trousers round my ankles, fell off the bunk, got my trousers caught around the bedpost… and just dangled there upside down, with my chap hanging out and everything.’

Although the incident didn’t inhibit Mick’s enthusiasm for the ladies, it did coincide with the dawning of an appreciation for music.

‘I’d listened to a lot of jazz when I was younger, people like Barney Kessel and Tal Farlow,’ he epxlains. ‘But pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline opened up a whole new world for me, and soon a love of rock music took over. I remember going to see Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, the band who did Shakin’ All Over, and coming away thinking they were the dog’s bollocks. Having watched him with that Telecaster, I wanted some of that.’

As Mick has already alluded, his father had sadly died when he was very young. But although money was tight in the Box household, his mother was able to invest the princely sum of £12 in a first guitar for her son. Naturally, Mick had been with her when she bought it from a pawnbroker’s in Walthamstow High Street.

‘It was a Telsten guitar, a cheap version of the Hofners that were around at the time, and it was a major expenditure for her,’ he says.

‘I’d been staring at it in awe in the shop window for weeks and on the day she bought it for me we had a little meeting outside because she needed to know that I really wanted it. Once I got it home I took it with me everywhere I went, I even slept with it under the bed.

‘One of the first solos I learned note-for-note was a Les Paul song called Nola, and it took me forever’, adds Mick with a chuckle. ‘What 9

I didn’t know at the time was that he originally played it at half speed and then doubled it up. So it helped my technique quite a lot!’

Realising that there was only so much he could teach himself, the young Box took guitar lessons from a local tutor. A fast learner, Mick eventually began to feel that the teacher was holding back his progress in order to keep him paying for lessons. What was to prove more beneficial was hanging around drinking coffee with other scholars. Besides enjoying the social factor, Mick realised that vital knowledge about bands, gigs and fellow aspiring musos could be gleaned from hanging out with his peers.

In 1965, now with five years of musicianship under his belt, the Stalkers came along. It was with this group that Mick Box would eventually meet singer David Garrick, later known as David Byron.

By day, Box worked at an export firm in London’s Fenchurch Street to finance his nocturnal activities.

‘The Stalkers did rugby clubs, twenty-first birthday parties, Barmitzvahs, weddings – anything we were offered,’’ he remembers now. ‘I held down my day job until I’d paid off my guitar, and I was counting the minutes until I could become a professional musician. I was so dedicated and focussed; just to save the train fare I’d cycle into the City from Walthamstow five days a week. I knew what I wanted to do in life.’

The crunch came when the vocalist of the Stalkers decided to call it a day. The band held some auditions to fill the gap. It was drummer Roger Penlington who suggested that his own cousin might be a suitable candidate. Byron was working as a stockbroker at the time.

But put him and Box together on a stage and they were dynamite.

‘The auditions had been held at Roger Penlingon’s house, but nobody had really impressed me that much,’ says Mick now. ‘David, being his cousin, had heard about them and came down. We knew he could do it with us because we’d already seen him do it.

‘He’d sung a few rock ’n’ roll numbers with us while he was tanked up,’ Mick continues. ‘I think it was Loughton Cricket Club that he 10

always used to turn up at, and he used to do things like Blue Suede Shoes and a few other things that became the nucleus of Heep’s rock ’n’ roll medley. After he’d had a couple of pints he never needed much persuading, he always had more front than Woolworths!’

Of the audition, the singer later recalled: ‘I had to sing Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode. I was hired right away.’

In fact, Essex-born David had been singing since the tender age of five. His mother had been in a jazz band and his whole family were steeped in music. Before the Stalkers, Garrick had dipped his toes into the world of bands, though the young singer’s first group had no name, played no gigs and split up after just two weeks. A second act did get as far as the stage, but shortly afterwards he crossed paths with Box and company.

The role of frontman suited the newcomer’s outgoing personality, and he later confessed: ‘As a kid at parties, I always had to be the focus of attention. It fascinated me. I just had to make people watch me.’

‘I never had the same sort of need,’ qualifies Mick now. ‘With me it was the pleasure of playing the guitar. It was my utopia. I’ve always felt that fame could come and go so long as I was still playing. That still stands today.’

Nevertheless, the Box/Byron partnership was a strong one, and in 1967 the pair decided to give up their day jobs and turn professional.

The other Stalkers didn’t see wisdom in the move, so Mick and David opted to set up a new band, Spice, with a rhythm guitarist called Alf (whose surname has sadly been lost in the mists of time) and drummer Nigel Pegrum. Those who do recall Alf say that he was only in the band because he owned a van, and that his amp was often turned down to inaudible levels anyway.

‘Many of the songs which later appeared on Heep’s first album evolved from Spice songs,’ says Mick. ‘I used to live over a butcher’s shop. It sounds ridiculous now, but back then we couldn’t afford the electricity to plug in and play. So what we did was sneak downstairs into the shop at night, hide behind the butcher’s counter and practice 11

A publicity photograph for Uriah Heep taken in 1970.

Left to right: David Byron, Ken Hensley, Paul Newton, Keith Baker and Mick Box.

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with the guitars! It was freezing cold – crazy! But we used the butcher’s electricity without him knowing. We had to be very wary because if anyone saw us, not only would we have had the grief about using the power but also my mum would’ve been thrown out the flat.

Nearly all the early Spice stuff was written crouched down behind that butcher’s counter.’

In keeping with the traditions of the time, a large portion of Spice’s live set was comprised of cover versions, the aim being to appease the dance hall crowds whilst also testing out original material.

‘We did a lot of cover songs, but we tried to stay away from all the stuff that every other band was doing,’ Mick explains. ‘We’d search high and low for something obscure that had the same sort of energy, but which was different. Eventually we began slipping in a few of our own songs. Mind you, we weren’t too brave so we did them right at the end, when everyone was tanked up. Eventually, we thought, “Hang on, this could work. We can do this”, and we just phased out the covers. Except the odd one like Come Away Melinda, which stayed with us because we thought it was so powerful. We’d pull out a couple of stools and have that moment away from all the noise, a little gentle acoustic thing. We always felt you could be just as powerful with an acoustic guitar, a voice and a strong lyric as you could with the power, spotlights and everything else. That’s always been an important element of Uriah Heep.’

However, things almost ended prematurely at one notable gig at Walthamstow Avenue Football Club.

‘This was before we’d learned about earth loops or anything; we’d simply plug everything into one amplifier and go for it,’ Box says. ‘We were just about to start when I grabbed the microphone and got a massive electrical shock. So Dave came running over, went to pull my [guitar] lead out and created another circuit. He got such a big shock that it spun him round, sending him flying across a table.

‘Then our rhythm guitarist came to help,’ he continues. ‘I thought he was going to touch me as well, so I went to kick him away and 14

put my foot straight through his new guitar. Later the manager said, “Great show, lads”, but me and Dave were dashing off to hospital with serious burns!’

By late 1968, Spice had forged a solid reputation through playing clubs, universities and anywhere else that would have them. They had also begun a professional if unspectacular recording career with United Artists, releasing the now extremely collectable debut single What About The Music? backed by In Love. Although the forty-five wouldn’t exactly set the world aflame, the first tentative steps of Box and Byron’s recording career had been taken.

At around the same time, Ken Hensley, Lee Kerslake and Paul Newton were all playing in a Bournemouth-based outfit called the Gods. An early incarnation had included future John Mayall and Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, but the band eventually split up in June of 1967 due to lack of engagements. For a while, in true aspiring muso style, Hensley even found himself sleeping in his van to make ends meet. So he was pleased when the Gods decided to give it another go at the end of 1967.

Over the coming years, a process of musical osmosis would draw Hensley, Kerslake and Newton into the Uriah Heep ranks. The first to make the leap from the Gods to Spice was Newton, a bassist who had played with Brian ‘Blinky’ Davison before the latter joined The Nice. Paul teamed up with Spice after spotting the group’s advertisement in a music paper.

‘I’d answered a few ads in Melody Maker, and gone for a few auditions,’ recalls Newton. ‘Mind you, I also had a vanload of equipment, and for any struggling band that was quite a catch. I suppose that went in my favour, but we had a bit of a blow at the audition and it worked musically as well. They’d just completed their single and I played on the B-side. I think a temporary bass player had played on the A-side. After the single we did quite a bit of recording for United Artists over the next few months, which was virtually all the stuff we did on stage.’

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Unfortunately, however, the bulk of these sessions were destined to stay stored away in the lofts of various group members until issued in 1993 as The Lansdowne Tapes. Meanwhile, Newton’s father, Paul senior, was asked to take charge of the band’s affairs.

‘Spice had local work in the Walthamstow area, but not much more,’ explains his son. ‘My dad ran a dance hall in Andover and he’d book somebody’s band in his place if they would give Spice a return gig, so under my father’s direction we became quite busy. We worked all round the country.’

Paul junior still recalls his first impression of his new colleagues.

‘I thought David to be very egotistical,’ he admits. ‘But most singers tend to be like that. If you play a guitar or drums, your instrument is your prop. It’s very difficult just to get up on stage with no instrument and stand there and sing. I think you have to be slightly mental to give people the chance to pull you to pieces. You’ve got to have a lot of bottle.

‘But Dave was a very kind and sound person. Underneath his brash exterior, he’d do anything for you if he could. It was the same with Mick, he was very easy to get on with. Mick is Mick, he’ll have a laugh about anything. The van might break down on the way to a gig and Mick would have a laugh about it. Mick became a very good drinking friend to me later on, we often shared hotel rooms.’

By the time 1969 rolled around Spice were already a pretty impressive outfit. Unfortunately, however, their bank balances remained resolutely in the red. But despite all the hardships, Spice were earning a reputation around England. They were already playing London’s prestigious Marquee Club and drawing sufficiently good houses to be rewarded with a residency.

‘Without Paul Newton’s father we wouldn’t be here now,’ insists Box in 2002. ‘It was through his letters and his endeavours that we landed our residency at the Marquee. He was fantastic for us.

Naturally, being Paul’s dad he wanted the best for his boy, but he obviously realised that there was a lot of good musicianship in Spice.’

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Spice were not yet a national name and press coverage at the time tended to come from local sources, including this gem from the local Andover paper which was clearly the result of Paul senior’s efforts.

It reads: ‘The local pop group The Spice, are really hitting the high spots these days. Their manager, P. Newton of Croye Close, Andover told The Advertiser this week that the group has released a record through United Artists. On the A-side will be What About The Music? and on the B-side In Love. Incidentally, the group has been booked as the resident main group at the famous London Marquee Club in Wardour Street, Soho, for three months from January to March. The Spice are seeing Life!’

Another endearing piece to survive from the Spice era is a selfconscious press release that gives a flavour of the values in Great Britain in 1969. ‘“Spice are going to make it”, say the people who have seen them and they may well be right. The group have all the ingredients to appeal to everyone. They look good and care about their presentation: they are wild but very pleasant people; their music is loud and exciting. You can dance to them if you wish, but most people like to watch and listen. Two guitarists, a drummer, a singer and an excellent pulsating light show, make Dave, Mick, Paul and Nigel a group to see – and after you have seen them, talk to them, they’d like to meet you and perhaps add a little Spice to your life.’

Newton senior was doing his best for the band, but it soon became apparent that a more established booking agent was going to be necessary. And although he later seemed to regret the decision, he was unselfish enough to hand over the baton to the next runner when the time came. Gerry Bron walked into the band’s lives at a show at the Blues Loft in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, after Paul’s dad had written to him about the group.

‘He said to Gerry that he should come and check out the band, that he’d be interested in us,’ explains Mick Box. ‘At the time I think Gerry had Manfred Mann and Colosseum, featuring Jon Hiseman, 17

Heep in 1971 at the time of the Look at Yourself sessions.

Clockwise from top left: Ken Hensley, Paul Newton, David Byron, Mick Box and Iain Clark.

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on his books. He had quite a roster of artists and a good reputation in the business. So Paul’s father sent off the letter, Gerry came and saw us, and he loved it.’

‘I often wonder what would have happened if I’d ignored that letter,’ muses Bron now. ‘It was the first of a whole series of coincidences – all very fortunate ones. I still vividly recall Paul’s letter because every word was written in block capitals, and it was five pages long. So I went along and agreed to sign them. But what we signed was nothing like what the band actually became.’

Although Gerry had been contacted as an agent who would obtain gigs and attempt to find them record deals, Bron also ran his own record imprint through Vertigo, producing many of the releases on his label, and he was also involved in promoting gigs. Paul’s father was still the de facto manager of the band at the time, but the arrival of such a highly capable businessman like Gerry was bound to alter the balance of relationships. One very important aspect of the Bron situation was his ability to get the band into the studio again.

Box: ‘Gerry said, “I’ve got this studio, maybe we should give you some time and see if you can cut it”. We wanted to see if we could make a really good record, so we started recording some new tracks and it was very evident that the chemistry worked. A lot of it was material that eventually ended up being the ...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble album. There were a few things that we were doing in Spice.

For instance, Come Away Melinda; just acoustic guitar and David’s vocal. It used to go down great in the clubs, it was evident that it was also going to work in the studio.’

Recording for what was still intended to be the debut Spice album took place in fits and starts from July 1969 and lasted until April 1970. But despite the obvious advances in the quality of both performance and writing, there was still something lacking in the Spice sound. It was Gerry Bron who first offered a potential solution.

‘We were looking at ways we could embellish things, and one of the routes was to introduce keyboards,’ recalls Mick, who personally 19

had no objection due to a huge admiration for Vanilla Fudge, a band that also used Hammond organ to great effect. ‘Gerry suggested a guy called Colin Wood, a schoolteacher friend of his.

He came in and brought his keyboards down. We listened to his work and it was nice to have that sort of embellishment in various areas. I believe that Gerry at the time asked Colin if he wanted to join the band – I didn’t find out about that until much later, I might add! There was certainly no discussion with me about it, but he had teaching duties, so then we were on the lookout for a keyboard player.’

Wood ended up contributing keyboards to two tracks which emerged on ...Very ’Eavy, namely Come Away Melinda and Wake Up (Set Your Sights). It was Paul Newton who eventually suggested that Spice investigate his former Spice band-mate Ken Hensley.

Remembers Mick Box: ‘Paul Newton said, ‘I know a guy who’s powerful and can play that stuff’, so we checked Ken out. At the time he was playing guitar with a band called Toe Fat. He came down to the studio, heard the songs and obviously thought, “Yeah! I’ll take a chance on this”, so he came in and replaced a lot of the keyboard parts. Kenny brought the Hammond organ and that made it more powerful. And that was really how it all started.’

London-born Kenneth Hensley had begun to play guitar at the age of twelve and performed his first ever gig at The Mentmore Pen Factory, in Stevenage during September of 1960. He also played with The Blue Notes, Ken and the Cousins and Kit and the Saracens, the latter evolved into The Jimmy Brown Sound. Hensley’s next venture were the Gods, then Toe Fat. Although his playing style was profoundly influenced Uriah Heep’s own, Ken had no type of classical training.

‘I just kind of bluffed my way through,’ he later admitted. ‘My mum was a classical pianist so it might have been in the blood but I never had time to learn other people’s music, I was too busy writing!

That’s why I’m no good at parties… don’t ask me to play a Beatles 20

song! I don’t know any and, besides they don’t play any of mine! The same goes for the guitar.’

For Hensley, the decision to quit Toe Fat – with whom he released a self-titled album through Parlophone in 1970 – and join a new band wasn’t so much a personal as a musical issue.

‘My main impressions were not of them as people, but of them as musicians,’ he explains now. ‘One of the first things they did was take me to the studio where they were recording the first album. Among the first songs I heard was Wake Up (Set Your Sights), which was great; really adventurous. I found it really exciting to be with a band that was doing that kind of thing musically.’

The personal struggles that were to characterise Uriah Heep during the latter half of the 1970s still lay some way ahead, and at the start personal relationships were all very cordial.

‘When I first met Ken we got on well,’ elaborates Box. ‘What we were looking for were musicians of the same calibre. When you put a band together you don’t want to be dragging anyone behind. Ken just fitted in immediately. He could play the guitar, obviously played keyboards and he had a good, high voice. The nucleus of myself, David and Ken was a very strong combination.’

Ken’s quick to concur with Mick, stating: ‘I just remember being brought in and thinking that it was a band that was making real progressive, adventurous music. And it was supported by an organisation that was extremely professional. Gerry Bron’s organisation was a quantum leap forward from anything I’d experienced before. The details are a little bit mysterious to me because I just leapt straight into the music, and of course it wasn’t long after that re-naming the band came about. So I felt that I was in it from the beginning rather than joining an existing band.’

Gerry Bron still recalls his first encounter with Hensley.

‘All along, when we had been discussing adding a keyboard player, the band had told me that they knew somebody, but that I wouldn’t like him,’ he explains. ‘Eventually, I just told them to introduce me 21

to this mysterious person. We eventually met at a mixing room in a studio, the door opened very slowly and that was Ken Hensley. We started talking and got on like a house on fire. So I went back to the band and told them I thought he was great, so what was the problem?

And they went, “Well, no. He’s a bit of a so-and-so”.’

Lee Kerslake, Hensley’s former band-mate in the Gods and future Heep colleague, has strong opinions about Ken – not always positive ones.

‘Ken was an unusual bloke,’ he commented many years later.

‘Tell Ken to turn left and he’d always turn right. He was clever, but devious.’

With the line-up now expanded to a five-piece, clandestinely practising behind the butcher’s counter was no longer an option, even for the versatile Mr Box. ‘We needed to write some more songs, so we began rehearsing at the Hanwell Community Centre in London’s Shepherd’s Bush, which was also where Deep Purple worked,’ he says. ‘We were in one room and they were in another; it was one hell of a racket! We went back to the studio and recorded some of the songs that we’d rehearsed there, Gypsy was among them.

‘I remember going home to my mum’s little flat,’ recalls Mick with a grin. ‘She still lived above the butcher’s shop, and Ken came over and we sat there with a couple of guitars. It was very evident from the beginning that there was chemistry between us. I still remember playing them the riff to Gypsy, everyone started nodding and then we got the Hammond organ on the riff. It was the first song where we got the Heep vocals going with the full block harmonies. Five people singing from the highs to the lows, and it all sounded really powerful.

We immediately knew we were onto something good, and it became our trademark.

‘One radio deejay in the States summed us up rightly when he called us the Beach Boys of heavy metal,’ chuckles Box. ‘Anyway, everything in those days had a guitar solo on it – so because we 22

wanted to be different we used an organ solo! And it fitted well.

David wrote the lyric about the gypsy queen. He obviously had something more in mind with the words about putting a whip across his back. I don’t know what he was into way back then!’

Paul Newton still has vivid memories of the recording sessions just before Spice became Uriah Heep.

‘At the first rehearsal with Ken, we were playing Gypsy when Gerry Bron came into the room, and he was absolutely gobsmacked because the sound was so big and modern,’ he smiles. ‘Gerry was over the moon. Things improved greatly with the Hammond organ. Ken was the missing link, just what we had needed. The early Spice stuff stood up on its own, but as our writing started to change, we needed the keyboards and Ken provided what we needed. His vocals also had a big impact.’

The vocal harmonies definitely improved with Ken’s arrival.

‘Most people agree that those falsetto harmonies subsequently had a great influence on many other bands – Queen being a prime example,’ ventures Paul Newton. ‘But we were the first to do them.

We were the first heavy rock band to play good music and have a good vocal sound. Even Deep Purple didn’t use harmonies on stage, and Led Zeppelin, as good as they were, had no vocal back-up behind Robert Plant. It gave us our strength because after Ken joined we had what amounted to two lead singers.’

As Ken was joining the band, the first in a number of changes of drummer was about to take place. Paul Newton recalls: ‘Nigel Pegrum, the original drummer in Spice, was a very good player, but as the band progressed and became bluesier and heavier, he proved to be a bit too light for us.’

Pegrum went on to find fame of his own in Steeleye Span and (ahem) the Barron Knights, but an immediate replacement was needed. So Alex Napier was recruited from a music paper advert, carefully avoiding the band’s stipulation of no girlfriends or marital ties by claiming that his wife was his sister! Originally from Glasgow, 23

Napier brought them a taste of the hard drinking and occasional violence of West Scotland.

‘We used to pick up Alex in the van for rehearsals and gigs, and we soon realised that where he was living there was a woman and three or four kids there, too,’ grins Newton at the memory. ‘He said it was his sister and he was staying with her until he found a place of his own. Over the next few months it became blatantly obvious that it was actually his wife. For weeks he kept up the story, but eventually he owned up.

‘Financially, he must have found it hard to keep his large family on what we were earning. No doubt he was getting a bit from social security to supplement his income, and there were various allegations that he was into other areas of making money, though exactly what they were I never found out.’

Although the band had begun recording under the name of Spice, it was not to be the moniker that graced the finished record.

‘We were the Spice boys before the Spice Girls came along, but obviously we don’t boast about that one too much!’ grins Mick. ‘We needed to change our name and we had lists of ideas that included Corrugated Dandruff, and all those sorts of names that meant nothing but sounded great – when you’d had a pint of beer, of course!

But it was the 100th anniversary of the great English novelist, Charles Dickens. There were book clubs, and various things on TV, movies, advertisements on buses. Gerry happened to take one of his kids to see one of the films, David Copperfield, and one of the characters was Uriah Heep.

‘He came back and said, “This is the name for us”. Initially we didn’t like it, but it grew and grew. It’s a great thing to take a character from one of the great English novelists around the world with you. It also looked good in print because at that time there was Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and a ‘U’ really stood out.’

Although none of the participants would probably have believed it at the time, Uriah Heep was to become a lifelong journey, for both 24

‘Maybe David did begin to change a little. We knew he was going to be a star, and nobody could keep him off the stage.’

– Lee Kerslake

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the musicians and the fans. Among the very first Heep devotees was Dave Keable who caught them at the cusp of their transformation from Spice to Uriah Heep.

‘I was student and living in Chelmsford, Essex, at the time and saw that three bands unknown to me at the time – The Lloyd, Dear Mr Time, and Spice – were appearing at the local arts festival,’ remembers Keable. ‘Spice were described as playing “hard, progressive music”, and that was good enough for me. Although the detail has faded down the years, I recall it was an impressive, very professional set. Ken Hensley may have been in the line-up and I’m sure at the end of the concert the band announced it was their last appearance as Spice and that following week they were performing as Uriah Heep.’

Heep’s 1970 debut album, the Gerry Bron-produced ...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble, arrived in an amazingly effective image of a cobwebbed man screaming out as if in torment. Its subject was none other than David Byron.

‘Gerry set up the session in a photographic studio, a little set had been built, and it was meant to look like Dickensian times,’ says Box. ‘It looked pretty lame to me, I couldn’t really get to grips with it. But they’d brought in a cobweb machine to create the olde-worlde effect.

It was like a fan, but you put in this glue-like substance.

‘Well, I got fed up with this session, so I went off for a couple of pints. I came back feeling a bit jovial, but nothing had progressed.

I was looking at the polaroids thinking, “We can’t use this, this is terrible. This isn’t rock ’n’ roll at all.” Dave was talking away, so I picked up the machine, tapped him on the shoulder and I went “Ssshhpppsshhh!” with this glue all over his face. I found it absolutely hilarious and the photographer was quick enough to pick up his camera and snap away. And of course they were the pictures we used.

The cover looked fantastic, it really caught the eye.

‘David wasn’t too pleased because it took him about two weeks to get the glue out of his hair, eyebrows and everything else!’ continues Box. ‘But we got our album cover, and the pair of hands on the back 26

actually belonged to the tea-boy. It’s his claim to fame! The shot on the inside is us on stage at the Lyceum in London’s Strand. But the front cover really worked, people still like it today.’

The finishing touch came in the form of sleeve notes courtesy of Ken Hensley.

‘They were one of the things which made it complete,’ observes Box. ‘Ken’s a good talker and a good writer, and the great thing about an album cover in those days was that there was still a romanticism about it. You got all the information on there, there was great artwork on there and it was a great idea for Ken to write down his reflections and how he felt about things. Once he’d done it on the first album, it seemed logical to continue on the others.’

However, Hensley’s arrival in February of 1970, meant that he was unable to contribute too much to the actual compositions.

‘Most of the album was written by David and I,’ Box says.

‘Whenever I write with anyone it’s always a combination of both music and lyrics, because you have to be included on both. The creation of lyrics may have come more from David, just because when we were writing something he’d be yodelling something and something would stick! We’d build from there and that’s how things developed.’

Gypsy, the very first track on the album, was destined to become a fully-fledged rock classic. The Box-Byron-penned number has subsequently featured in every Uriah Heep set-list but one. The only known occasion on which it has been dropped was for reasons of time restraint on the Acoustically Driven recording in December 2000.

‘Never was a title more appropriate than Gypsy!’ laughs Box. ‘It’s how I’ve been for most of my musical life, living in and out of a suitcase, but it’s a really powerful song and it was a way of introducing block harmonies in a very, very powerful way. You’ve got to remember that we came out of the sixties, which was all about pop and sweet harmonies. Gypsy was the perfect showcase for what was to become the Uriah Heep sound. I contributed more on the musical 27

side, but David did his bit, too. Dave couldn’t really play piano and he certainly couldn’t play guitar, but that keyboard intro on Gypsy, which has almost become our anthem, that was all written by David. He wrote it on a piano, like playing Chopsticks! For the actual recording, we used a combination of guitar and keyboards actually played by Ken. But it was a good start to a song.’

To complement the all-out attack of Gypsy, the band retained their cover of Come Away Melinda from the days as Spice.

‘The first version we heard was by Tim Rose,’ explains Box of the beautiful Hellermann/Minkoff composition. ‘It’s very powerful and I love the chord sequences and minor keys, as well as the guitar picking. I used a different type of guitar picking on our record to what anybody else had done, it has a nice little flow. I put my stamp on it, if you like.’

In keeping with many albums of the period, a slight jazz tinge manifests itself in Wake Up (Set Your Sights), which was another survivor from the covert Spice writing sessions.

‘It was actually one that we wrote right behind the famous butcher’s counter!’ Mick guffaws. ‘As a guitarist, my first love was always jazz and Wake Up… reflected all that in the introduction, all those minor chords. It was certainly very effective with audiences – and also a hit with Alex Napier!

‘I used to play this section and as it ended, that was the cue for Alex to come in. Quite often I’d end on the last chord and then hear nothing. I’d look round and there’d be Alex with his arms folded saying, “Oh that’s lovely, Mick!” And I was like, “Alex, come on!” I think it still stands up today, and it’s definitely one that I’d like to reuse at some stage. On the other hand, something like Dreammare is just us being part of rock movement. We just wanted to speed things up; it was very, very Heep, just up-tempo stuff. Dreammare just fitted that bill, still does today.’

As well as the jazz influence, there was also an obligatory nod towards the blues. With hindsight, it was a musical strand that Heep 28

never fully developed, but in 1969/1970 it was almost mandatory for an album to have at least one traditional blues number.

‘In fact, Lucy Blues was yet another from the butcher’s shop,’ reveals Mick. ‘David and I had knocked around with it for ages. We used to do it in shows, although we didn’t even bother to give it a name. The structure was just twelve bars and Dave used to just ramble over it, he didn’t have any lyrics – he just mumbled! Eventually we put it down and it became Lucy Blues.’

Despite the distinctive quality of the vocals, ...Very ’Eavy is very much a product of its time. Recording techniques have since come on in leaps and bounds, but the band made up for hardware deficiencies through sheer spontaneity.

Says Mick: ‘Recording at that time was very improvisational, you’d just go for it. There was no sitting down and planning. You didn’t really have the sort of time you have now because everything moved so fast. They used to put the speaker facing the wall and then the microphone down between the wall and the speaker, which is great for them in the control room but I couldn’t hear a thing. It’s a horrible sound. You’ve got no feedback, no sustain, it was a very hard for me. You didn’t know what was going to sustain or what was going to hold. That’s why a lot of the solos are quite flurry.’

The use of the wah-wah effect quickly became the Box trademark sound, and he remarks: ‘The biggest compliment I’ve had as a guitarist is that they can pick out my solos anywhere, anytime. That’s fabulous.’

By the time of the first album, Gerry Bron was already producing the albums by many of his acts. In the studio, however, he was no dictator. By all accounts, his manner was very laid back and supportive of experimentation.

Box: ‘I wouldn’t say Gerry Bron was particularly tough as a producer. At that time he was very, very open minded about everything. If you wanted to try something and it was in the realms of what he considered to be sensible, he’d try it. Or sometimes you’d 29

30

‘I have never learned to read or write music so I am not a virtuoso musician… I am completely unable to play like them because I never learned classical music, I just developed my own crazy style!’

– Ken Hensley

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try it and he would develop it. Gerry was very quick to pick up on the process of double tracking guitars which made the sound a lot bigger.’

Much later on, Ken Hensley paid tribute to Bron’s contribution to the first album.

‘He was like an extra member of the band and crucially he did the one thing that all managers should do – which is to allow the musicians to concentrate on nothing but the music,’ said Ken. ‘All the business aspects and tedious stuff was kept away from us. We could not have achieved anything in the beginning if it were not for Gerry.

He brought so much enthusiasm, expertise and connections and he was very professional in the way he approached everything. The band was very fortunate to have him and his organisation behind them.’

However, Paul Newton disagrees with the plaudits that were being rained upon Bron.

‘In hindsight, he was the wrong guy for what eventually became Uriah Heep,’ he insists. ‘Gerry Bron was very much into pop music.

He had Manfred Mann and people like that and he was always trying to steer the band in a bubblegum, teenybop-type direction. Of course, that wasn’t right for us. From the start Uriah Heep was Uriah Heep.’

Despite the positive omens, financial worries still continued to plague the aspiring stars, as Mick recalls: ‘Times were hard for all of us, but particularly for David. So he used to record for this company called Avenue Records. What they did was to re-record the Top 30, all on one album. Some of it was good, some of it was awful.

However, I used to help him out occasionally and I’d do all the raunchy things like the Kinks’ You Really Got Me. Eventually if they needed a bit of raunch on guitar, I used to go and do it. Another guy that used to be involved was Reg Dwight, now better known as Elton John! Elton had just finished recording an album, his first one, and he worked with a drummer called Nigel Olsen.’

It was fortuitous that David had made the acquaintance of a great drummer because personal relations between the singer and Alex Napier had soured.

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‘Alex was a very hard man,’ relates Paul Newton. ‘He was good to have on your side in a fight, but you wouldn’t want to fall foul of him.

He had scars all over his body from his days in Glasgow. His best mate, Higgie, was our roadie at the time. Higgie was a pretty hard case, but even he was absolutely terrified of Alex. So we were always a little bit wary. If at rehearsals you said that the drumming wasn’t quite right, you’d have to be careful how far you took it. Sometimes he’d want to take you outside to settle it! Basically he was a very sound guy, but it was a little bit dangerous having someone like that in the band. So, for all these reasons and the fact that Alex had been with the band for over a year and we had outgrown him, we needed a better drummer.’

Ken and Paul are still very much in agreement over the departure of Alex Napier. Observes Hensley: ‘It just seemed like we were moving very quickly. Mick, David, Paul and myself found a musical common ground, Alex was getting left behind.’

Paul Newton remembers trepidation in the group’s ranks over who would have the task of breaking the news to the pugnacious Scot.

‘When we made the decision to fire Alex, we then had to decide who would tell him because we were worried that somebody might get hurt,’ he laughs. ‘I think that in the end we just sent him up to the office and let him find out from the management, it seemed safer.

But as it turned out he took it well, I think he actually wanted to spend more time with his family.’

As soon as …Very ‘Umble was completed, Heep took to the road.

Unbeknown to Mick Box, it was to be the beginning of a lifelong journey.

‘With …Very ‘Umble we went out and did a lot of tours. Our big break actually came in Germany,’ he states. ‘We were booked in this three-day festival in Hamburg, in a horse-jumping arena. We were booked for maybe two days to open each day, but it was one of those events where everyone including an important German promoter was there. And we went down fantastically.’

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Ken Hensley also recalled the importance of the Hamburg festival, stating: ‘It was some time around June of 1970, and Gypsy was the song that really helped to make an impact with the people there. I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s always stayed in the show, and it helped us to gain popularity in Germany.’

For Mick, the German gigs were a real thrill. ‘Not only were you in another country, it was also great to see your music taken so much to people’s hearts,’ he says. ‘A lot of the movers and shakers in the music industry were there and suddenly we got a ton of work that began the love affair with Germany. Soon we were there again nearly every month or so. It just grew and grew.

‘And the success in Germany created interest in America, funnily enough,’ he continues. ‘We were playing some reasonably sized venues and so they picked up on it and a guy from Mercury come over to see us play. He loved the band and decided to put us on the label, so it opened up America for us – except they changed the album’s cover because they thought it was too scary or something silly!’

Nigel Olsen stepped straight into Alex Napier’s shoes and Heep continued gigging without missing a beat.

‘Nigel fitted in perfectly, he was a very accomplished drummer,’ says Box. ‘We recorded a couple of songs with him on the album and then did a short UK tour. And of course while we were on that tour, Reg Dwight changed his name to Elton John. His record was released in America and he began having great success.

‘Elton wanted to take the people with him who’d worked on that album, so he got Nigel on the phone and I would imagine the conversation would have been something like this… “Would you like to have £20 per week with Uriah Heep or £200 per week with me?” He just went vooooom. I’ve never seen Nigel since! But £200 in those days was a lot of money. So the drum stool had to be filled once again…’

By 1970, Heep were already beginning the non-stop recording and touring schedule that persists to this very day. With live work piling 34

up and some momentum building behind their recording career, Keith Baker succeeded Nigel Olsen. Sadly, it wasn’t destined to be a particularly happy move for the former Supertramp sticksman, who was never comfortable with the band’s non-stop touring and recording schedule.

As Mick has already related, Heep received a welcome boost when the American arm of Mercury Records opted to sign the band. The deal was eventually secured after a label representative jetted in to see the band in concert. However, due to the efforts of an over enthusiastic jobsworth it almost didn’t happen.

‘I had to pick the guy from Mercury up from Heathrow Airport, and drive him to where we were playing, which happened to be Stevenage, Ken’s hometown,’ relates Mick. ‘We walked up to the venue, I had my guitar in hand, and when we got to front door this guy puts his hand on my chest and asks me where I’m going. I told him I was with the band and that I’d just picked up this guy from America who was maybe going to sign us, and he said, “Sorry mate, you’re not coming in”.

‘I said, “Look this is really silly. I’m playing here tonight, it says Uriah Heep on this guitar case. That’s us, I’m going to play and I’m the guitarist, I’ve got the bloody guitar.” And he insisted, “No mate, you’re not coming in. We’ve had too many people coming in like that tonight.” By this time I was getting a bit upset, but the guy from America, bless his heart, didn’t get upset or phased by it. Instead he went and bought two tickets – so I actually had to pay to get into my own gig! We never got the money back either!

‘We later found out that Ken, earlier in the day, had asked all his family to carry in his guitar case and various bits of equipment. This doorman had had enough by the time I turned up! Fortunately, it was a sell-out just through Ken’s family alone. The man from Mercury loved the band and they signed us, but it was really only because of the strength of Germany.’

Of course, the music business has always loved nothing better than 35

The classic Uriah Heep line-up.

Left to right: Ken Hensley, Lee Kerslake, Mick Box, Gary Thain and David Byron.

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a star in the ascendant and at the time of their debut everything around Heep pointed in that direction.

‘We were selling enough to satisfy the record company, they were all very happy,’ states Mick. ‘You have to understand in those days although we were in the music business, we really only took care of the music – we didn’t really take much interest in the business.

Which is probably why a lot of things happened to us in the financial sense! But the music was what it was all about. We were happy playing our music, and the rest of it just didn’t matter. Obviously we have now learned that it did, but it didn’t matter too much to us at the time. It’s not like we were issued with royalty statements or anything like that, we were just given money when we needed it. We were living, we were playing, and we were enjoying ourselves. We were treated royally, what more do you want out of life? That’s how it was at the time.’

Paul Newton later recalled the air of anticipation around the band, most of which was driven by the inspired marketing ability of Gerry Bron.

‘He created a lot of hype. He took out large adverts in all the music press of the day, it created a lot of attention, some of it good, some of it bad. But the point was that overnight everyone had heard of Uriah Heep. In one way it was a good thing because wherever we did a gig people always knew who we were. But hype can also be a double-edged thing. People very often expect too much because of it; they suspect it’s an attempt to force something that’s not that great onto them.

‘Of course, we weren’t really in the position to argue,’ he adds.

‘A lot of money had been spent on studio time and we had to get a return on that. We couldn’t put the album out and just let it slowly trickle into the record shops, pick up the odd play here and there, and recoup the money over a long period. Gerry Bron had to get money back in to cover all the various expenses. Everybody wanted success, so what happened was a blaze of publicity. Suddenly, there we were in the centre pages of all the music papers. A lot of other musicians 38

thought it was over the top, but it worked. We were never short of gigs and we worked very hard, in that respect it paid off.’

Ken, too, was impressed by Gerry’s ability to get things done.

‘Having come essentially from out of nowhere, having Gerry Bron managing the operation did create some problems,’ he says. ‘For us, in terms of the press perception, we became like an overnight success.’

Dave Keable, who had been converted to the band after seeing them in their former guise of Spice, was now a committed fan.

‘After that first Spice gig I was totally locked into Heep and proudly told everyone of my new discovery,’ he recalls. ‘I scoured the papers for their next local performance. Some weeks later they were at the Horn Hotel in Braintree, the town where I lived. So with a couple of friends, who needed proof that the band I’d been raving about for weeks were really that good, I went along. At that time, the Horn put on concerts in a small cellar bar. We positioned ourselves a few inches from the speakers and had a great evening. My two friends were instantly converted, and I’m ashamed to say that they both bought ...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble even before I did!’

Although many of their contemporaries such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull all enjoyed hit singles, this was to prove something that steadfastly eluded Uriah Heep, in the UK at least.

Mick Box: ‘We were known as an album band, and if there happened to be a single on it then so be it. I think that’s how we’ve been for most of our career, it’s how most bands seem to work. We never went into a studio and recorded a single, we just recorded an album. But occasionally, especially in those days, what they used to do is take a song that they thought would make a single and edit it – and my God how they edited it! Some of those edits were just brutal, they ruined the song. And, of course, we were never consulted on that. It was just done!’

Despite the lack of an obvious hit, many reviewers received the album very well. One critique of the time said: ‘This interesting album comes in a most striking double sleeve, which looks like a guy 39

in a Hammer Films production who has just been caught by ‘the dreaded monster spider from the black pit’. The sounds inside are nice. Opener Gypsy is rough and ’eavy! Real Turned On is slightly cooler, but still pretty funky. Come Away Melinda is a good song and the treatment is suitably sympathetic. Dreammare is a montage of various ideas. Walking In Your Shadow is another track for guitar freaks. I dug it. I’ ll Keep On Trying is pumping and loud, but pretty ordinary – except for the guitar break. Wake Up is strong in lyrical content an interesting close to a worthwhile set. There is variation and plenty of ideas from this very tight band. This should sell well.”

Despite the positive response from many listeners, one rather ominous portent was the first wave of negative criticism in the national press, who were by now beginning to review the new album.

The bad reviews were by no means universal, but they did appear to crop up with greater frequency than was the case with other bands playing similar music.’

Another comment on the album followed: ‘Heaviness is an elusive quality – it’s about time that groups realised that sheer unadulterated decibels are in themselves a guarantee of nothing except headache.

Uriah Heep are a new and obviously very proficient rock band. But they would have been better off devoting their energies and talents to something a little more subtle and a little less eclectic than this rather ordinary album.’

Sadly, the negative press was to become a feature of life in Uriah Heep who almost from day one, it seemed, were destined to be the band the critics loved to hate. No biography of Uriah Heep would ever be complete without reference to an infamous review in Rolling Stone magazine.

‘If this group makes it I’ll have to commit suicide,’ promised reviewer Melissa Mills. ‘From the first note you know you don’t want to hear any more. Uriah is watered down, tenth-rate Jethro Tull, only even more boring and inane. Uriah Heep is composed of five members: vocals, organ, guitar, bass, and drums. They fail to create a 40

distinctive sound tonally; the other factor in their uninteresting style is that everything they play is based on repetitive chord riffs. According to the enclosed promo information, Uriah Heep spent the past year in the studio, rehearsing and writing songs. No doubt their lack of performing experience contributes to the poor quality of the record; if they had played live in clubs they would have been thrown off the stage and we’d have been saved the waste of time, money and vinyl.’

The above comments were printed regardless of the fact that nobody in Heep actually played Tull’s trademark instrument, the flute, or that each member displayed a patent inability to stand on one leg, like Ian Anderson. Fighting against such negative outpourings were a growing band of Heep devotees, many of whom were recruited by word of mouth. In the Newton household, it was not just Paul’s dad who was doing his bit. Paul’s mum also used every opportunity to spread the word. One fan that was hooked by the efforts of the distaff side of the Newton family was Mike Taylor.

Mike was typical of the thousands of fans who were being won over for the first time.

‘In 1970, I moved with my parents to Andover in Hampshire,’ he explains. ‘My mother joined the local coffee morning circle and after one little get together asked me if I’d heard of the rock band Uriah Heep. I was already a fan of rock music and even at the age of thirteen I had albums by Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. I said I’d heard of them but apart from reading about them in the Melody Maker I’d not heard any of their music. She said that one of the other women in the coffee morning circle had a son who was the bass player in Uriah Heep and could arrange for me to meet him. His name was Paul Newton, of course. That was the start of my Heep journey, it would’ve been in late summer of 1970.’

For Uriah Heep, the days of luxury nightliner coaches still lay in the future. The present was represented by long journeys to and from gigs in the days before Britain’s motorway network, and they were mainly made by van. As a non-smoker, these interminable journeys 41

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‘In the best times, we all played a role and respected each other’s contributions – which were all important!’

– Ken Hensley

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could be hell for Mick. He vividly recalls the misery of sitting shrouded in unwanted clouds of cigarette fumes.

‘There was a funny side to it, of course,’ he laughs. ‘When we were touring Germany in the van, Ken made the rule that there would be no women or friends in the van. Of course, right away he pulled a bird… almost on the first night! So he came up to the window and we all shouted in unison, “NO WOMEN AND NO FRIENDS IN THE VAN! IT WAS YOUR RULE, NOW GET OUT!” So he had to travel around with this girl on the train. Ken was always good at sorting things out to his own satisfaction, but now and again they’d turn and bite him on the bum!’

David Byron, met a German girl called Gabby at the aforementioned Hamburg shows. The pair later married and remained together for many years. But, for the single members of the band, there were always the fleshy delights of Hamburg’s infamous red light district. According to Mick, even in 1970 it was quite a special place.

‘The most famous area of the city was a bit hairy’” he laughs. ‘It’s been documented since by so many bands, but when you are only twenty and you go out to Hamburg, well, it’s a different world. You don’t realise the goings on. Soho in London is nothing compared to Reeperbahn, it’s like fifteen Sohos put together. In fact, I once went on record as saying that it ought be called the Heeperbahn… but that’s another story entirely!’

Album Track-By-Track

...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble Released June 1970 Album review by Jim Ferrie and Dave White

White – Simply titled Uriah Heep here in the States, and with Bird of Prey substituted for Lucy Blues, this was the release that Uriah 44

Heep fans remember fondly as the very first release from their very favourite band. It offers various writing styles, and gives a wee bit of insight into what was to become the signature sound and style of Uriah Heep. Loyalists and new fans alike treasure this album as something of a masterpiece.

Ferrie – I bought Look at Yourself in November 1971 and immediately bought the back catalogue, then comprising just Salisbury and ...Very ’Eavy. It was all I needed to bring me up to date.

The first of the new albums I listened to was ...Very ’Eavy and boy did I like it! I thought that this was a very credible start to a new band’s career. If you were in the habit of awarding marks out of ten I’d say three tracks were a ten, three were nines and the other two were eights. The band just seemed so very together and exciting. The mix of the various individual’s talents on the songs, were just right. I particularly admired Ken and Mick’s playing which complimented each other wonderfully. Paul’s bass playing was always solid and drives us along nicely even with different drummers (Ollie Olsen joined for two songs replacing the scary Scot that was Alex Napier.)

This was a good start with a clear indication that Heep were going to be solid rock with an occasional soft centre. Heep had set their credentials out good and proper.

Gypsy (Box/Byron) Ferrie – A brilliant Hammond organ intro is eventually joined by Mick’s clear as a bell guitar. Then the mighty riff… oh mama! The vocals are good throughout. Live, I sort of tolerate Gypsy. It is far better on the album in all its glory with the keyboards. The mid section organ is superbly crafted and very exciting. Manic, but in control. The track allows guitar and keyboard to excel throughout without getting in each other’s way.

White – Beginning the invasion of Uriah Heep into the world of rock and roll, this early version of Gypsy has all the elements of the 45

more mature versions we are so used to. A bit tame by the standards of their later live performances, a grand Ken Hensley organ solo offers insight into what was to become one of the most celebrated Heep fan keyboard moments in all of Uriah Heep history. Gypsy contains everything that will become Uriah Heep, most notable the vocal harmonies that will be carried into the future.

Walking In Your Shadow (Newton/Byron) Ferrie – There is a nice guitar and bass intro riff with a very nice guitar tone. The guitar was a bit restrained but just broke the surface enough to bring a smile to this listeners face. David’s vocals were excellent on this. The soft section with bass and voices in the middle, break the song up nicely. There are many vocal dynamics on the song. The underlying riff drives it along mercilessly and in a very satisfactory way. Nice fade out at the end, and well-played guys.

This track was described on the sleeve notes as, ‘a nifty all-guitar number featuring a guitar solo from Mick’. Yeah – that’s about it really.

White – Twin harmonised lead guitars with accompanying bass guitar introduce this one, which rolls into your brain with the opening riff repeated throughout the song. David Byron is in good form: stong and note perfect. Whilst Mick’s guitar solo is notable for a few licks here and there that we will hear on future studio albums.

Definitely a forerunner of Heep to come…one of my favourites of the period.

Come Away Melinda (Hellerman/Minkoff) Ferrie – This is now overshadowed by the current line-up’s superb video release of this as a single which is visually wonderful and sonically ace. On the original, Mr David Byron excelled himself and found great depth in his singing. Mick’s acoustic sets up the backing well while David’s vocals soar away. The song emanated from their Spice days and builds nicely throughout its length with some nice 46

orchestration supporting them. There is also some indication of the trademark harmonies on here.

Paul Newton’s subtle bass lines play a part in the overall feel of the song too and were very prominent and welcome in the latter half of the track. The song did show the versatility of Heep and at this stage of their career, while they were still edging their way into the hard rock genre, this track is probably the best interlude of any of their albums, which may explain the re-visit to the live set some thirty years later.

White – A cover of a song written by Hellerman and Minkoff, this is a masterpiece. Ken and David trade off vocal roles of a daughter speaking to her father about the picture book she found ‘a little ways away from here while digging in the ground.’ The song relates to the aftermath of war, and the discovery of the family picture album by Melinda. The father repeats ‘Come away Melinda, come in and close the door, there were lots of little girls like you before they had the war.’ The young Melinda persists, and ultimately discovers a picture of ‘someone in a pretty dress, she all grown up like you’… the father explains that the figure in the picture is ‘your mommy that you had before the war.’

It’s a beautiful song, airy sounding yet concentrated when necessary. The inclusion of violins and very trademark Uriah Heep harmonies support the lyrics and the overall subject. Vocal stereo separation is typical of Mick and Ken’s guitar and Hammond, that is hard right and left in the spectrum.

Lucy Blues (Box/Byron) White – A stomping ground for Dave’s vocals, the band’s blues progression could have been from any of a number of artists. Nice early B3 twinklings from Ken. A very interesting guitar solo from the future ‘king of the wah-wah’. It would probably have gone over quite well in a small pub atmosphere. Live sounding and raw. Maybe there is a Three Dog Night influence in the first few organ chords.

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‘Lee joining really steadied the ship musically. At last we were getting the right kind of people in. Like me, Lee doesn’t need to practise, he’s a natural player. And it was great because Gary brought in all those beautifully melodic basslines.’ – Mick Box

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Ferrie – On a later album this track would have been an absolute disaster. A slow blues song penned by Mick and David with some nice guitar. (Unusually clean but the reason it is acceptable to this Heep fan is because it is obvious that a very capable group were finding their way and it was interesting to see the variation in their music.

Lucy Blues was played live as Spice with no title and was probably a filler on the original album because they were comfortable with it as part of their development. On the US version it was replaced (wisely) with Bird of Prey, which demonstrated the real direction that Heep were going to take.

Dreammare… (Newton) White – Dreammare launches into Heep as we are soon to know them. A great treat is in store as we hear the emerging trademark slide of Ken Hensley and vocal harmony style of the band to come.

Also present is the first we hear of Mick Box and his wah-wah pedal!

Many have used it, but none like Mr Box. This one has the full impact of dissonant guitar and ‘wah to the beat’.

The accompanying backing tracks from the rest of the band is very heavy compared to the rest of the songs on this album. ‘La la la’s supported by the full weight of slides, leads, rocking bass and vocals from Byron carry this tune well as it fades in Heepstory. It’s one that stays with you long after it’s ended.

Ferrie – This was of special interest as it was the only track in the Heep canon written by Paul Newton on his own. A nice organ build up leads to a crashing power chord intro from Mick. Then the lead guitar drifts into the silence broken by the organ hovering, waiting for the inevitable guitar riff. Drums, bass, then vocals and Heep are in full flow. This is a well arranged, well written track which allows Mick’s wah-wah lead some room to flex and show us a vision of future direction. Nice unaccompanied ‘la la la’s, which were dramatic and fulfilling. (Another indication of future developments) 50

Real Turned On (Box/Byron) White – A boogie piece that has a few twists and turns. Dave Byron is very mature sounding here. A nice and classic early Hensley solo with stereo guitars brings both members of the band together as Mick takes over on the second half of the solo section.

Ferrie – I liked this one a lot and it got played a lot too. Well, certainly the intro riff did. Here was a clarity of production that was invigorating, and your foot just had to keep the beat. Over to the album sleeve again, ‘A funky mid tempo all guitar shuffle, first solo from Ken, and second from Mick.’ I guess that sort of summarises it really. Not sure about the funky bit though.

This was one of the highlights of the album as far as I was concerned. There was good innovative stuff at the end, which again showed glimpses of the future. The second side was certainly crunching some bones up till this point.

I’ll Keep On Trying (Box/Byron) Ferrie – It was a big, but very welcome surprise when this one resurfaced in the live set of the present line up. In the intervening years I’m pleased to report it has lost none of its appeal. If you were only allowed to hear one track from this album then I would suggest this one for only one reason. That reason is Mick’s absolutely scary wahwah solo. I absolutely defy your body not to go into spine tingle.

There are good vocal harmonies but they all just seem to be leading to Mick’s solo.

Absolutely wonderful. You genius you! They must have been so pleased with this. On the sleeve, Mick’s solo was described as frightening. That is certainly the right description.

White – Now we’re getting a look at the more complex arrangements that will mark Uriah Heep as one of the forerunners of the genre.

Based on a blues progression (as are many of the songs on this release) I’ ll Keep on Trying also shows us the lighter, more melodic sections that will become the signature of classic Heep. Two minutes into 51

the song, a complete turn around is accomplished as they delve into a very quiet passage with Vanilla Fudge harmonies, and then work their way back into the heaviness of the song, led there by Ken’s everpresent Hammond Organ. Sustained, screaming notes from Mick’s guitar pave the way into the guitar solo which is required listening for all Heep fans.

Wake Up (Set Your Sights) (Box/Byron) Ferrie – A strange one this. There is clean funky guitar backing from Mick; it’s quite a fast song really. Again it’s an indication of Heep playing that felt good and another example of another direction they could have taken.

Some quite subtle guitar sections with some very low notes are hit very convincingly by David. As far as composition goes, this is quite an accomplished all round song. It’s not rock, it’s a variety showcase which would have Heep fans throwing up in all corners of the universe… but on a first album it again shows a developing group trying different things. We should also remember that we were rising out of the ashes of the sixties and into the heavy seventies. There has to be a transition phase. A downbeat ending to the album but it was a nice well-crafted song. I liked it.

White – This one as well shows some of the band’s influences.

Another vocal showcase for Mr Byron, this early Heep is with a jazz/ blues tinge. The rolling bass from Paul Newton is superb.

Personally I would have loved to have seen this performed live. It obviously was not the path that the band continued on with, but what a marvellous look into the past of Uriah Heep. The song turns into something reminiscent of what may have been the catalyst of Paradise/The Spell, but only briefly.

Lovely string accompaniment and beautiful vocals mark this as a Uriah Heep treasure.

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Chapter 2

T

Early Triumphs and Power Struggles

he ...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble album had provided Uriah Heep with a solid enough launch platform, so the trick now was to take things to another level. Although record sales were not yet spectacular, they were definitely beginning to build. Gerry Bron kept the band hard at work and soon had them back in the studio recording the album that would become 1971’s Salisbury.

Uriah Heep can be accused of many things, but lacking selfconfidence is certainly not one of them. For this new record they decided that the title track should be a sixteen-minute orchestral suite that took up almost the whole of the album’s Side Two. More 53

surprising still was the fact that it actually worked. ‘At that time, everybody involved in the band – including Gerry – was really open minded,’ observes Hensley. ‘So was the entire business. You could do a fifteen-minute orchestral track, in fact we were one of the pioneers of that, along with Deep Purple who had their Concerto for Group and Orchestra. The way the business was structured at the time, you could actually get a track like Salisbury played on the radio. But we were just writing songs, rehearsing and experimenting, and we were allowed to do it by Gerry and the label. We were probably still trying to find a key musical direction.’

Salisbury is still a favourite with many Heep fans. Although some thirty-odd years later a stripped down version of the track was performed live by the group as a five-piece, this magical tune has yet to be played by Uriah Heep with the full orchestral back-up.

Surprisingly, Hensley, who also played the full piece as a solo artist, has no recollection of the subject even being raised as a possibility at the time.

‘It would have been fun,’ he notes. ‘And it would have been in keeping with the pomp-rock trend of the time, too. The song was inspired by a gig at a place called Alex Disco in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

It was absolutely packed out and at the end everybody wanted more.

But there was a big scene because a couple of the big bouncers said we’d run over time. They turned off all the power and gave us ten minutes to get out or they’d lock all our gear inside. So all the people who’d been at the gig came onstage and helped to carry everything outside. The whole evening could have been spoilt, but the crowd helped us out so we decided to dedicate the track to them. We simply called it Salisbury.”

It was on the Salisbury album that the distinctive Uriah Heep sound first began to emerge. The group’s second LP was a great advance on its predecessor, particularly in the vocal department where the trademark Uriah Heep vocal textures were already gaining recognition.

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Jokes Hensley: ‘Falsetto – or “castrato” as I used to call it! Was a major part of our sound, so it usually found its way into a song at some point! I didn’t write with any particular production idea in mind… that came later when the band got involved. Bird of Prey is probably the best example of that particular style of vocal arrangement.’

Mick Box recalls the birth of Bird of Prey, stating: ‘The first time that we rehearsed that one was in a pub… how unusual for Heep! It was also the first time we used step harmonies effectively, as opposed to block harmonies. That became another one of our trademarks. In fact, we still sometimes open our show with it. Although we have slightly rehashed the end of that one so I can go berserk with my guitar solo.’

Another song that Heep still perform is Lady in Black. ‘Years after it was written, in 1977 we won the Golden Lion Award for Lady in Black because it was No. 1 for thirteen weeks in Germany. It was that successful!’, says Mick proudly. ‘We started out trying to follow Gypsy, which has a very earthy, very basic riff that everybody relates to. So we tried to get into that vibe, but like many of these songs it was written on an acoustic, anyway we kept the powerful riff but we also kept the jangly acoustic. As far as the lyrics go, Kenny was looking out the window one morning and saw this girl all dressed in black with long black hair, and that was the inspiration that started it off.’

‘We were in Bradford, I think,’ says Hensley of the incident.

‘We’d done a gig there the night before and stayed over in a bed and breakfast. It was during the winter and I just woke up in the morning and was prancing around the room. Out of the window I saw this female walking up the street, she had a long black coat on and long black hair that was blowing around. It was a Sunday morning and that kind of kick-started the idea for the song. So I never met the woman, I never knew who she was, but she helped to create the song.

It just became a vehicle for expressing other thoughts about different things. It was totally imaginary from that point on.’

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David Byron was to develop into an undisputed master on stage spinning beautiful gothic tales of fantasy with the image to match.

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Lady in Black was certainly not a typical Heep song for Mick, but it fitted in with the prevailing ethos of experimentation.

‘In those days we were still trying to find some sort of direction,’ he admits. ‘It was good fun doing Salisbury with the orchestra, which was very complex, but Lady in Black was the opposite. I clearly remember recording it in the studio because we used four acoustic guitars on the track. It was so simple that two of the roadies were playing it. There was such a great atmosphere that even Gerry tried a bit of singing at the end of it. It was fantastic because the engineer was slowing down the tape so he couldn’t get it right, however hard he tried. By the end I was flat on my back with laughter.’

The music on Salisbury worked wonderfully, but its cover of a tank driving through billowing orange fog was an indisputably poor choice. Ken Hensley was very vocal on the subject, yet he was outflanked by a touring schedule that placed the band overseas at the time when the sleeve needed approval.

‘This was in the days before fax machines, so they called up and described the cover to me over the phone!’ He explains incredulously.

‘You wouldn’t get away with that now. It was a great disappointment when I finally saw it. The American version of the sleeve was equally as bad, but actually if I had to choose between them I’d probably pick the American cover if only for the reason that it didn’t have a stupid tank on it.’

Paul Newton was equally dismissive of the second rate artwork.

‘A lot of people thought that the tank on the sleeve signified heavy music, but it’s actually to do with the fact that in the Salisbury area there’s a lot of army training grounds. You often see tanks on Salisbury Plain. We weren’t subtle in those days.’

At least the sleeve design retained Ken’s note to the fans.

‘It was just something that was a natural thing’, he explains. ‘It was a way of keeping it personal, of trying to make sure there was a real personal communication line between the band and people buying the albums. And it individualised it, too. Even though everybody 58

knew that everybody got the same little note, it felt like it was a personal message from the band to the fans.’

No sooner had Salisbury been recorded than the band – featuring new drummer Iain Clarke, who replaced the unhappy Keith Baker – were off touring North America. For Ken, this was very much a dream come true.

‘When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a rock star,’ he proclaims.

‘I always wanted to ride in limousines, to sign autographs and get gold records. Every step that we took towards it was so exciting, just the idea of going to America to tour in those days was the pinnacle of success for any English band. Some friends of mine had already done it, and I remember feeling terribly jealous. So although when we went we were staying three in a room, to me Holiday Inns were like palaces. I was so completely floating on a cloud that I’d fill in the comment cards and tell them that this is the greatest hotel I have ever stayed in! But at the time it was true.’

While Heep were stuck in clubs and universities back home in Britain, on the other side of the pond they found themselves appearing in 20,000-seater stadiums. Understandably, Mick vividly recollects the excitement surrounding the heady days of that first American tour.

‘The record company put us out on tour with Three Dog Night.

They were huge, like the Beatles of America,’ smiles the guitarist, while Ken remembers the shock of seeing the sheer size of the venues.

‘When we got there and saw all the limos and groupies, it was mind boggling for us,’ he says. ‘This is the honest truth, we went to soundcheck at the first show, the Indianapolis Fairgrounds, and we were told that it held 16,000 people. Nobody could quite believe it.’

Despite a few first night nerves, Mick still has a clear recollection of the Indianapolis gig.

‘We went out on stage, put our heads down and went for it,’ he says. ‘That’s when I started developing a lot of my stage stuff, like my hand movements. I used to do a lot of clever little left hand trills, 59

which in clubs and universities you could see clearly, but in front of 20,000 people I used to give it all the hands in the air routine that everyone could see so I was showing off!

‘Touring with Three Dog Night was such a thrill,’ he continues.

‘We were a rock band and they were a pop band, but American audiences in general just get off on good music. There wasn’t any pigeon-holing. On a lot of those American tours in the early days were done with people like Ike and Tina Turner. We even had Earth, Wind & Fire supporting Uriah Heep… it was just all good music. It was a lot more healthy in those days.’

Heep show quickly evolved to entertain the huge crowds in the vast spaces of North America. Byron and Box in particular sought new ways to communicate visually as well as musically.

‘That’s when I evolved the trick of tossing the guitar into the air,’ reveals Box. ‘I used to throw my Gibson thirty feet into the air and catch it. The fans loved it, but occasionally it would break spotlights, and sometimes I couldn’t see it for a second… but I always felt it when it came back down and hit me! Even if it hit the deck, what the hell, kids used to love it they used to go mad. There was a little pocket of fans that used to follow me round just to see me throw it, they couldn’t believe it!’

As Mick was developing his own tricks of the trade, Heep’s singer was also developing as a performer. If there was ever a man born to be on stage it was David Byron.

‘David was a peacock of a man,’ exclaims Box. ‘As soon as the lights went down, his tail feathers would come up. He was at home. But we all felt like that, we all felt that it was right. There was never a feeling of being overawed by it at all; we all felt that this is where we should be. The reaction we were getting was so immediate that had we gone out there and been booed, or it was the wrong crowd, it would have knocked your confidence. But they loved us from the first minute onwards. Believe me, lots of champagne was cracked open on that first night.’

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The American experience also allowed the band a further opportunity to meet women – but they weren’t always Heep fans.

Intriguingly, Mick Box smiles broadly as he reveals that Heep were like kids in a sweet shop. On days off, he would thumb through the residential section of Yellow Pages phone directory and call numbers until he heard the tones of a female voice.

‘You’d tell the bird that you were in Uriah Heep, who by that time had been advertised in the local paper for weeks,’ he says with a wink.

‘Next minute the hotel was full of women. And it was pre-AIDS, so the worst you could possibly get could be looked after.’

As the band blazed around America, Salisbury was released in another wave of publicity. Although it has subsequently sold well, the album was relatively slow out of the traps.

‘At the time it was a bit of an anti-climax,’ observes Paul Newton.

‘The title track was a very long track recorded with an orchestra.

Although it was a good idea, Deep Purple had done a similar thing, but it didn’t really work out for them either. I suppose people thought that the Salisbury suite was a little bit pretentious. Here were these guys on only their second album with a lot of strange material like The Park. Bird of Prey was a good old Heep-type number that people expected, High Priestess was also good and we would often open our live set with Time to Live so there were three tracks that were what people expected. But the rest were a little strange.’

Album Track-By-Track

Salisbury

Released February 1971 Album Review by Dave White

The second release from Uriah Heep, Salisbury was also available in a slightly different track order in the States with Simon the Bullet Freak replacing Bird of Prey, which had been used on the first album!

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The album is more mature than ...Very ’Eavy. The band now has Keith Baker on drums and he has a slightly heavier sound.

Harmonies are tighter and we don’t hear so much of the ‘blues’ influences except maybe for Simon the Bullet Freak. Salisbury is a major step forward in regard to the studio sound achieved. Of course we also have the title track Salisbury, an epic in it’s own right, a departure from what we were experiencing with Heep as they progressed, but nonetheless one of the most revered and unique songs ever to come from the early period.

Salisbury also contains that two chord wonder Lady in Black.

Performed at probably every concert by the band in the last ten years, the fans know it, love it, and sing along with it, both as the audience, as well as on stage invited by the band. This song is tough to figure, but it’s Heep, and it’s something that we as fans enjoy each time. It’s the time when we are enjoyed by them, as much as we enjoy them!

Bird of Prey (Box/Byron/Newton) Bird of Prey is perhaps the heaviest and Heepiest song on the album, this has it all… it shows the ‘demonic’ sounding side of the sound of Uriah Heep. This is the one that drew the fury of Melissa Mills. It’s full of Uriah Heep, full in sound, and performance, this is a superb rendering of the song that still drives fans wild today. It’s just as ’eavy now as it was then. David Byron at his commanding finest, the underlying bass is looking forward to Easy Livin’, Look at Yourself and Stealin’ as it holds the bottom line with a powerful anchor.

The Park (Hensley) The Park has become one of the Heep songs that will always stand out in our minds. Gorgeous falsetto vocals, finger-picked steel stringed guitars with an underlying clean Hammond are joined by two and three part vocal harmonies in this song that is so Heep it’s forever. With gentle passages and angelic vocal performances, it’s a 62

long one weighing in at over five minutes. The Park is a song that you listen to and wonder how it could have been so perfect.

The track is intriguing as it winds it’s way through the verses, builds and fades perfectly. Half way through, we are treated to some very Jazz influenced passages, and then back into the mind of Ken Hensley. The Park is one that will always remain on par with Come Away Melinda.

Time to Live (Box/Byron/Hensley) Now we are treated to some really heavy Heep… The introduction features the heaviest Hammond Organ sound in classic rock, Ken Hensley and his saturated/distorted Leslie driven Hammond B3.

We are treated to his signature sound in most of the song. Fast and swirling, the Leslie/Hammond combination leaves all others in the dust. David’s voice is rougher when he needs it than on earlier tracks on this one, but he is right on with his delivery. A great classic track, a favourite of most Heep Fans.

Lady in Black (Hensley) What can be said about Lady in Black? Sung by Ken, and with both chords of the song present all through it, it’s become classic in the sense that everyone knows it, and most even know all the words! It’s performed today at most gigs, like many of the rest that have become staples of the history of Uriah Heep.

High Priestess (Hensley) Harmonics from Mick and slide from Ken, begin this journey into typical ‘happy-Heep’. The song just rocks you into a boogie mood. Heavier sounding harmonies (maybe double-tracked) are trademarked on it, as is slide guitar and slide with wah courtesy of Mr Box. The band seemed to be at this time enjoying adding instrument solos on top of solos and it worked. They are spaced far left and right, clear sounding, and do add the touches they were looking for. This 63

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‘David was a peacock of a man. As soon as the lights went down, his tail feathers would come up. He was at home. But we all felt like that, we all felt that it was right. There was never a feeling of being overawed by it at all.’

– Mick Box

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song isn’t one of the heavier ones, but it sure is one of the ones that forged the emerging sound. It’s again, classic early Heep.

Salisbury (Byron/Hensley/Box) The most advanced song Uriah Heep offers to date. Salisbury is a story of he and she, but it’s not vocals or the words that fans adore.

It’s the arrangement and the various forays into musical magic of this most unique song from the Box/Byron/Hensley combination.

Maybe the first rock opera? There are so many passages in this sixteen-minute monster it’s difficult to pinpoint just what is all in there, but suffice it to say that you are treated with every aspect of the continually developing Heep to date. Rock, jazz, and solos you will die for. Newton, Hensley, Box and Baker have their way with you but now with help from trumpets and flutes!

Obviously wanting to spread their musical wings, notable sections have to include the now famous Mick Box ‘total wah’ guitar solo and subsequent ’eavy Mick solo right behind it. ‘I could hear the wahwah pedal click on’ has been echoed throughout the years by Heep fans everywhere! Also notable of course is the composition itself.

Never boring, always inviting and snagging you around each turn, it is wrought with a melody that really does grab you, it’s about as long a song as you will hear from Heep in the studio. It is another song that foreshadows Paradise/The Spell in places, it leaves you wanting more… right now!

Salisbury is a grand piece of musical history from the band as they started to climb the ladder of success, tragedy and all that is Heep. ‡ Life in Uriah Heep was being lived at a fast pace and no sooner had the band returned from North America than they were back in Lansdowne Studios again to begin recording a third album.

Despite their growing reputation on the road and the undoubted 66

quality of Salisbury, sales were not keeping pace. A distinct feeling of frustration was evident in some quarters.

Another disconcerting development was the increasing marginalisation of Paul Newton senior, who was still officially the manager of the band, but who increasingly felt that Gerry Bron was usurping much of the decision making process as a result of his combined role as agent, producer and label boss. As Newton senior became increasingly sidelined, the group began to polarise into two factions. This awkward situation was compounded by the fact that by now both Newton and Bron had both invested heavily in terms of time, energy and money in Uriah Heep. The financial repercussions were complex, and not likely to be unravelled simply. Eventually, something would have to give.

There was also another avenue that looked likely to cause problems.

Hensley was clearly making up for lost time as he had penned half of Salisbury on his own, while co-writing the rest of the material. Noses were beginning to be put out of joint, yet Ken was extremely prolific, and his work was of a consistently excellent standard.

Away from the cumbersome politics of who controlled the group, it was blatantly obvious that the third album had to be an exceptional one. Somehow Heep had found the time to routine a few new tracks and they were already performing them on stage. Among them was a real gem called July Morning.

Heep fan Dave Keable remembers attending one of the first concerts at which this new masterpiece was revealed. At the time, Heep were splitting their shows into two, with an acoustic first section being followed by an electric instalment.

Recalls Dave: ‘It was September of 1971 and the venue was the Palace Theatre at Westcliff, a suburb of Southend-on-Sea, Essex. If my memory is correct, Iain Clarke started the show by reading a poem written by Ken Hensley called For Tonight and Tomorrow. The first number was Cold Autumn Sunday and my favourite track from the first album, Come Away Melinda, was next. Lady in Black and 67

What’s Within My Heart followed, before the first half closed with What Should Be Done.

‘The second half opened, as did many other Uriah Heep concerts over the years, with Bird of Prey. The next four numbers were from the new album, Look at Yourself, namely I Wanna Be Free, July Morning, Tears in My Eyes and Shadows of Grief. Even without the orchestral section of the recorded version, Salisbury was a highlight of the set. Look at Yourself followed, before Gypsy giving Ken a chance to pound away at the Hammond organ. Although not printed in the programme I’m certain that the encore was Love Machine, a track that also closed the Look at Yourself album. I never saw another Heep concert quite like it.”

For over thirty years, Dave Keable treasured the programme from that unusual evening. The notes are particularly revealing, the first public notice of the album that would produce the group’s first major breakthrough. The text reads as follows: ‘This is our first opportunity to present a concert completely on our own and naturally we are all very excited about it. We have prepared an extended programme to include certain less familiar aspects of Uriah Heep as a band and we hope to introduce some friends during the first section. Later on we’ll be doing most of the songs, which are on the new LP, released on 1 October. We really want you to enjoy yourselves as much as possible because, between us, we know it will be an evening worth remembering. Thank You, Uriah Heep.’

With July Morning, Uriah Heep finally had their anthem to rival Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven or Deep Purple’s Child in Time. The atmospheric epic emerged as a result of a welcome coalition between Ken Hensley and David Byron. Ken is still justifiably proud of his contribution to this rock classic.

‘I think that July Morning is one of the best examples of the way the band was developing,’ he stresses. ‘It introduced a lot of dynamics, of light and shade, into to our sound, which up to then had just been flat out rock ’n’ roll.

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‘It actually came from two separate songs. The first one started out as a simple acoustic guitar song. I remember taking my little song down to rehearsals and David introduced part of another song he was working on. So we put them together and out came July Morning as it is now.

However, Mick Box actually recollects July Morning as being developed from no less than three separate sources.

‘It started off in rehearsals as three pieces of music, each of which was being worked on in different songs,’ he states. ‘There was the riff, the actual verse and the middle-eight up to the chorus. I had the flu at the time and when I went back after a few days I saw they’d not got any further. So it occurred to me that as the three pieces were all in C Minor that they would all fit together. That’s how it was born. It was Kenny’s lyric, of course, and to this day I don’t quite know where the ideas for that came from.

‘But it must be one of the strongest songs because it’s stayed in our stage show ever since,’ he adds. ‘It’s a very famous tune in Russia. I remember when we played Moscow and walked in the hotel there was this geezer playing it on the piano. We looked at each other and said, “Oh no – elevator music!” And we all had a bloody good laugh!’

By this point in proceedings, Gerry Bron could have been excused for beginning to get a little nervous. He’d invested time, organisation and cash in the band, who still seemed short of their big breakthrough. With the quality of compositions like July Morning and the title track, however, Gerry sensed that it was only a matter of time before the records began to sell in the amounts they deserved.

‘Of course, Look at Yourself was the point in time where the band really found a solid musical direction,’ states Bron. ‘Everything came right – even the cover was inspired. It was indicative of the way the band was going, and it certainly attracted a lot of attention. As I recall, the cover was Mick’s idea.’

Box doesn’t mind taking the credit for the idea of housing the album in a mirror, commenting: ‘I thought of it on the way back 69

from a gig. We were going to stop at Gerry’s house for some tea and to have a business meeting. The title track had already chosen itself and Look at Yourself just lent itself to the cover. It was fantastic because it really caught your eye in the record shops.’

Brian Jones, a fan who had not been especially bowled over by ...Very ’Eavy, was one of those drawn in by the new sleeve.

‘I was browsing in my local store and a record looked back at me!’ He remembers. ‘So I bought Look at Yourself and that was it.

I thought it was the best album I’d ever heard and that started a relationship that has lasted ever since.’

‘We’d defined our direction by then’, adds Paul Newton. ‘We knew more where we were going. Some of the tracks on the other two albums had been slightly odd to be included in the albums, but they were things that either Gerry wanted to put on or things that we had lying around that we thought we’d better use. Also we were playing the heavier sort of stuff on stage so Look at Yourself was more representative. We were more of a complete band by then.’

Look at Yourself did not credit a drummer, although Iain Clarke almost certainly played on it. Strangely, the album also featured guest contributions from Teddy, Mac and Loughty of Osibisa, who all added percussion to the final section of the record’s title track. But one thing is irrefutable: it provided the musical impetus the band needed to aid their thrust into the big time.

Hensley: ‘It was the point that things really started to take off, definitely was the catalyst for a lot of the band’s growth. And it started to kick things off for us in America, which at the time was the world’s biggest market. It was also relatively untapped for our kind of market because it was very new. It was a very momentous time in American history; culturally, politically, socially with all the university riots and Vietnam, so many things going on. We brought an aggressive, progressive kind of music which they grabbed onto.’

Paul Newton for one maintains that most of the drive that produced the improvement on Look at Yourself came from within the band.

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‘We wanted to become more in control of the sound and what actually went on to the album,’ he professes. ‘As a band, we tended to discuss ahead of time how we would approach things and we got impressed upon Gerry and the recording engineer the type of sound we wanted, more successfully than we did on the first two albums.

So it ended up with a far more representative band sound, more like what we imagined we sounded like on stage. We also had more material available to choose from, and we weren’t swayed by Gerry’s opinion so much about what we should put on there. Because of that the album still stands up as a fine record that’s representative of the band at that time.’

Even the reviewers were moderately positive about Look at Yourself.

Record Mirror described it as, ‘Fine, inventive heavy rock, with a grand production from Gerry Bron’, adding: ‘Each member plays beautifully and no-one overdoes it and the result is some of the best harmony-rock in the field.” And the NME went to far as to proclaim: ‘The thin line that divides good heavy bands from the bad finds Uriah Heep on the winning side. So forget the trendies – if you like good heavy music, well played, go and buy this album.’

With his deal with Vertigo now at an end, Gerry Bron took it upon himself to launch his own label, Bronze Records. And it was through this outlet that Look at Yourself first appeared.

Paul Newton: ‘We charted all over the world, not as high as we’d have liked, but we still managed to get into the Top 50 in the UK, and in places like Germany it got far higher in the charts. We did a lot of work in places like Germany promoting the album and over the years it paid off. It all established the band more firmly as something that was here to stay, rather than a one or two album wonder.’

Naturally, the birth of Bronze brought even more power into the Bron camp. The man who felt all of these struggles most keenly was Paul Newton, who now felt more torn than ever between loyalty to his father and to the band he had done so much to help create. For Paul junior this highly stressful situation was clearly becoming untenable.

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‘When sober David was a really good guy, intelligent, kind and fun to work and socialise with. When drunk he was a very different animal, not violent or abusive but just hard to communicate with.’

– Robin George

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‘There was a lot of conflict between Gerry Bron and the rest of the band,’ he confirms, ‘and I thought at the time that Ken and Gerry had things going that didn’t involve the future of the rest of us. We’d been through several drummers by this point. Iain Clarke wasn’t fitting in as well as we’d hoped and, to be quite honest, neither was I. I’d been experiencing a lot of aggravation which was mainly due to my father. He’d helped us a great deal to get to the point we were at, but he wouldn’t relinquish responsibility for the band to Gerry Bron.

‘Although he wanted us to be with Gerry Bron, he was very loath to let go of his hold on the band. The result of that was that the other guys started to resent him, and that resentment was passed on to me.’

The balance of power now lay firmly in the Bron camp, but Paul Newton senior was still inclined to turn up at concerts in the forlorn hope that he could re-establish his position as manager.

‘I felt very awkward about the whole thing,’ explains his son unhappily. ‘There were embarrassing situations when he appeared at gigs saying that he was the legal manager of the band – and he was still legally involved because we had never paid him off. There wasn’t enough money around to settle things like that. Although the band were working a lot, we’d spent thousands of pounds on recording, on touring, all sorts of things. So there was aggravation within the band about all sorts of things that had nothing to do with music.’

To add to Paul Newton’s difficulties, he was involved in a serious car crash whilst on tour in Germany. A car in which he was travelling careered off a mountain road, plunging down a ravine rolling over and over. Miraculously, no one was killed, or even seriously hurt.

According to Mick, who was one of the first on the scene, it was clear to everyone that Paul and the other occupants of the car were incredibly lucky to be alive. But the effect on his nervous condition was understandable.

‘Then I found out my wife was expecting a baby which was more pressure, there was anxiety caused by my father’s position and I really 73

lost motivation and direction,’ says Paul. ‘I felt disillusioned and unhappy with the situation, so it was probably time for me to go.

‘But when the band said, “We’ve got someone else”, I was very sad to leave,’ he adds. ‘It had been a great part of my life, but I could see things only getting progressively worse. Success has different effects on everybody, and for two or three of the band, it turned them into nasty people. The whole attitude became different. I suppose it was inevitable. Big money becomes big business, but the business side was taking over from the music. Particularly after Look at Yourself, the music was becoming secondary. Being available for photo sessions for magazines and all the bullshit side of things seemed to be taking precedent to gigging. People in the band wanted to be shuttled around in Cadillacs and Rolls Royces, and that sort of stuff seemed like a complete waste of money at the stage we were at in our career.”

Despite the positive commercial signs, Paul Newton was to leave Heep abruptly, just as the good times were about to arrive.

‘You can dress it up however you like, but I was fired from the band,’ he insists. ‘I’ve since heard it said since that I left for all sorts of reasons, but I didn’t leave of my own accord – I was sacked.’

Paul does qualify the harshness of this statement with a bit of background colour to life in the band at that time. He says: ‘I must confess I had wanted to leave some months prior to my actual date of departure, but I had gotten over that. There had been unrest in the band, some of it musical, but most was personal. We weren’t getting on together as people. There was a kind of split in the band as individuals. Ken had got very much involved in his own songs, and into promoting himself maybe more than promoting the actual band, which is understandable. Ken was a talented guy and was becoming the main contributor by means of his songs, and he was probably entitled to do that. But within the context of a band which is basically a co-operative, you have to work together for the common good.’

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According to Newton, Ken’s ego problems were also being matched by those of David Byron. Truth be told, the singer was descending into a full-on rock star trip.

Says Paul: ‘David Byron had become very starstruck. By now he was a typical prima donna, always going way over the top. Mick was just Mick. He was always the same – he’s nice guy, but he always seemed to sit on the fence. He wanted to be everybody’s mate, and he would side with everybody. He wasn’t a great decision maker at the time, mainly because he wanted the band to be together and successful.’

Paul recognised the underlying tensions that were borne out of the frustrations of being so close to success. He says: ‘Underneath it all I think that even Mick had become very aggravated. We’d reached a point in our career when we were starting to make it and we were hopeful about the future.’

According to Paul, the real roots of the split lay in the unresolved power struggles for control over the band. Despite the fact that the writing had been on the wall, the shock and humiliation of being thrown out of the group hit him hard.

‘I did nothing for about six weeks,’ he recalls. ‘I basically sat at home, I was lost without the band. I’d given it a lot of my life and everything I did revolved around Uriah Heep. All sorts of people and bands phoned me up because I’d been a member of a band that was just about to break big, so various offers were made, but there was nothing I really fancied. I suppose I didn’t really want to get involved in something else that would end up the same. Eventually I just drifted out of the music business. It wasn’t a conscious decision to pack it up, I just found myself playing less and less… I was obviously not born to be a rock star.’

Ken still feels that Newton could have gone all the way, stating: ‘It was unfortunate that Paul suffered as he did. Had it not been for the crash, Paul could have stayed in the band right the way through. That was unfortunate, but it happened.’

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Newton – who almost two decades later worked again with Hensley in the short-lived Hensley-Lawton Group (in fact, he only made one live appearance with them) – has since been able to reconcile his feelings about Uriah Heep. For him, the youth of all concerned had much to do with what happened.

‘We were all very young at the time,’ he says. ‘Most musicians would probably agree that by the time you get to forty, you can handle a lot of the pressures and the aggro far better than a young man. You have a more of life’s experience behind you and you tend not to get so wound up about little things. You differentiate between what’s important and what isn’t.’

It’s good that Paul Newton has been able to make his peace with the events of thirty years ago. That Uriah Heep were about to make the breakthrough to worldwide fame must have made the experience all the more painful.

Album Track-By-Track

Look at Yourself

Released November 1971 Album review By Dave White

Released in 1971, Look at Yourself firmly marks the entry of Uriah Heep into the world of rock, which it dominated for the next four years. The title track burrows itself into the now-classic Uriah Heep sound. All the elements of Heep to come are in this album. With Paul Newton on the bass and Ian Clark on the drums, Box, Hensley and Byron reach a new height with the intense driving Heep sound soon to be characterized as a ‘Panzer doing eighty’.

Ripe with everything that every Heep fan will grow to love, Look at Yourself the song features a superb lead guitar solo from Mick Box that remains to this day one that has varied very little in live shows.

The album is very different from the preceding two releases in that 76

the songwriting shows a true and secure cohesion of the various elements within the songs. Tight and now familiar musical passages effortlessly take you to new appreciation of the band. If there was a Heep album that brought new fans into an everlasting affair with the band, this is it.

Present and accounted for is the epic July Morning, equal in stature to any release from any band of the time. Stairway to Heaven receives the accolades to this day, but July Morning has it all over that one.

The subsequent releases from the band will grow in the same genre and style and with the writing style of this remarkable album… a true Uriah Heep classic.

Look at Yourself (Hensley) Very ’eavy and spitting Hammond B3 at you from the beginning, Look at Yourself starts at eighty miles an hour and never looks back.

The harmonies are tight, the song never slows and the recorded sound is excellent. Not in-your-face, but close. Made for air guitar, Look at Yourself features a terrific organ and lead guitar interplay in much of the middle section. Hensley’s driving keyboards support Box as he tears into one of the most celebrated guitar solos in all of Heepdom.

The now famous percussion finish with the help of Osibisa, drives you higher and higher up the Heep ladder ever increasing in speed and intensity… and… then the final wind down to the final note that you wish would never end.

Look at Yourself is serious Heep, witness to the ever-developing writing skills of the members. A true testament to all things Heep.

Five stars this one.

I Wanna Be Free (Hensley) Seemingly carried over from Look at Yourself, if only for a few measures, I Wanna Be Free is a teaser from the beginning. Hitting you hard, then backing off to a very delicate Byron, the song will 77

David Byron and Ken Hensley onstage. A founding member of the band, Ken Hensley remained with Uriah Heep until his departure in September 1980. During the 1970s Hensley wrote or co-wrote the majority of Uriah Heep’s songs.

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eventually leave you gasping as you wonder how David hit those notes at the end.

The second verse begins the wind up to an angry tune that pleads for you to listen! To the brim with very Heepy vocal harmonies, and a power trio sound of backing tracks. A frenzy of twin lead guitars, driving bass, and David Byron’s amazing vocals at the end drive you in to the stratosphere Uriah Heep wants you to be in before they cut you off, but quite properly!

July Morning (Byron/Hensley) The song that launched a million Heep fans. July Morning is perhaps the most celebrated of all the Classic Heep songs. It’s the Uriah Heep song that we all know note for note having heard it hundreds if not thousands of times. July Morning features a vocal performance from David Byron that defies words. It’s so David. It’s the David in my mind.

All the various elements of this Heep classic are timeless. From the beat itself, to the growing intensity in the verses, to the now famous Manfred Mann Moog solo.

Ken and Mick shine on forever in July Morning with each complimenting each other in short breaks, and again for the last three minutes of the song during which Manfred Mann carries the Heep flag high.

At over ten minutes, it’s a marvel of it’s time. The final minute or so of the song has Mann, Hensley and Box seemingly going insane as they each break free of any musical bounds. Tight, yet free as a bird of prey, Box’s wah-wah leads you from stanza to stanza and he shines on this one.

The music was presented to the band as an acoustic piece by Ken, and became what we know today while the band brought it to life in rehearsals. Only Circle of Hands (Demons and Wizards) will ever approach this song in classic Heep quality. Ten stars, no turning back after this one. If you heard it, you became a Uriah Heep fan for life.

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Tears in My Eyes (Hensley) After surviving July Morning, Tears in My Eyes is a 180 degree departure from the first three songs on the album. It’s sort of a boogie tune, but it’s much more developed than the earlier boogie tunes from Heep.

By this time the vocal style with regard to accompanying harmonies has been truly developed, trademarked, and perfected.

The band utilizes these qualities as they explore the wild side of Ken’s slide guitar and the signature stereo acoustic guitar backing tracks.

The song explores new territory for a bit and then returns to it’s main riff, and then back to it’s metal-boogie self. Even though it’s a ‘bop-around’ tune, Tears in My Eyes is all Heep. The band seems to have learned how to be very ’eavy and very boogie at the same time.

Shadows of Grief (Hensley/Byron) It’s another whirlwind ride into the Heep camp with Shadows of Grief! This one rocks into your head from the beginning long chords and feedback driven guitar… it then leaves you to catch your breath for a few seconds and then watch out…

Shadows of Grief shows the band doing what it did best… relaying a story filled to the top with desperation and the music supports that in every way. Leaning on what has now become Uriah Heep’s style, the song breaks into a completely different but very fitting middle section in which the instruments are bouncing off each other endlessly it seems. With Mick Box’s grinding power chords and wah-wah, Ken Hensley show’s off his prowess on the Hammond in a section that begins hard, drops almost into nothingness, and then from nowhere seems to grow back to life.

Erie and beautiful, growing to a crescendo of Heep vocals, the band is one as they continue on for another verse or two and finish with a chord reminiscent of earlier releases. It makes no sense to try and figure out who is doing what, the song just is. It’s actually a mini 81

epic, quite deserving of the fourth spot behind July Morning, Circle of Hands, and Paradise/the Spell. This is one great Heep song.

What Should Be Done (Hensley) David Byron soothes the savage beast with the opening verse. His voice at it’s ‘silkiest’ best. A grand departure from the previous songs on this album, it shows the lighter side of the band while still retaining it’s unmistakable sound. A playful wah from Mr Box embellishes the verses throughout the entire song. The band has managed to provide the listener with something that throws them off for a bit during this one. A nice break, and a fitting prelude to the next song…

Love Machine (Hensley) A distant Hammond Organ slowly surfaces in this song that you think will be one of he heavier ones, but… we are back to a boogie tune again with Love Machine! It’s so good you wonder why someone didn’t already write it!

Sort of following in the footsteps of Tears in My Eyes, this tune has Mr Hensley simply rockin’ both on the organ and slide guitar as Mick Box provides a churning rhythm riff as well as a great lead solo at 1:37… it’s pure Box! It’s a fun song, a great tune to head bang to if your prone to that sort of thing… and I bet you are!

The last seconds bring you back to reality and leave you shaking your head in disbelief that the album is over all to soon.

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Chapter 3

P

Demonic Wizardry and the First Gold Discs

aul Newton’s replacement on bass guitar was exColosseum man Mark Clark, who ironically joined Uriah Heep just as Iain Clarke (no relation) was vacating the drum stool. The new man behind the kit was another former Gods man, Lee Kerslake.

‘Up until the recording of Demons and Wizards we’d made quite a number of changes in bass players and drummers,’ Hensley notes.

‘But the most important change was that Lee Kerslake joined us just before we started recording that album. He, of course, is still with the band so he was obviously the right man for the job. I don’t think we ever really viewed Ian and Keith Baker as permanent. We 83

really wanted Lee in the band and we went after him very hard, but he had his own project, The National Head Band, and he was very committed to that. To his credit, we couldn’t tear him away from it and we met him and talked to him several times and offered him all kinds of incentives to be a part of Uriah Heep. Eventually we did get Lee, and that was really what we needed.’

Given that he’d experienced spells with both the Gods and Toe Fat, it was perhaps inevitable that Kerslake would end in Heep.

Having begun playing drums in secondary school at the age of eleven, he’d finally gone professional six years later. However, Kerslake was thrown out of Liverpudlian act National Head Band – a group he describes as ‘like Lindisfarne crossed with heavy rock’ – after getting drunk for the first time in his life at a gig in Scotland.

‘I was playing darts,’ he now laughs at the memory. ‘I used to be pretty good in those days, I won and when you play darts in Scotland you get a pint or a whiskey. Apparently, I had twenty whiskies!’

It wasn’t the presence of Hensley in the band’s line-up that finally convinced Lee to take the job, but the kinship he immediately felt with Mick Box. ‘I already knew Kenny, of course, and Mick and I just gelled straight away,’ he says. ‘I first met Mick properly at Jubilee Studios in November of 1971. I liked him and he seemed to like me. They gave me a couple of songs to learn and the rest of the band went off for a drink, but Mick and I stayed jamming for about two and a half hours. They came back ready to start again, but we were ready for a drink then!

‘A week later, I was on tour with Heep and we recorded The Wizard and then the Demons and Wizards album – the rest is history. Mick and I are still friends, so it was a happy coincidence.’

Unfortunately for Mark Clark, life in Uriah Heep was to prove something less of a happy experience. He recalls: ‘Colosseum had split up and the next day I went to the Speakeasy Club. At about 3 am, Ken Hensley came in and said, “I’ve been looking for you all day, 84

could you join Uriah Heep?” Colosseum had been on the road for two years, I’d had two days off and suddenly I was on the road again with Heep. It all moved so quickly that we even had to rehearse on a train.’

Stunned by the non-stop workload, Clark quickly came to the conclusion that the frantic pace of life in Uriah Heep was unsuited to him. He sportingly agreed to stay in the band and honour some US dates while a replacement was sought. But before he departed, Clark made a lasting contribution to the Heep legacy as co-writer of The Wizard, which remains one of the single most popular songs in the Heep catalogue.

Gerry Bron revealed: ‘The Wizard was recorded totally separately as a single, and we then went on to record the rest of Demons and Wizards quite a bit later. It was such a great song that we rushed it into the studio and it was recorded almost as soon as it was written.’

‘It came from the Lansdowne Studios sessions,’ expands Box. ‘The actual song was written in the back of a van on our way to a gig.

Kenny had the old acoustic guitar out and we started playing around with the idea. We’d half written with the acoustic bit and the power chords behind it, but we couldn’t come up with a middle-eight. Then Mark Clarke had an idea, so he and Kenny went running down the studio next day and knocked down the riff, and it slotted in perfectly.

‘Starting a song with an acoustic guitar was quite something in those days because it was a bit unusual to have an acoustic in a hard rock band,’ Mick continues. ‘We had the E tuned down to D. All clever stuff, it was. Then we put a lovely chorus on the acoustic and it really started happening. We had the studio door open, which led into this small corridor and onto the kitchen. There was one of those old fashioned kettles with a whistle, and as we were listening to the playback it went off. In those days of peace and love, man, we thought the whistle sounded right with the track. So we recorded it and tracked it about six times. There were all these mics on the kettle, and 85

then we varispeeded to the right pitch which was a top C. Not many people know that the high pitched note that sounds like a string note is actually the whistle of a kettle tracked about six times!

‘We had an engineer at the time called Ashley Howe, and he was a getting a bit tired because he was doing session after session. Anyway, at the beginning of The Wizard, David’s voice goes really speeded up as an effect. That was because Ashley was really tired and as he was sitting on the tape machine his elbow slipped and hit the varispeed.

We thought, “Great – keep it in!”

Understandably, Mark Clark is still very proud of The Wizard. ‘I’m also singing on there,’ he reveals. ‘I wrote the whole of the middle section – that part that goes, “Why don’t we listen to the voices in our heart?” And I also sang on that section. Dave Byron said, “Does it have to be so high?” So Gerry Bron said to me, “Why don’t you sing it?” So that’s what I did. We did the single and the B-side in less than four hours, including writing and recording. The recording was probably only the second time we’d played it.’

Worn down by the non-stop whirl of life in Colosseum and then Uriah Heep, Mark Clark was quite happy to hand over the bass player’s role to Gary Thain. It was only many years later – in 1985, for the Go for Your Life album – that Clark returned to the fray, joining guitarist Leslie West and drummer Corky Laing in the reformed Mountain.

‘I was having a nervous breakdown,’ he reveals now. ‘I’d had no time off for a long while and I said to Gerry Bron, “This pace is going to kill us”, which it eventually did. I just wasn’t going to have any part of it. So I played with Heep at night while Gary Thain rehearsed with them during the day. I said I’d leave when Gary was ready. The handover process took about ten days or so.

‘We’d based ourselves in Los Angeles, flying out to the gigs each day and back again each night,’ he elaborates. ‘That was another killer. It was so stupid, I can remember on one ticket I had about 160 flights. It was a lot of travelling, and it was every day.’

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Nevertheless, leaving the band was a big step for Clark as Heep were just starting to hit the big time.

‘Yes,’ nods Mark. ‘In fact, the president of Warner Brothers came to my hotel room with a computer printout. Nobody knew what it was, they’d just started using computers, and he said, “Do you know how much money you are walking away from? These are your projected earnings”. I was kind of aware of it, but I had to tell him it was just too much for me. He said he admired what I was doing and that if I ever wanted a record deal to give him a call.

‘But I was going through something so physical and emotional that I could have been playing with the Beatles and I wouldn’t have known how I felt about the music – I just wanted to stop. We were recording whilst we were touring, and we had no time off. We’d fly back to London for an afternoon to do some vocals or something, and then back out to wherever we were playing… Germany, Italy even the States once.

‘It was crazy. Your body was yelling to stop and that’s what happened with Heep, I just had to stop. The doctor told me months later that I was having a nervous breakdown. He asked if I drank and I told him no, he said that maybe I should have done, as it may have taken the edge off things! When I got back to England and the customs officer asked if I had anything to declare I’d say, “Yes: bad health!” It was that bad.’

Newcomer Gary Thain was a New Zealander who had settled in England. Best known for his work with Keef Hartley’s band, Heep’s latest member fitted like a glove and the musical chemistry soared.

The results saw Uriah Heep climbing to the very top of the rock ladder.

Ken in particular felt that Gary was an automatic hit, ‘because we knew exactly what we were looking for, we just hadn’t been able to find it. But as soon as Gary came along, he was perfect. Mark Clark had been very valuable to the band and I liked Mark as a person, but there was a little bit of a disconnection. With Gary it was 87

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Ken Hensley wrote some of the finest rock music to come out of Britain in the seventies, a brilliant legacy which is hugely under-rated.

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instantaneous. He brought something musically and personalitywise.’

Without a doubt, 1972 was Uriah Heep’s golden year. This was true literally and metaphorically, as the two albums recorded in that year, namely Demons and Wizards and the Magician’s Birthday, spawned the first of the Gold discs that eventually adorned the walls of Bronze Records for the next decade.

The first of the albums produced and recorded in 1972 was Demons and Wizards, a piece of work that is still regarded by many as Heep’s finest hour. Ken Hensley was now firmly in the driving seat as the band’s main songwriter, but a number of other new benefits to the new line-up which were about to make themselves apparent. Thain was a world-class player whose wandering bass lines were to be inspiration to thousands of aspiring players. Lee Kerslake also made a significant contribution not only in terms of his drumming, but also his backing vocals and writing.

‘Lee joining really steadied the ship musically,’ comments Box. ‘At last we were getting the right kind of people in. Like me, Lee doesn’t need to practise, he’s a natural player. And it was great because Gary brought in all those beautifully melodic basslines.’

Agrees Hensley: ‘In the best times, we all played a role and respected each other’s contributions – which were all important!

Demons and Wizards was a magical time; a musical turning point for the band. Everybody went to a different level in our musical adventure through our choir and vocal orientation. Instrumentally, we experimented more; production-wise we did some things we had never done before. The success of the previous albums allowed us the luxury of a budget and Demons and Wizards became a more exciting album because we had the time to focus on developing a musical theme for the album.’

The second single to be culled from Demons and Wizards was Easy Livin’. Although it didn’t chart in the UK, it seemed to do so in just about every other territory on earth. It was especially successful 90

in Holland, Germany and Scandinavia which all become Heep strongholds. Mick Box explains: ‘We recorded Easy Livin’ as a part of the full sessions for the Demons and Wizards album. I remember we had a break from recording because we were getting a bit stale, so we went for a pint or two up the road. When we got back, Kenny sat down at the organ and started coming across with a few of his ideas.

We all got behind it, gave it a shuffle feel to add some real power and it was written virtually there and then. The amber nectar was the inspiration, I think. It was a very successful single worldwide and from then on things really started happening for Heep.’

The band’s progress almost visibly accelerated at around this juncture, and it affected all concerned in different ways. Even as the new boy, Kerslake soon took exception to the way that Bron was being portrayed as the group’s sixth member.

‘That’ll be the day,’ he now fumes when the suggestion is made.

‘Fame took Gerry Bron over. He was telling us to keep our egos level, but his trip was worse than the five of us put together. I once overheard him telling somebody, “I am Uriah Heep”, and that really pissed me off.’

‘Gerry never pooh-poohed any of our ideas [in the studio] at first, but later on he wasn’t quite so good in that regard,’ comments Box more diplomatically. ‘As instrumental as Gerry Bron was in building Uriah Heep up, he was equally guilty in bringing it down.’

As an album, Demons and Wizards had more highlights than anybody dared to hope. Besides Easy Livin’ and The Wizard, other gems included Rainbow Demon, Paradise/The Spell, Traveller in Time and the truly magnificent Circle of Hands. It was the breakthrough album that the band had been waiting for.

Perhaps even more so during the seventies, it was also necessary to have a really great cover. At that time, the sleeve designer par excellence was Roger Dean, most famous for his artwork for Yes, among others. So Dean was approached to lend his visual magic to Heep’s aural wizardry.

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‘In Heep’s case, our artwork was often not very good,’ admits Ken. ‘The Salisbury album was uninspired and I still hate Wonderworld.

But Demons and Wizards is an exception. It was a magnificent cover.

I still love it today. For the first time we had something futuristic and progressive. Previous covers had been a little bit obvious – Look at Yourself was a great cover, but it was obvious. So this was the first time we had done something unique.’

Thirty years on, Roger Dean remains equally satisfied. He says: ‘I’d worked for Yes on Close to the Edge and Fragile. If you look at those titles, in essence they are neutral, they could mean anything and it gave me terrific freedom. With Uriah Heep it was very different. If you take a title like Demons and Wizards, it pulls you in a certain direction. I think I produced an original take on it, but the only solution was to illustrate the theme. There wouldn’t have been any sense me doing flying elephants, like I’d done for their Bronze labelmates Osibisa. As they’d gone to the extent of calling their album Demons and Wizards, they had an idea that they wanted executed in a particular way. There was a big difference between Demons and Wizards and all my other work. It’s still very much appreciated today, but it was an odd cover for me because it was primarily painted with elements of collage. The butterfly wings on the wizard are real butterfly wings. Back in the early seventies I always drew and coloured the drawings, but Demons and Wizards for some reason demanded a painting. I’m still rather proud of it.’

The powerful impact of great marketing coupled with some really great music and artwork contrived to catapult Heep towards truly international success for the first time.

‘The important thing about Demons and Wizards was that up until that point we had concentrated on the European market,’ comments Ken. ‘But Easy Livin’ got us into the American charts in a big way and opened up a new phase of our career.’

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Album Track-By-Track

Demons and Wizards Released March 1972 Album review By Mike Taylor

Demons and Wizards was the name given to Uriah Heep’s fourth album. Released in May 1972 it featured a number of changes from the previous albums. Most notable was the change of rhythm section.

Founder member and highly regarded bass player, Paul Newton and drummer Ian Clarke had both left. Replacing them were bassist Gary Thain previously of The Keef Hartley band (who had played at the Woodstock Festival) and drummer Lee Kerslake who had played with Ken Hensley (and Paul Newton) in The Gods.

Whilst Gary was indeed the new bass player a mention must be made of Mark Clarke who had initially joined the band but found the touring schedule too demanding. In his brief time with Heep Mark co wrote with Ken and performed on The Wizard leaving his lasting mark on the band and the album.

Another significant development was the fact that the album was the first to be recorded using sixteen tracks which had a marked effect on the overall sound. The biggest change was in the musical style. The previous albums had been in some way experimental and the last album Look at Yourself had come in for heavy criticism for sounding too much like Deep Purple. Look at Yourself was an out and out rocker whereas Demons and Wizards was a far more subtle affair with the odd rocker thrown in for good measure. Back in the days of vinyl, album covers were a band’s biggest marketing tool.

Heep’s previous covers weren’t all that bad but the cover for Demons and Wizards was a massive leap forward. Roger Dean was the artist that painted the cover, and what a cover it turned out to be: magic.

The album comprised nine tracks most with a mystical theme and all bar one were either written or co-written by Ken Hensley. Every 93

track was an inspiration and set the scene for a new era for Uriah Heep. Uriah shock… they’re good!

The Wizard (Hensley/Clarke) The Wizard sets the scene perfectly for the rest of the album and shocked many Heep fans listening to the album for the first time in that it starts with an acoustic guitar. It’s pace is relatively slow and only introduces electric guitar into the middle eight. The other unusual feature is a multi tracked electric whistling kettle. This shows how innovative Heep were long before this was done by today’s artists. A revelation on this track which features heavily on the album is the improvement in the harmonies.

Undoubtedly a combination of the addition of Lee’s voice and that sixteen-track recording. As previously mentioned The Wizard was co written by Mark Clarke and Ken Hensley. This track has had a major effect on fans ever since. It is still played on rock radio the world over including the UK and USA and is often still played live by present day Heep.

Traveller in Time (Box/Byron/Kerslake) This takes us back to electric guitars and gives us the first taste of Gary’s wonderful bass playing. David’s voice has matured immeasurably and the switching between soft and harsh works perfectly. What this track shows is the ability of the whole band to have an effect on the melody of the song. Take away just one element and the song will sound very different. Heep were now five musicians working in perfect harmony together. A medium paced rocker which became a live favourite at the time. It is the only track on the album that Ken didn’t have a hand in writing and the first Heep track that involved Lee. For many this is the track that leads on to…

Easy Livin’ (Hensley) This is perhaps Heep’s most famous song. It is undoubtedly the 94

hardest rocking track on the album and arguably Heep’s hardest rocking track period. It was released as a single and was a hit the world over with exception of the bands home market in the UK. It is the song that got Heep noticed and gave the band a big boost in cracking the lucrative US market. It is such a simple song which breaks the mould of the album in that there is no mystical theme.

High energy guitar and keyboards driven mercilessly by Gary’s bass and Lee’s drums forge the track on and the melody vocal delivered perfectly by David sets this song apart from the other rock bands of the day. One reviewer on the BBC in the UK dared to say it sounded like Deep Purple but when did Purple ever come up with a melody and harmonies like this? Awesome!

Poet’s Justice (Hensley/Box/Kerslake) Poet’s Justice is one of Heep’s lesser known tracks but it has all the correct ingredients. The start can’t get any more like classic Heep.

Five-part harmony, swirling Hammond hard bass and busy drums, a true Heepster’s delight. The lead vocal is not solo, but David does get it his way in the beautiful chorus. The instrumental break in the middle is outstanding. Some solo guitar, some twin guitar and some heavy Hammond. Great stuff. Again no real mystical content although with ‘fantasies’ and ‘dream’ mentioned it does sort of follow the trend. It is in essence a love song and finishes just where it started with those harmonies.

Circle of Hands (Hensley) Now this is a massive track. The success of July Morning from Look at Yourself undoubtedly inspired this one. The format is similar but there the similarity ends. Ken’s classic heavy Hammond starts things off and this remains the theme to what is essentially a ballad. Mick’s guitar is at its heaviest and David’s vocal is outstandingly beautiful and all Heep fans know the immortal final line in the song: ‘Today is only yesterday’s tomorrow’. This is classic Heep at its best. Ken takes 95

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‘Demons and Wizards was a magical time and a musical turning point for the band. Everybody went to a different level in our musical adventure.’

– Ken Hensley

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over with the slide guitar at the end and creates about a minute an a half of true magic that leaves the listener eager for more.

Rainbow Demon (Hensley) Dark and moody this takes us back to an obvious mystical theme.

Ken’s heavy Hammond grinds out the riff and David’s moody vocals on the first verse set an eerie scene. With the second verse more power is added to both vocals and instruments and this ends up as the heaviest track on the album. A great and superbly controlled guitar solo from Mick takes us back to the chorus to finish off the track. An inspired choice for the first track of side two of the original vinyl. Before you get back to your seat the Hammond is already ripping out your speakers. Great stuff.

All My Life (Box/Byron/Kerslake) What is a rock album without a bit of rock ’n’ roll? A great ‘good time’ track lasting just over two-and-a-half minutes featuring the two guitars in the band with Ken taking on the slide guitar duties.

Everything else is in place, the driving rhythm of Gary and Lee, some superb screeching from David and again those harmonies. ‘I will love you all my life.

Paradise/The Spell (Hensley) The way these two tracks mould together here has kept them inseparable for over thirty years and they have remained two of the most popular songs with Heep fans. Paradise starts with some tasteful acoustic guitar and is complimented with some great melodic bass from Gary. The warm and soft vocals are shared verse for verse

by Ken and David building and loosing some the warmth to a sort of crescendo where The Spell takes over. The words to Paradise are somewhat dark and talk of love dying but The Spell takes it to a new level and a blatantly magical theme. It all works so well. Initially David takes the lead vocal as the ‘good’ magician. The initial fast 98

tempo quickly slows and here Ken entertains with some superb and moving slide guitar complimented by some classic Heep harmonies which all adds to the magical theme. Again the tempo slows with some very tasteful piano. Here again Ken and David share the lead vocal with David taking the ‘good’ part and Ken the ‘evil’ part. The harmonies again hold it all together slowly building until we finish, up tempo as we started. The final notes of the album are David’s vocals almost at a screech. Breathless or what?

How could Heep follow that? The album sold massively as a result of almost universally good reviews and is cited by many Heep fans as the album that introduced them to Heep. Even today opinion polls place Demons and Wizards amongst the top rock albums of all time. With all due respect to the former Heep members the addition of Gary and Lee had created a mature and immensely talented rock band that could only go in one direction and we all know where that was. ‡ Uriah Heep were fast climbing to the summit of the rock world. The five band members had really fused together into a sublime unit. The first trappings of success were also starting to filter through to them and there was now some cash to throw around on a few luxuries.

Among the group’s road crew was Todd Fisher, who was given the responsibility of attending to Ken Hensley’s onstage requirements.

Fisher witnessed first hand that a few little luxuries were finally beginning to reach the performers.

‘When I first joined Heep, I had a protective interest in Ken’s Hammond B3 organ, having repaired them in the years prior to going on the road,’ he explains. ‘I’d seen many with deep black burn marks in the once-beautiful finish of the cabinet from performers who rested their lit cigarette on the side whilst playing. Since ashtrays were cumbersome, I arranged with Ken a signal that he would flash 99

whenever he wanted a cigarette during the show. This introduced me to Dunhill Internationals, an English brand of cigarette. Following an appropriate gesture from Ken, I’d walk onstage, always wearing my distinctive stage jacket, and hand the lit ciggie to Ken who never missed a lick!

‘The lighter we used was unique. It had a rectangular shape and composed of these kind of small bricks, some jutting out and creating an irregular texture. It was a very attractive piece. Not long afterwards I saw it in an issue of Playboy in an article about the world’s most extravagant gifts. It was 22-carat gold and even then it was priced at $6,000. Thank Heavens I didn’t lose that lighter… otherwise I’d probably still be lugging Ken’s instruments around to pay it off!’

At the time Todd Fisher was settling into life in the crew, Dave White was experiencing his first Heep gig and the beginning of another lifelong love affair. Todd was eventually to play a big part in the band’s story, and would only have been a matter of yards away from Todd when he witnessed the band for the first time in Minneapolis in 1972. But on this particular occasion there would have been little danger of Dave White mustering the necessary cohesion for a task as complex as jumping on stage.

‘We were quite, er, mellow by the time the gig started,’ he chuckles.

‘I remember Ken’s Hammond just overpowering any rational thought processes. It was incredibly loud and we were very close to the stage.

And when the band joined it was so loud, but so good. The crowd went wild, but me… I just sat there and smiled, completely lost in the music.’

With international success firmly in their sights, the constant round of touring and recording continued at breakneck pace.

Everywhere Uriah Heep went, packed houses were waiting. For many Heep fans, life long associations were being formed and strengthened. By their relentless tours the band made themselves available for their public. Brian Jones, who had been won over by 100

Look at Yourself, was able to achieve his ambition and witness his heroes in the flesh for the first time.

‘We were on holiday touring the UK in September 1972 and we noticed to our delight that Heep were second top billing in an outdoor festival in Buxton,’ he reminisces. ‘Also on the bill also were Greenslade, Wizzard and headliners Steppenwolf. They blew me away, seeing Byron, Box and Hensley onstage was magic. I couldn’t believe how loud they were, but being an outdoors show, the volume that was to hit me even harder at my first indoor gig. Altogether I saw them about twelve times in the 1970s, including a gig at London’s Empire Pool [now THE SEE Arena, Wembley], and I cannot remember ever hearing anything louder than them at that time.’

Over the next thirty years, Heep fanatics like Brian spent a small fortune watching and following the band, but few will have paid such a high price as Todd Fisher who actually ended up in jail for Uriah Heep. As early as his second month in the employ of the group, Fisher’s loyalty was to face its ultimate test. The band were often given ‘presents’ by fans, and it was common practise to lock away anything that had not yet been smoked, sniffed or swallowed in the group’s equipment truck. But in 1972, Customs officers in Winnipeg were thrilled to stumble upon an envelope from the Holiday Inn in Columbia, South Carolina that contained a chunk of hash.

‘Gary McPike, the Road Manager, boldly and dramatically stepped forward, arms outstretched in a “cuff me” posture and suggested that if they must have a sacrificial lamb, to take him,’ recalls Todd. “The band looked at each other with an “Oh boy!” Expression.’

A few days later, Fisher was driving another of the group’s trucks when he realised too he had company.

‘There were maybe six or seven marked police cars with sirens blaring, plus an entourage of maybe half a dozen unmarked vehicles,’ he recalls. ‘I pulled over thinking I was going to be ticketed for something. Instead, three uniformed officers came running up from the rear of the truck with guns drawn.’

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The cops ordered Todd to unlock the van and to his horror he realised that the key was with another of the band’s crew. He recalls, ‘They threw me up against the truck, kicked my legs out from beneath me, handcuffed me, dragged me back up and lovingly threw me into the back of one of the cruisers for a few days of entertainment at one of Pittsburgh’s largest accommodations. All of this was being filmed for the five o’clock news by the welcoming committee.’

Charged with ‘possession of narcotics’, Fisher existed on just seven slices of bread during his four days at the Allegheny County Jail in downtown Pittsburgh. Two of those were spent in a state of panic before he heard from anyone in the Heep camp. ‘I doubt I ever felt that alone or abandoned before,’ says Todd. ‘The day I left home to join the Air Force was akin to it, but not nearly so empty, or with such helplessness.’

Todd’s fury was further inflamed when, after returning to Pittsburgh for trial several months later, all charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

Booze and drugs were beginning to play an increasingly large part in the day-to-day lives of the band. In the seventies, rock music and substance abuse were virtually synonymous. This unstructured way of life, interspersed with large periods of down time, inevitably gave untold opportunities for the musicians to overindulge. Soon the effects of the lifestyle began to manifest themselves on the stage.

Brian Jones recalls the effects on a few of the performances he saw.

‘Some of their gigs in the early seventies were very loose and they messed around a lot, sometimes to the extent that the music suffered,’ he reveals. ‘You wouldn’t see that now, but at the time it was pretty obvious that David was drunk. I also have memories of Mick throwing full beer cans into the audience – I’m glad I wasn’t one of the ones at the front on that night! It’s bad enough being hit with a plectrum!’

As touched upon earlier, Byron’s tendency to throw tantrums became more widespread. Concedes Lee Kerslake: ‘Maybe David 102

did begin to change a little. We knew he was going to be a star, and nobody could keep him off the stage.’

Adds Box: ‘David could walk into a sold-out Royal Albert Hall and everybody would know that he had arrived. He had that charisma. Unfortunately, he had it everywhere. He couldn’t switch it off. He’d have a drink and think he could do anything. Yes, there was definitely a fragile side to him, but he wouldn’t allow anyone to see it.’

Gary Thain and David Byron were destined to become the most high profile casualties, due to drugs and drink, respectively. But Ken Hensley also fought his own personal demon in the form of cocaine addiction. Nobody was to completely escape unscathed, and even Mick Box wasn’t immune to the ever present lure of one drink too many.

Recalls Todd Fisher: ‘We were performing a very theatrical version of the Demons and Wizards tour in Germany. It was the first week of May of 1972, as we neared the end of the German leg. We were all feeling great and enjoying the adoration and the special treatment being afforded us by fans and concert promoters alike. But we were also in need of rest after arduous travel and performing schedule.

This mix of emotions helped Mick to imbibe in too much bourbon prior to that night’s set, resulting in a very poor performance on his part. There were missing lines, embarrassing vocals, he broke the neck of his guitar, and even stumbled about on the stage. It left all in attendance perhaps clenching their teeth and grimacing at one drunken move after another – it was sheer anguish until the merciful finale!

‘Mind you,’ he rightly points out, ‘Mick Box at his worst is still a great show, and there were probably many fans in the audience who never even noticed. But the other band members did! [Fellow crew member] Del Roll and I were packing up afterwards when Mel Baister, our troll-like road manager, came from the dressing room and pronounced to us in very subdued and confidential tones that “the band are really having a go at Mick… they might even sack him!’ Mel 103

‘David could walk into a sold-out Royal Albert Hall and everybody would know that he had arrived.

He had that charisma.’

– Mick Box

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always had a melodramatic flair, so Del and I chalked it up to another exaggeration. But back at the hotel, some heavy words were clearly still being conducted. Even the normally congenial Lee Kerslake was being outspoken in the dressing down that Mick was enduring. Since we had our own problems, Del and I retired to our room.

‘The next evening’s performance was in a really nice theatre that may have been part of a college campus. High above the stage was catwalk that used to access the lighting rail for scenery batons and so on.

‘As the band arrived for the next day’s show, the mood in the dressing room was still grim. There was none of the expected happy chatter and joking, just a sombre silence. Mick was still hung over and carried a very apparent burden of shame as he skulked about. But I had a plan. The mood had to be broken. I had an unopened bottle of Scotch that had been given to me earlier in the tour. I took it to my workstation, cut out some cardboard wings, a tail and a head with beak and taped them to the bottle of scotch with duct tape. I had a can of silver spray and painted the tail, wings and head. The paint was still wet, but I took a felt marker and drew a silly duck face, and streaked the wings and tail to give the illusion of feathers. A fifty-foot long cord was attached to the “bird” so that it could be suspended in a flying position. I drew up a little sign that read: “Cheer up, Mick!”

And taped the greeting to its beak.

‘I hid the bird behind the stage curtain and took my usual position at centre stage. The first song of the performance was uninspired, to say the least. Mick remained sombre and brooding; very uncharacteristic for this stage charmer. There appeared to be less interaction between Mick and Lee, which again was very unusual.

‘Mick took a longish solo during, I think, Sweet Lorraine. I climbed the ladder with the bird until I was maybe thirty feet above the stage, lowering it directly over Mick’s head until it was maybe two feet over him. I was unseen by the audience but could hear the giggles and laughs. Unaware of the object directly over his head, 105

Mick nervously checked to see if his pants were unzipped or torn.

The laughter got louder and he looked up, so I lowered the bird directly in front of him and quacked loudly. He lunged at the bird with his guitar, but I swung it out of harm’s way. Back and forth it flew, quacking loudly, while Mick tried to swat it out of the sky. He was still focussed on his playing, but it was clear he was getting a kick out of this most unexpected intrusion by a faux fowl! The audience howled with laughter at the end of the song.

‘From that moment on, the band’s demeanour picked up noticeably, and I presented the bird to Mick after the set. He gave me a big and sincere hug, and nobody had to say any more, so expressive was his gesture.’

Today the surviving band members tend to have rather hazy memories of that particular era, not just a result of over indulgence but also of the constant round of touring and an almost non-stop programme of recording which would soon see them back in the studio to record the second of two albums recorded in 1972; The Magician’s Birthday.

‘The title track was quite interesting because it was written by Kenny and is basically about good and evil, with good always winning over evil,’ Box explains. ‘You can see on the cover that the bad magician is up at the top and the good guy’s ready to fight his corner. We wanted to get that over musically as well so there was a point in the middle of the song that we did with just guitar and drums going mad, answering each other like a big fight. It’s something that we didn’t think had been done. We rehearsed and recorded it to a point, but we weren’t happy with it… so we went down to the pub for inspiration again! That pub did us proud, honestly! When we came back, Lee and I did our part with the guitar and drums and some of the things that came out were great because it was spontaneous. There was nothing you could rehearse, and yet some of the things we did together, accent-wise, worked because we were so in tune with each other.’

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Other outstanding tracks on the album included Sweet Lorraine, Sunrise, Blind Eye, Echoes in the Dark and Rain. By now, Uriah Heep’s unique storytelling style had become firmly established. Yet interestingly, Ken Hensley feels that better work could have been done if the band had not been rushed.

‘I think that The Magician’s Birthday suffers a lot because of being put together too quickly,’ he states. ‘I certainly wasn’t ready for it when I got the call from Gerry saying we had to bring forward the production date. The Magician’s Birthday was gonna be a total concept album, which we had dabbled with on Demons and Wizards.

And it never really came off that way. It actually became a bit bitty to me. We wanted the title track to be the nucleus of the concept, but we never got a chance to finish it properly.’

The breakneck pace at which Heep were moving ensured that Dean’s ambitious concept for the sleeve had to be thrown together in a matter of days and then rushed to the printers, but somehow it all came together. Musically, too, everything was still working. There was now a distinct Heep style, and The Magician’s Birthday was a worthy successor to Demons and Wizards.

Typically, Heep were already burning up the miles on the road as the album was being prepared for release. The crowds were still growing and band security wasn’t really keeping pace, so Todd Fisher was a witness to a highly unusual incident – perhaps the only known instance of a major rock band being robbed onstage in the middle of a performance!

‘In Detroit, the stage was about five feet high and seemed to provide reasonable protection from over-exuberant fans wishing to join the band on stage,’ Todd recounts. ‘Still, about two thirds of the way into the set there was a blur of motion directly in front of me. A young man jumped onto the stage and in a flash grabbed Ken’s pendant necklace. Continuing his sprint, he then ripped two necklaces from David’s neck. I was furious, personal property of members of the band had been brazenly stolen in front of maybe 107

12,000 fans! The remainder of the set was very lacklustre and it was as though the band couldn’t wait to finish! In fact, they were so upset about the rip-off that there was no encore. We never did recover David’s necklaces, but precautions were taken from that moment onwards to reduce the likelihood of a repeat.’

It wasn’t only in the USA that over-excited fans became a problem.

In Europe, too, the packed houses contained their fair share of nutcases who wanted to get near enough to actually touch their heroes. Todd Fisher was finding it increasingly difficult to keep unwelcome intruders at bay.

He explains: ‘During the Demons and Wizards tour, one memorable Heep devotee, obviously under the influence, kept jumping on to the stage directly in front of Ken’s organ and would turn toward the audience and commence to dance in a clownish kind of clogging step. He’d scramble up and do his dance; I’d rush on-stage, grab him and force him back. We went through this cycle maybe seven or eight times, and I was becoming very irritated. As the band began Gypsy, once again this fellow clambered back onstage as if I didn’t exist, and I snapped! I ran out and with my left hand raised high in the air, ferociously grasped the back of his neck. I glanced back at Ken, only a few feet away and saw the amazement on his face. I looked over to Lee who watched with an amazed grin that suggested I throw this villain far out into the crowd! I looked over to Mick who also shared this look of amazement and wonder as to my next move.

‘The crowd gasped and moved back, clearing an area of maybe eight feet in diameter, fully expecting me to throw this now helpless soul through the air. But compassion suddenly overwhelmed me. Instead, I gently lowered the man off the edge of the stage, releasing him so that he gently slid to the floor of the hall unharmed. I looked him in the eye and smiled. He grinned drunkenly back. And the audience cheered loudly for me, having not turned that moment of rage into a violent act.

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‘As I turned back towards my duty station, Mick, Gary, David, Lee and Ken were all laughing. But I had no more trouble from that person or his chums the rest of the evening.’

Album Track-By-Track

The Magician’s Birthday Released November 1972 Album review by Mike Taylor

Five months after the release of Demons and Wizards Heep were again called into the studio to record their fifth album which was to become The Magician’s Birthday. So in September 1972 recording began at their second home at Lansdowne Studios in London’s Holland Park. It was the first time that Heep had entered the studio with the same five musicians that had recorded the last album.

The success of Demons and Wizards had transformed the band into superstars the world over and the eagerly awaited follow up was going to have to be something special to come close to it. All the elements from the last album were there and no real changes were made. ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. The mystical theme, at least in the title, remained. The musical style developed over the last four albums and perfected on Demons and Wizards was unaltered and Roger Dean was again asked to produce one of his stunning covers. He again came up with the goods.

Ken Hensley again was the main songwriter writing or co-writing six out of the eight songs, five of them exclusively. The album had intended to be a concept album based around the title track but the pressure to produce a new product so soon after the last, and the rigorous touring schedule forced the band to abandon the idea. The result was The Magician’s Birthday. Like Demons and Wizards it went on to sell in massive quantities worldwide. In fact currently it has sold over five million copies. Not many bands then, or even today 109

can claim this volume of sales from a single album. So what about the music?

Sunrise (Hensley) This is the perfect album opener. The sun rising as the album starts helps to portray a feeling of renewed optimism every time the album is listened to. Like so many classic Heep tracks it starts with Ken’s Hammond only this time it’s soft and quiet, volume building along with Lee’s drums until the whole band join in with David’s high pitched lead on the harmonies. If we go back to some previous Heep favourites such as July Morning and Circle of Hands, this follows a similar theme. Hammond opening to a heavier climax, soft and beautiful vocals from David full of emotion delivered only as David could. A heavier melodic chorus follows. Another soft verse leads into a heavier middle section building to classic sing-a-long ending.

Not only was this the perfect album opener but it quickly became the perfect live show opener, which still finds it’s way into live sets.

Spider Woman (Box/Thain/Byron/Kerslake) The first of only two tracks that Ken didn’t have a hand in writing.

In fact it’s written jointly by all the rest of band. It’s a very catchy up tempo number featuring Ken on slide guitar and some wonderful wandering bass from Gary. The lyrics ultimately talk about ‘lust’ rather than anything mystical but with that slightly ‘out of the ordinary’ title of Spider Woman it fits in well with the concept of the album. It is so obviously not a Ken song and in fact it almost takes us back to a style not heard since the ...Very ’Eavy ...Very ’Umble album released over two years previously only with a lot more maturity.

Unsurprising in that most of Heep’s first album was written by Mick Box and David Byron.

Blind Eye (Hensley) This track is a Heep track that sounds completely unlike any 110

Gary Thain gave the band a world class bass guitar sound and has provided an inspiration for subsequent generations of bass players. On stage Gary enjoyed the chance to join in the chaotic festive mood which generally prevailed while Heep were on stage.

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other Heep track. In fact it can’t be classed as ‘classic’ Heep at all.

Nevertheless it has become a true favourite with the fans. It’s another very catchy number with acoustic guitar, bass and drums driving it with some very tasteful twin lead guitar opening the melody leading into David’s vocal. I think the listener has to make up their own mind about the meaning of the lyrics but Sunrise and Darker than the night follow the album’s theme. This song’s natural acoustic feel allowed it to resurrected for a unique acoustic style concert by the band in December 2000 featuring Ian Anderson on flute performing the original’s twin guitar parts. This song really has a great vibe to it.

Echoes in the Dark (Hensley) This is a slower ‘ballad’ style track that again has become a massive favourite with the fans. It features all the elements of the band including some great moog from Ken, some slide guitar and those trademark Heep harmonies. David’s voice is particularly impressive here and again he show’s the versatility of his voice and the emotion which only he can produce. Gary’s bass playing is at its absolute best producing a major part of the songs melody. The lyrics have an eerie feel to them with dark and light featuring heavily but appear to be full of hope. This track also featured in the Acoustically Driven concert in December 2000 and emerged as one of the outstanding songs of that evening’s performance.

Rain (Hensley) Arguably is the most beautiful song ever written by Ken and features some of the most powerfully emotional vocals from David.

Essentially it is a song about lost love and even the hardest individual can’t help to be moved. It’s such a simple song that starts with just piano and some gentle percussion. Gary’s bass is so subtle here and complements the piano’s lower notes perfectly whilst the Hammond which comes in for the final chorus gently fills out the sound and adds a bit of colour to the otherwise ‘black and white’ nature of 112

the piano. We’ve been treated to various versions of this song over the years notably from Ken himself, John Lawton and current Heep with front man Bernie Shaw and whilst all these versions are outstanding none can compare with the original with David’s emotional vocals.

Sweet Lorraine (Box/Byron/Thain) This is the second of the two songs not written by Ken. This time it’s a Box/Byron/Thain number which was a live favourite at the time and stayed in the live set for a number of years. As David once said it is a ‘rock ’n’ roll party song’. Which is exactly what it is and with lyrics like ‘Would you like to take this magic potion with me/on a trip to a cosmic playground far away’ the albums mystical theme is followed but we can only guess as to what the lyrics are actually saying. The tempo is somewhat slow and features some great moog from Ken including a simple, melodic but outstanding solo in the middle which plays havoc with anything but the highest quality tweeters. Mick also gets a chance to use his wah-wah pedal to great effect. If this song were performed by any other band it would be a little disjointed but with some more great bass playing form Gary and some inspired drumming from Lee the whole thing holds together perfectly.

Tales (Hensley) This is another Ken only written song which features acoustic guitar and a minimal number of chords. This format was very successful with Lady in Black but Tales is a totally different type of song and a very involving one at that. It’s a slow paced simple song with an almost hypnotic melody that draws in the listener to the degree that all else around is forgotten. The eerie start is accentuated with the use of ‘cosmic’ effects from the moog and the lyrics again talk about sunrise and wise men. This is such a great song that compliments the album perfectly and is the ideal lead into the albums epic title track.

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The Magician’s Birthday (Hensley/Box/Kerslake) An epic track if ever there was one. Just over ten minutes long and featuring all that’s best about Heep, it finishes off the album in some style. Essentially it’s a short story about good verses evil and in a similar vein to Paradise/The Spell from Demons and Wizards, it uses the good Magician verses the bad Magician with David and Ken swapping vocals to great effect. Mick starts things off with some nice electric guitar and the rhythm settles nicely driven hard by Gary and Lee. Guitar features heavily in this track and Mick revels in that fact. Seeing that this is The Magician’s Birthday we are all treated to a ‘Heepy’ version of happy birthday preceded by some exquisite kazoo playing from Lee. A serious business making rock music might be but it’s great to have a little humour added in, and it works brilliantly.

Those classic Heep harmonies are not missing either therefore, so far we have a superb and expertly performed track, but we haven’t catered for what comes next. Just as we think we’re building up to the end we get hit with a unique bit of guitar and drums interplay between Mick and Lee. For the next few minutes they battle it out as the good and bad magicians in a spectacular display of their abilities that leaves us (and undoubtedly Mick and Lee) totally breathless.

This is without doubt Mick’s best guitar work since his pounding solo on Salisbury and is one we don’t want to finish but finish it we must as David and Ken take over the fight in vocal form. Naturally good prevails and with a new optimism after the defeat of evil the tack slowly fades out with the words ‘love will find love’ delivered

by David’s high pitched vocals coloured in true Heep style with Hammond and moog. There should have been a government health warning on all Heep albums at this time!

The five members of Heep were now true stars and this album only fuelled the fans desire to see their heroes live. The next year saw the band tour relentlessly in Europe, Japan and the USA. When would they find time to write let alone record a follow up?

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Chapter 4

Friday Night in Birmingham

W

ith Heep having already achieved most of their goals, Gerry Bron was quick to spot the potential for a live album. Recording was scheduled for the UK tour early in 1973. As soon as the gigs were announced, tickets sold out instantly and the stage was set for the remarkable double album, Live.

In all, five separate recordings were made using the sixteen-track Pye mobile recording studio that was used, so it was said, by the Rolling Stones. The band were extremely excited at the prospect of being taken seriously in their own country, but that didn’t prevent them from having the last laugh at the British critics, re-printing many of their most savage reviews on the artwork to the original double gatefold LP. 115

Todd Fisher was now responsible for introducing the band each night and it’s his voice we hear making the now famous inducement to: ‘Welcome please, England’s own Uriah Heep.’ To this day, Fisher believes that some doubt exists as to where the recordings for the Live album were made. The first track is obviously from Birmingham, but several other shows, including the Rainbow Theatre in London, Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, the City Hall in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Leicester’s De Montfort Hall, were also recorded.

Todd might have be uncertain, but Mick Box maintains that all of the Live album was sourced from the Birmingham gig. He says: ‘There were various technical problems all with the other nights, so we had to add one extra recording date which happened to be Birmingham, and the album was all drawn from that session.’

Ken Hensley recalls the events on the day of recording.

‘It was one of the biggest challenges that we ever faced,’ he says. ‘We took the mobile out and did shows all over Europe, but we couldn’t get the results we wanted. So we ended up at Birmingham Town Hall. We all just looked at the shape of the building and believed it still wasn’t going to happen. And this was our last date. So we put it out of our minds that we were recording the show and just got on with doing a regular show. And it’s still one of my favourite albums.

It’s definitely one of the best live albums ever made.’

Understandably, Live has become a firm favourite with Heep fans. It also represented another commercial breakthrough, going on to sell millions of copies and winning converts all over the world.

Among them was another figure that crops up later in our tale, Holland’s Louis Rentrop.

‘My friend Dan lent me his copy, I remember how amazed I was,’ recalls Louis. ‘The cover and inlay pictures… wow! Then the music.

Strangely, it was the rock ’n’ roll medley that did the job for me. Once I heard that album I knew that I’d never let go. I became a Heep fan for life.’

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Album Review

Live ’73

Released March 1973 Album review by Dave White

As with all great and momentous moments in your life, there is a very good chance that you will remember where you were, and what you were doing when you heard the first strains of Live ’73.

This album from the classic line-up of Byron, Box, Hensley, Thain and Kerslake is perhaps the best live album ever produced. It has been compared to Deep Purple in Japan and others of that time. For Uriah Heep fans, this is the quintessential Uriah Heep.

Even the sound of the crowd is unmistakable as the golden voice of David Byron welcomes you to the opening strains of Hensley’s keyboard as they launch into Sunrise. From that moment on, you are hooked. The entire album is picture perfect, and 100 percent Heep.

Kerslake pounds the skins, and Thain is all over the bass neck with passages that bring the bottom end of the songs a completely and perfect complimentary basis in which the other members of the band can take advantage of.

Live ’73 was welcomed by Uriah Heep fans everywhere, no one is less than 100 percent in awe of the songs and the recording. A mobile unit was used, and I have never heard of any major overdubs, so this is what you got if you were there.

The classic separation of guitar and keyboards stage right and left provide the fans with a very cool way to zero into the worlds of Hensley and Box. The Hammond was in the now ‘required’ form with the Leslie quite distorted, but never brash, and the rotor pulleys definitely worked on. The lower speeding up and slowing down at a very slow rate (listen to the organ by itself on this album’s version of Circle of Hands), and the upper spinning fast as if trying to escape from the 117

very cabinet it’s housed in. It’s the finest example of the Hensley sound I know of.

Mick’s Gibson SG is captured in all its glory. It is clean and it’s grinding depending on his mood. His performance was flawless in our minds. It is the very essence of Uriah Heep.

There are very now famous Heep-moments in this one. ‘It’s goin’ out live tonight, so make a lot-o-noise’ (Byron). ‘Would you welcome please England’s own Uriah Heep’ (Dell Roll)… and, ‘There’s some chewing gum on me boot and I keep sticking on the stage ’ere’, classic Byron! How many of us have uttered that one! Ken says he was simply letting the guitar and bass guitar tune up as he started the ascending notes of the intro to Sunrise, but oh, how it fits… This song explodes as the first track of this superb live album prepares to envelope you in Heep. Everything about Sunrise says Heep. There are more… but if you know them, then you too have been captured by Live ’73. Turn it on, turn it up, and prepare to dive into the way-back machine of Uriah Heep and enjoy what may be the very best in classic rock! ‡ One member of the Heep entourage by 1973 was photographer Fin Costello, a convivial Irishman who’d worked closely with enormous names like Deep Purple, Kiss and Aerosmith. Costello was with the band when they played a string of American shows in 1973. Over the years, many groups have claimed to be the unwitting inspiration for the movie (This Is) Spïnal Tap, but it was around this time that Costello witnessed an incident that bears spooky similarities to the film.

‘The band had a craze of Navajo jewellery, and it inspired an hilarious moment at an airport,’ recollects Fin. ‘You know, that turquoise stuff that everybody seemed to wear for a while? You walked around clanking like a suit of armour. Well, Ken went through the 118

metal detector and he was wearing rings, necklaces, belt-buckles – you can imagine the noise the machine made. I think we were in Ohio, so we weren’t dealing with brain surgeon intelligence, and that caused a few problems. He had to strip off to get through. All those years later when I saw Derek Smalls of Spïnal Tap do the same thing, with that tin foil-wrapped cucumber down his trousers, I had to smile.’

It was a great time for anybody to have joined the Heep party, and by now it had become a party in every sense of the word.

Todd Fisher: ‘Gary Thain’s substance abuse has been analysed, theorised, argued, discussed, fabricated, exaggerated, and so on for years. How much this affected his performing abilities, and whether it was for better or for worse can only be conjecture from my limited perspective. But I still recall an event that took place just prior to our journey to Japan in March of 1973.

‘Gary played a Fender Precision bass and his choice of flat-wound strings made for a distinct sound. He never used a plectrum [pick], preferring to use his thumb. The result was a very pure sound.

Studying Gary’s face and body motions during a performance would reveal a very intense focus on his part for the particular song being performed. I can’t state from personal observation that there were nights when he might be so impaired from drink or drugs that his performance was compromised, although I seem to recall some admonishment being administered more than once.’

For Fisher, one particular night springs to mind – 9 March 1972, in Salem, Oregon. He knows this because in his journal, the words ‘ethyl chloride’ are written as supply requirements for preparation of an imminent Japanese tour.

‘As the person responsible for introducing the band as well as working the fans up for the encore, I had a very unique vantage point to measure each crowd’s acceptance or rejection of the night’s performance,’ he observes. ‘Collectively speaking, the Pacific Northwest was never an overly enthusiastic crowd for Heep. But for some reason, Gary seemed significantly more animated than usual.

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‘Just after Ken’s and Lee’s respective solos, Gary winced in an expression of pain that I instantly recognized. I noticed him favouring his pick thumb and substituting the side of his index finger.

I quickly grabbed some plasters and, as he held out this terribly bloody thumb, I saw that he had torn off the callus built up through many years of playing without a plectrum. I quickly grabbed a clean towel, courtesy of our hotel, poured some fresh water on it, washed the open wound, and quickly wrapped two Band Aids around his thumb. A physician had arrived by the end of the set, bringing an aerosol can of a local anaesthetic, Ethyl Chloride. He gave me a prescription for a refill that would get us through the period of the Japan tour.

‘Afterwards, Gary was usually able to get through at least one number, sometimes two, before he came to me for a spray into the open wound with ethyl chloride. Time would have healed things since he hadn’t punished himself with additional performances, but still we applied the ethyl chloride.’

Hensley, too, recalls this Japanese tour very vividly indeed.

‘We only went there once,’ he says. ‘But I remember feeling really weird because it was the first time I was in a country where I absolutely couldn’t understand anything. We were all really puffed up because although the flight was four hours late arriving, people were still there at the airport to welcome us with a big sign saying, “Welcome Uriah Heep”. We later found out that the sign had a slot so they could take out Uriah Heep and put in Deep Purple, or which ever band it was that week. And that kind of burst our balloon a bit.

But the shows were great, even though I was really sick. Personally, that was a down time in my life. We had to cancel a whole bunch of dates in America, which combined with the fragmentation which was going on in the band, really set us back quite a long way.’

With Ken duly recovered, Heep were soon back on the road again.

By now the great cliché, the inevitable triumvirate of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll was a part of everyday life.

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Byron may have had his problems off stage but on his day he was still the greatest front man in rock.

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Todd Fisher: ‘I sometimes had the job of rounding up females.

It was never too difficult. A few calls to the local university would produce a deluge of young women ready to party with a group of young men equally up for the occasion.’

For whatever reasons, the constant touring and recording inevitably produced the odd casualty, but even when one of their number fell ill, Heep would always try to honour their obligations.

This included three notable German shows in 1973 that were performed without Mick Box, who was sick.

Rudolf Schenker of the Scorpions was among the crowd for a show in Berlin, which he later described as ‘legendary’. However, Ken Hensley barely even recollects the event. He says, ‘I vaguely remember taking over guitar parts, for example on the Rock ’n’ Roll Medley. Gary Thain managed to extend his regular job, but clearly wasn’t comfortable performing there at the front with only David for support.’

Indeed, Thain later stated in an interview that: ‘By the time we got to the third show without Mick, I was on my hands and knees. I would certainly not play under those circumstances again.’

‘Gary wasn’t a strong person physically, but he was right about one thing – I would definitely not do that again,’ agrees Hensley. ‘It was very strange. We had lost touch with everything. Gerry Bron was going through some business issues of his own, having built up this huge empire. He was trying to manage it through the recession and everything, and there were a lot of forces at work.’

The live album and constant touring were having the desired effect.

The important thing now was to keep the momentum building. Until this point, Heep had always recorded at home in England, but the Labour administration of the day had introduced a set of punitive tax measures that were forcing many recording artists to flee overseas. It meant that the next album, 1973’s Sweet Freedom, would be recorded abroad. ‘It was done in France, just outside Paris at the Château d’Herouville, which was a very fashionable studio at the time,’ 122

explains Hensley. ‘It only took us three weeks to record and the single, Stealin’, was probably one of our biggest in the world until that date.”

‘Kenny wrote Stealin’ and it ended up as a turntable hit in the States,’ adds Box. ‘It was on the verge of becoming a real big hit. But it was during those days when they were banning songs if the words were slightly wrong. We got banned for, would you believe it, “I done the rancher’s daughter”. It was the inference of “done”, I think. We were on tour when it came out and got banned, so it was too late for us to readjust it. It was a good song and of course we still play it today because it shows the band’s dynamics. It starts just on the Hammond organ with the vocals and it flows along in a nice choral bluesy way and then when the band comes in it stays for the duration. The one big thing about Heep, apart from the vocal harmonies, is there is a lot of power with the soft and hard side. It’s very emotional.’

The sleeve for Sweet Freedom was simplistic yet supremely effective. It featured a line-up shot taken at Château d’Herouville by photographer Fin Costello, overlain with a mystical-looking burst of crimson sunlight. Given the richness and deepness of the colours, one might easily have assumed that Costello had trecked to Egypt or Death Valley to secure the shot. If so, you’d be mistaken.

‘In fact, I took that photograph out of my back window in Morden, Surrey,’ chuckles Fin now. ‘It’s a shot that was also used on the Elf album, Trying to Burn the Sun, in 1975. It was a bit of cheapo, but it looked great.’

No sooner was the album in the can than Heep were given the ideal launch pad with a headlining gig at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Veteran Heep fan Mike Taylor was among 10,000 who attended the show, which also showcased the Heavy Metal Kids (fronted by future Auf Wiedersehen Pet star Gary Holton), the Gary Moore Band, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

‘Although there had been a regrettable can-throwing incident during Alex Harvey’s set, the place erupted when Heep hit the stage,’ recalls Taylor. ‘David was in his gold suit, Mick I think played his 123

Les Paul junior, Lee was hidden, Gary had a white Precision bass and Ken was hidden behind his Hammond and hair. It was the most energetic performance of any band that I have ever seen. It was if as if the total energy of the 10,000 people in the hall had been channelled into the five guys up there on stage. David was a great frontman and his voice was pitch perfect. Mick was behaving like a madman. The sheer volume was incredible. And so ended the most amazing Heep gig I’d attended… that was until The Astoria on 23 March 2001… but that’s another story.’

Fin Costello, who was working regularly with Heep by now, recalls the Alexandra Palace show with a mixture of awe and amusement.

‘They were an incredible band, so powerful it was sometimes almost frightening,’ he says. ‘The combination of personalities was enthralling. David Byron could be a bit of a prima donna, but Gary Thain had a droll sense of humour and Mickey Box was a lovely guy.

In those days, you almost became part of a band when you worked that closely with them. Once they accepted you, it almost felt like their triumph was your triumph.

‘The Ally Pally show was a big one for the band, and they’d specially had a huge red neon sign made with the album’s title on it,’ continues Costello. ‘The idea was that they’d play the title track as their encore, and the sign would light up. They’d tried it in during the soundcheck, but somebody had left one of the windows in the roof open and all their smoke had gone straight out. When it came to the show, the windows were closed and there was so much smoke, it just billowed across the stage. You couldn’t see the band, or their sign!’

While the band and their growing army of fans were pleased with the way things were going, as always the press were still rather less than enthusiastic. Try this review from a nationally syndicated reviews service for size: ‘Uriah Heep’s Sweet Freedom is like taking a sledgehammer to a panel pin; idiotic, unnecessary and doomed to failure, though that’s 124

not to say it won’t sell. Some of the lyrics, as on the title track, have a certain naïve charm, others are just plain crass. But any effect that better ones could achieve is firmly clobbered on the head by as much tuneless noise as the band can muster. The only saving graces on this album are the Bowie-ish Circus, which has a pleasingly simple acoustic arrangement, and the Wagnerian If I Had the Time, which has a strong organ riff. The opener, Dreamer, is dire; a tuneless effort with an abysmal chorus. It’s funny, chronically over cluttered and totally devoid of any merit. Seven Stars and Pilgrim are equally awful.

Stealin’ and Sweet Freedom go on too long and the latter absolutely brims in organ, which doesn’t help any. On One Day all the little wah-wahs in the world won’t compensate for what’s an indifferent composition.’

Sadly, the above was one of the kinder British reviews from 1973.

By now, Ken Hensley had become philosophical over the band’s treatment by the press, but he still feels the frustration today.

‘It was disappointing because you would have 1,000 people at the show, and 999 would have gone away loving it, and the one guy from the press didn’t,’ he sighs. ‘I think they just labelled us a hype from the very beginning because Gerry was there, we had a label deal and as far as they were concerned we had not paid our dues. They predicted all different types of doom and gloom, but we accomplished everything that they said we wouldn’t accomplish… which pissed them off all the more. It became an ongoing saga. But as long as the audience showed up and bought the records, that was all we really cared about.’

On stage, however, the band’s performances were often so strong that even the cynics in the press had to learn to live with them. The following review of a concert in Portsmouth from 1973 proved that objectivity was not impossible: ‘Uriah Heep, fresh from America, presented a formidable box of tricks on Thursday night. Starting with a couple of rockers just to check out the audience, they were home and dry almost before 125

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‘We were pushed to the hilt and when things are moving at breakneck speed you start looking for other areas of recreation. We were experiencing more in just one month that some find in a lifetime.’

– Mick Box

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they had begun. David Byron the dictator of Heep commanded the audience to witness a slow number, If I Had the Time from the album Sweet Freedom. A slow number from Heep, you ask? Yes, but heavy and building with good harmonies the tours of America have taught Uriah plenty about dynamics and pacing.

‘The energy positively crackled through the air as the lights changed constantly, well in tune with the stage antics. A brief respite in the intensity allowed Ken Hensley a chance to show us his latest electronic wizardry. Combining organ and synthesiser with various gadgets, he played a ten-minute solo that pushed many through time warp nine. “If you’ll go back to your seats for just this slow one we’ll rock for the rest of the night”, David pronounced. The title track from Sweet Freedom followed just as tight as possible Gary Thain and Ken Hensley playing chord games with each other and Mick Box’s guitar soaring overhead. Now the floodgates opened Look at Yourself, Lover and Rock ’n’ Roll Medley brought the show to close. Crystal clear sound and the band in happy form had produced a memorable brain assault.’

Album Track-By-Track

Sweet Freedom

Released October 1973 Album review by Jeff Perkins and Alan Hartley

Perkins – What is the connection between Uriah Heep and Chopin? To answer this unlikely question let us look at the background to Heep’s superb 1973 album Sweet Freedom. Following on from the global successes of Demons and Wizards, The Magician’s Birthday and the landmark Live ’73, Gerry Bron decided to take Heep away from the familiar surroundings of London’s Lansdowne Studios, to the Château d’Herouville a sprawling, reportedly haunted, sixteenth century pile on the outskirts of Paris that lists the 128

legendary composer amongst its former residents. We can only guess what he would have made of it all.

There were several reasons for this controversial decision.

It represented a substantial tax saving – such was the earning potential of the band. Beyond the financial reasons Ken Hensley was recovering from a debilitating bout of hepatitis, contracted in Japan, resulting in the cancellation of an American tour. Unable to rest, he once again tapped into the rich vein of creativity that had helped propel Heep to worldwide success. Arriving at the Château’s sixteen track studio, during a time of personal problems and internal disputes, they still managed to produce an album that ranks alongside the very best in the Uriah Heep catalogue.

Hartley – Recorded in June and July of 1973, Sweet Freedom was the third studio album from what became known as the classic Heep line up and can possibly be seen as the start of the next chapter in the Heep story. Some feel that the Live ’73 album closed the first.

Sweet Freedom differed from its predecessors in that it was the first to be recorded overseas and most of the material had been penned during an enforced lay off due to an illness suffered by Ken Hensley.

Heep fans wondered if there would be a different direction to the album as the last two studio offerings were firmly based in the realms of fantasy. That element may not have been evident this time and the cover artwork was somewhat simple in comparison but the traditional solid Heep sound was still woven throughout the album and the fans lapped it up.

Helped in many territories by the huge hit single Stealin’, the album took its place in the charts and became a firm favourite with the fans.

It confirmed that Heep were still heading in the same direction and the album is today quite rightly ranked amongst one of the bands best.

Dreamer (Thain/Box) Hartley – I was originally a little disappointed with this track as an 129

opener, to me it had a fussy and less than easy to follow arrangement with no clear definition of the musical elements. However, on taking the trouble to read the lyrics my attention was caught and I was able to listen with a new perspective which made the track much more enjoyable. I still think it suffers from a somewhat thin sound production wise, but as a straightforward rock ’n’ roller it works. I don’t think it really fits in with the rest of the material on the album, to me Sunshine which was recorded during the Sweet Freedom sessions but only used as a B-side, is more representative of the feel of the rest of the album.

Perkins – It is surprising that an album largely dominated by the writing of Ken Hensley should open with a track co written

by Mick Box and the sadly missed Gary Thain whose distinctive, powerfully melodic bass style features superbly throughout.

Dreamer is a typically powerful opener featuring Box’s trademark guitar, Hensley’s Hammond and some incredible vocal acrobatics from David Byron. It sets the scene well, demanding attention and promising much whilst announcing the arrival of a dramatic new Heep album in a hugely confident manner. This was a band arguably performing at its peak despite growing personal problems including Byron’s alcoholism, Thain’s heroin addiction and Hensley’s illness and growing cocaine use which eventually combined to cause an inevitable implosion. For this moment however they were producing high quality distinctive rock and their huge fan base listened to Dreamer open an album that helped satisfy their thirst for all things Heep.

Stealin’ (Hensley) Hartley – This track is instantly likeable, I found myself drawn in by the quiet start, which progressed, into a well-produced wall of sound, which gallops along with all the instruments and vocals, clearly identifiable but perfectly blended together. The best singles or should I say songs are usually the ones with the most simple construction 130

and Stealin’ is no exception. I love the simple story, the simple yet lush backing vocals, Byron’s crystal clear delivery, the simple arrangement that produces a surprisingly big sound, and there’s a rip snorter – as Mick would say – of a guitar solo. This track set the tone of the rest of the album and gave a better idea of what was to come.

Perkins – This is the stuff of legends amongst the rich legacy of Heeplore and, even today, over thirty years later, Stealin’ is still a much-loved part of any Uriah Heep concert. Banned as a single in the States for including the line ‘I done the ranchers daughter’ it became a huge hit all over the world even going gold in Thain’s native New Zealand. Stealin’ is quintessential Heep of this period embodying everything that their fans hold dear and still receives impressive air-time on American radio. When Sweet Freedom came out it was produced in an eye catching triple cover with the band appearing almost mystically in front of a glorious crimson sky. It shone from shelves in the record shops next to the gloss black cover of Live ’73 and its release date found myself along with many other Heepsters queuing to secure a first day copy. Stealin’ justified that need perfectly.

One Day (Hensley/Thain) Perkins – One Day always strikes me as a track of great hope. It’s a feel good moment on an album that encompasses every conceivable emotion. ‘Didn’t I tell you everything was gonna be alright. I never doubted it was just a matter of time.’ This is another superbly crafted song by Hensley who was clearly in a deeply creative period despite the demands of carrying the main song writing responsibility for the three studio albums that had appeared in relatively quick succession.

Ask any fan of Heep during this time and they will tell you they, through this album and tracks such as this, felt as if they had got to know each member of the band personally. Such was the power of the material. One Day comes to a close all too soon but gives way to a moment of Heep genius in the title track.

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Hartley – There is so much I like about this track; it has all the hallmarks of the classic Heep sound. The crunching rhythm guitar supplemented by the wah-wah licks sounds so good. And just listen to Lee punishing those drums, the crash of the cymbal on almost every beat gives the song a great feel, it’s as solid as a rock! Once again Byron’s vocals are spot on, a constant factor throughout the album.

Just when you start to think the track has all the makings of an epic it comes to something of a premature end. I found myself wanting for more.

Sweet Freedom (Hensley) Perkins – At this point in their career the band was without doubt performing to the undeniable strengths of each individual member and Ken had a tremendous ability to write songs to showcase that huge array of talent perfectly. What better example than Sweet Freedom? In the days of vinyl this track closed the first side and it was almost impossible to turn the album over without playing it again. Even now when played live it is a highly charged emotional experience capturing a moment in time when this band produced a richness of material and style that underpins the legend of Uriah Heep. Ken’s organ introduction gradually gives way to David Byron’s powerful vocals and Gary Thain’s, never one to take the easy road, distinctive bass lines. Gradually building in feeling the track comes to an emotional ending with Lee Kerslake harmonising effortlessly. A memorable highlight in a wonderful career.

Hartley – I know this to be a big favourite of many Heep fans but for me it never quite hit the spot. It’s hard to know why, I know it’s got all the trademarks of a Heep classic, the great arrangement, some superb guitar work complimented by the Hammond, the wondering bass lines and some nice harmonies so why it doesn’t do it for me is a mystery. It’s not that I dislike it and I’d never choose to skip it when listening to the album but I just can’t get excited about the track.

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If I Had the Time (Hensley) Hartley – I’ve found that I can usually tell within the first few bars of my first listen to a song whether I like it or not. I have to say that this track caught my attention immediately and I knew it would be up there amongst my all time Heep favourites. There are so many good things about the track, the recurring keyboard refrain, the glorious melody and the sensitive vocal delivery. There is so much light and shade but it’s the overall dreamy feel of the arrangement that made it so perfect for the time, and it still sounds great over thirty years later, what more can you say? Well actually there is one thing. The original demo as recorded by Ken Hensley has the song going in a totally different direction – I believe that this shows the value of the part the rest of the band played in turning Ken’s songs into Heep classics.

Perkins – I had the pleasure of meeting Ken during the writing of David Byron – Born to Perform and asked him whether it was true that he wrote songs specifically for David’s voice. He confirmed that this was the case and if ever there is a track to illustrate this point then this is it. It captures a singer, who despite the gathering storm clouds, was at the height of his powers and is delivered with a typically emotional interpretation of Ken’s words. Written two years before the Sweet Freedom sessions it fits, following the Heep treatment, into the whole perfectly. Superbly atmospheric with excellent production it opens side two and characterises the feel of the album effortlessly. I am not sure what inspired Ken’s lyrics but it could, in retrospect, be seen as a fitting epitaph to David Byron, sacked from the band three years later, before tragically dying in 1985.

Seven Stars (Hensley) Perkins – An attention grabbing opening leads into the band powering a driving track complete with familiar Hammond and harmony vocals. For whatever reason the rock media used this 133

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Heep at the time of Sweet Freedom with Mick in typicaly jocular mood. Ken seems to be already seperated from the rest of the band.

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song in an attempt to illustrate all that they considered tasteless in Uriah Heep and when the track ends with Byron’s speeding voice recounting the alphabet they went to town pouring scorn and ridicule upon it. The crazed ending actually gives way nicely to the mellow acoustic of Circus. Many years after writing this track Ken became an inspirational Christian and, as a result, the song has taken on an extra significance for its writer when considering Revelation 2:1.

At the time of its release however it merely provided the band with yet another outlet for the now well-honed Heep sound and provided a hook that was almost impossible to shift.

Hartley – Another instantly likeable track, the shuffle beat had been tried and tested previously with great effect and it also works well here. I love the grinding guitar and the way the Hammond provides a background curtain of sound to the arrangement without being overly intrusive. The backing vocals follow and reinforce the melody and the lyrics have just the right amount of mystery. I do find the alphabet a little corny but how many other rock songs run through the alphabet? Perhaps it should have stayed at none. It doesn’t really spoil the track for me; I’d just have preferred a blistering guitar solo in its place.

Circus (Thain/Box/Kerslake) Hartley – As a fifteen year old in 1973, Circus was not my idea of a good track, back then it was the more powerful and heavy the song, the better it was in my view. Hence each time I listened to the album back then I would be standing by the record player at the end of Seven Stars waiting to lift the arm off the record to skip this one.

Well, we all learn from mistakes and although I can’t quite recall when I first began to really appreciate the quality of this track, the main point is that I did. I love the harmonics on the guitar, the soft percussion and what a silky tone Byron produces. Sometimes it’s good to be proved wrong.

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Perkins – Who is really responsible for writing this song is open to conjecture. Certainly Mick Box and Gary Thain, with Lee Kerslake’s help, began work on it in the States but, according to Mick, once they revisited the song at the Château it took on a life of its own. Describing it fondly as a very spiritual experience Mick and Gary had sat in a totally blackened room in the studio and, with no communication between them, played the song, which had all but written itself, straight through. It is certainly a beautifully arranged acoustic track, providing a soothing antidote, that somehow summarises the bands time in the atmospheric old building. If nothing else the track provides yet more proof of the diversity of skills contained within the band. This was not just the heavy rock band often slated by the press but one capable of moments of sublime atmosphere such as this.

Pilgrim (Hensley/Byron) Hartley – In a word: brilliant. Sheer power right from the start, the tinkling of the piano and almost operatic vocal overlays do not in any way diminish the effect. It’s another one that I knew would be amongst my all time favourites with in the first few bars. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better Mick’s screamer of a solo gives way to a tempo change that pounds along with great intensity. I loved it back then and I still love it today, for me it’s what Heep are all about and together with If I Had the Time is my favourite cut from the album.

There is nothing to dislike here, it only leaves us to dream about an album that starts with a track like this and gets better with each cut.

Perkins – With lyrics jointly written by Hensley and Byron, Pilgrim brings the Sweet Freedom album to a close with a dramatic swirl of mystical imagery that would not have been out of place on either of the bands previous two studio albums. Containing some stunning, soaring Box guitar work it also showcases Byron’s vocals which go through their entire range whilst being driven by some heavy Hensley Hammond swirls. It really can be described as one of the 137

forgotten Heep classics having only recently appeared in set lists.

It brings to an end an album which was produced in an unsettling atmosphere of mounting problems as the relentless, but effective, Bron-induced work schedule took its toll. Ultimately such demands would help cause the band, and two of its members, to self-destruct but not before leaving a rich legacy of work within which Sweet Freedom sits comfortably. ‡ Whilst critics were certainly not always kind to Heep, some writers like Melody Maker’s Pete Erskine were at least honest enough to admit that, whilst he couldn’t understand the group’s appeal, their popularity was not to be underestimated. In a review of a show at the Rainbow theatre in 1973, he wrote the following: ‘This was not my idea of a night out, but one of those things one should check out. If for no other reason simply to try and fathom the band’s apparently enormous appeal. An appeal which for me anyway, is not altogether obvious from their recordings to date: they really do have to been seen because whether you like their music or not, they do put on a startlingly effective stage show. Uriah Heep look good, they play well within their obviously self-imposed limitations, they’re tight, direct, and often very funny (in particular lead singer David Byron’s asides to guitarist Mick Box). They have a superb light show – one of the best I’ve seen – subtlety and timing and a very warm and genuine rapport with their audience, totally lacking in any form of cool.

‘I mean, there’s Byron and the band hacking through July Morning, something of a marathon in the set, very dramatic and intense and tight, and at the end Bryon drops to his knees and raps the sloping front of the stage with his fist commanding the front rows to wake up. “No dozing off there!” he shouts. “You were, weren’t you?!” Then when Byron gives Hensley a name check in the opening bars of Seven 138

Stars Hensley adopts a weedy pop star voice and drawls, “Thank yew, fans!”

‘The show was full of nice little touches like that. They covered a variety of material from various albums, opening with a potent Easy Livin’. The opening bars of Sweet Lorraine bore uncomfortable similarities with the Osmonds’ Crazy Horses. I really didn’t think that Seven Stars worked, but everyone else did. Of course, but Hensley’s interminable solo with ring modulators and some kind of field generator featuring two plates, one for pitch one for volume, was clever and dextrous, to be sure, but musically was a little hard on the ears, strident and harsh.

‘Multiple encores were performed, the audience on its feet scrabbling at the front to shake hands with Box. Thain and Byron closing a powerful and beautifully wrought set. Musically, I found parts of it overly repetitious and cul-de-sac but what Heep do, they do well and you can’t ask for more than that can you?’

Besides Mr Erskine, a number of other journalists were being forced to try and fathom the appeal of a group that hey disliked.

‘So here you have a band called Uriah Heep universally slagged for doing what they consider to be correct,’ wrote one. ‘But how can a band which consistently plays to capacity audiences and sells vast quantities of albums warrant the kind of reputation people want to slap on them for being loud, talent less and rude? What’s more they too are keen to get a hit single, but on their own terms – and that takes guts!’

The article continued: ‘Keyboard player Ken Hensley told me, “We are a band that wants to get its music across to as many people as possible. Sure, we could just concentrate on America, make a bloody fortune and retire but that’s not what we want. We want people on both sides of the Atlantic to understand the band as people and as musicians. It would be the easiest thing in the world for a band to disregard England if they’ve got success in a country like America, but not us. In the States, we’re accustomed to playing in front of 139

thousands and thousands of kids and therefore that, one factor alone could make you feel very casual about playing to hundreds of kids in smaller halls. But to us every concert that we give is as important as the last. We give as much of ourselves to an audience of 1,200 as we would when we play to 20,000”.’

1974, Hensley predicted to the same journalist, would be Uriah Heep’s year as far as the UK was concerned. ‘We start a new album in January and it should be ready for release in late April,’ he said. ‘We’re planning to play fewer gigs this year because we want to devote more time to rehearsing and exploring new ideas of our music.

‘We’ve still got a tour of America to do, but this time we’ll only be going over for a month rather than our usual eight weeks. We want to concentrate on our performances, so that our concerts will be more like events. We’re gonna try harder in Britain by spending more time here.’

The album that Ken referred to was 1974’s Wonderworld. Again, it was to be recorded overseas, this time at Musicland Studios in Germany’s Munich. But little did anybody know that the creation of Wonderworld would not be as idyllic as its title implied. Or that Uriah Heep would shortly be forced to face moments of crisis and genuine tragedy.

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Chapter 5

A

Top of the Heep

number of stresses were now exerting their effects on Uriah Heep, making recording a more and more difficult process. For one thing, Ken Hensley’s cocaine intake was beginning to take its toll and, never the easiest of personalities in the first place, Ken and David both became more and more impossible to deal with.

Gerry Bron: ‘David was difficult at the best of times. He was always creating these impossible situations, but Ken was no angel either. Those facts were more apparent than ever on the Wonderworld album.”

On the other hand, David’s problem was booze. Chivas Regal brandy in particular. It was his way of coping with the inevitable periods of boredom. While David hit the bottle with increasing 141

frequency, Gary Thain was slipping more and more into the personal hell of a heroin addiction. As for Ken, the side effects of his particular brand of poison were paranoia, depression and mood swings. To make matters worse, Ken was still the group’s principal songwriter and, as always, Heep were relying on him to deliver another killer album. The strain of the troublesome Wonderworld sessions proved almost too much for David, Ken and even for the eternal trooper Mick Box. ‘The whole thing was a bloody nightmare,’ recalls Mick with a wistful shake of the head. ‘Ken spent most of the time in his room crying and David was just on this unbelievable bender. One of my most vivid memories was trying to get him across a dual carriageway that separated the studio from the hotel. Cars were just whizzing by, but all David could think about was not spilling the champagne cocktails he was carrying in each hand. When we got there, Ken was nowhere to be found and I spent most days like that. Trying to hold it all together was almost impossible.’

For Ken, the problems stemmed from too many drugs and the unreal atmosphere of recording abroad.

He later explained: ‘We felt like we were on tour, we went psychologically into another place and we weren’t focused on recording at all. It was for tax reasons obviously, and it seemed liked good business reasons. The band became quite fragmented at that time in various ways, and we lost the one thing that had always got us through our difficulties. We were trying to deal with things as a more fragmented bunch of people and it was a real mess.’

Although Hensley was increasingly drug-stricken, he was still more than capable of writing classic songs. Yet years later, Mick Box feels strongly that he and the rest of Heep were not afforded the respect that their own contributions were due.

‘Our strength at the time was that we could make anything sound great,’ stresses the guitarist. ‘Ken could bring in a bare-boned idea on acoustic guitar, we’d give it the Heep treatment and it’d take on a 142

life of its own. We felt indestructible. We still say it, give us a stage to perform on and nobody can beat us.’

Years later, Ken later acknowledged the role of the group’s arranging skills.

‘Oh yeah, absolutely,’ he nodded. ‘In fact, it was so important that at one time I was giving a portion of my royalties to the band as an arrangement royalty, because I recognized how important that was.’

According to Box, the ongoing problems with Byron and his ego were fuelled by tension with Hensley. He says: ‘While the rest of us were in it for the ride, [the fame] started getting to David a bit. And the cracks began to show. Management only listened to one person, which was Ken Hensley, and David felt upset by that. There was some game-playing going on. Ken was writing some great songs and Dave was singing them, but Dave was the one who was getting all the attention.’

When asked whether the temptation existed to bang Hensley and Byron’s stupid heads together, Lee Kerslake chuckles forlornly. ‘We tried!’ he insists. ‘I grabbed ‘em both by the hair and told them, “I want to keep on shaking you until all the crap just falls out of your pockets, like money.” At the time we had 30,000 people waiting outside the dressing room and all we were arguing about was trivia. It was so much bullshit.’

Despite the odds being stacked against him, Mick did indeed hold it together and Wonderworld emerged as a reasonable effort. It may have lacked the strength of Sweet Freedom, but it certainly remained very much in the Heep mould. However, in retrospect, many of the participants are less than thrilled with Wonderworld.

Ken Hensley: ‘No question about it, we were still capable of producing great music, but the great songs were becoming fewer and farther between. Those albums weren’t cohesive collections of songs, they just became a bunch of tunes which we recorded to make an album. And there is a huge difference between the two things.

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‘I don’t know if Wonderworld was ahead of its time, but it had some very interesting possibilities and proved that we could still experiment. I like parts of that record. In fact, the only one I really didn’t enjoy recording was Wonderworld itself.

‘Circumstances were certainly difficult and there were a whole range of demons that we were wrestling with. In the beginning, the fame didn’t trouble us because it was something we all had wanted, and we enjoyed it a lot. It was only now that the fame seemed to become more important than the music, and then things started to go wrong! The hard work was no problem, we were used to that from all of our earlier careers. But this was the first time it had manifested itself in the music. We suffered from burnout, perhaps without realising it. Certainly, it was hard to keep the creative flow going when the demand was so intense.’

With a new album to promote, Heep plunged into another rigorous round of touring and promotion. The New Musical Express dispatched writer James Johnson to cover two shows in Chicago, and the lengthy feature he filed provided valuable insight into life in the band’s inner workings and the private thoughts of certain of its members.

Besides detailing the ‘elegant hotels’ the group had now become accustomed to staying in and the ‘masses of girls hanging in the foyer’, Johnson seemed astonished that Heep had hired bodyguards to protect them, calling them: ‘Two muscular gents in Mafioso chic Hawaiian shirts who puff cigarettes and gaze around the restaurant with an ever on the alert expression.’ He obviously had no idea that a bullet had previously been fired through Lee Kerslake’s hotel room window.

When Johnson asked whether anybody hated Heep’s music enough to want to kill them, he was glibly told by David Byron: ‘I’ve had three or four threats on my life in Chicago. We decided to just play safe. A guy tried to stab me on stage last night in Louisville. He had a nine-inch stiletto in his hand. The guys got him just before he 144

reached me. The trouble is you never know when it’s going to happen.

I could go out on my own, spend the night on the town and be perfectly all right, and then get smacked by some guy as I’m walking into the hotel. That’s happened lots of times. I’ve said, “What’s that for?” and he’s just said, “For being you”, or something.

‘Most of them are cranks anyway, they’re not serious,’ he added.

‘Every time I’m away my old lady gets phone calls from chicks I’ve never met, telling her things like, “There’s no point in staying [with him] because I’ve been with him since the beginning of the tour. I can tell you what’s in his suitcases, what colour his underpants are and he’s bringing me home [with him]”. It used to freak her out, but now she just says, “Okay, there’s plenty of room in bed for the three of us”. Personally, it’s never frightened me or freaked me out.

I’ve liked the idea of living on the edge of a razor blade since I was a kid.’

Byron also gave some insight into the way he regarded himself when he told Johnson that he had little in common with the band’s audience.

‘I don’t think we’re the same,’ he said. ‘We would probably never have got involved in this business if we were. There are certain people who are leaders, others who are followers. We don’t think above them… we can do things they can’t do, sure, but they can do things we can’t do as well. If we met them individually then they could probably entertain us, but we’d still be the focal point of attention. I’ve always wanted to be that. I think our audience want to relate to us a lot. But they don’t necessarily want to be on par with us.’

According to the NME man, the groupies among the 32,000 fans that witnessed the two Chicago shows paid most attention to David and Ken, but the pair made what he called ‘strenuous efforts to avoid showing much interest’.

Of the show, Johnson wrote: ‘Heep exploded onto the stage in a battery of dry ice. They heaved into their first number, crowd 145

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Heep in 1974.

(Left to right) Ken Hensley, Gary Thain, David Byron, Mick Box and Lee Kerslake.

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and band greeted each other with glee. David Byron waved a peace sign. Although the sound was more distinct than at their recent Hammersmith Odeon concert, it was hardly perfect. Still nobody seemed to care just so long as the bands monumental grind infiltrated through.

‘Bassist Gary Thain and drummer Lee Kerslake made sure of this, battering down behind the remarkable solos of guitarist Mick Box and keyboard player Ken Hensley. Meanwhile, Byron proved once again that he’s an excellent vocalist, maybe not blessed with an immediate stage presence but still very much the figurehead of the band.

‘There was the expected mixture of old material like ‘July Morning’, and newer material from the Wonderworld album.

Altogether, if you cast a few critical faculties out of the window, there is no doubt Heep can put a fine line in demented rock without ever plummeting to zomboid levels. Perhaps the only way to approach it is with the maxim it’s only rock ’n’ roll etc.’

Johnson found Hensley to be ‘an excellent individual’, but noted that his subject became irritated at the suggestion that bands like Uriah Heep are a little slow in thought and action.

Responded Ken: ‘I don’t know whether we bring it on ourselves, or whether it’s the music industry with its perpetual habit of categorisation and generalisation. But I wish it wasn’t like that. You know it’s put around that the only people who have some form of bloody intelligence are the beard and pullover brigade who play on Bob Harris’ programme. I mean, just because they play profound political songs on their Yamaha acoustic guitars doesn’t indicate to me any degree of intelligence whatsoever. We’re more into entertainment than passing on brains to people.’

Meanwhile, out on the road the some old inter-personality rivalries were beginning to get out of control. With tempers fraying, squabbling escalating and egos threatening to implode, one logical solution would perhaps for Heep to have taken an extended 148

sabbatical, but clearly this was not on the agenda. In the light of what was to follow, the decision to keep on working was a tragedy.

‘We should have taken some time off,’ reflects Box now. ‘We were pushed to the hilt and when things are moving at breakneck speed you start looking for other areas of recreation. We were experiencing more in just one month that some find in a lifetime. I honestly believe that’s why some of the band are no longer here.’

By November of 1974, the Wonderworld tour had rolled into Edinburgh, Scotland. This gave Heep fan Bob Carruthers a first chance to see his idols live on stage for the first time.

‘I’d been aware of Heep since 1971 and a serious fan since the following year. I spent a disproportionate amount of my time trying to turn Kirkcaldy High School onto Uriah Heep,’ laughs Bob. ‘This consisted of forcing Heep albums on anyone who would listen. An older student at the time was one Gordon Brown, the future Chancellor of the Exchequer. I can’t quite remember if he was one of my victims, but I do remember I was devastated when I had to miss the Sweet Freedom Tour because the venue doubled as a bingo hall and the band couldn’t start till after the housewives had finished playing. This meant it was too late to catch the train home to Fife.

‘Fortunately, the venue for the Wonderworld tour was the local Odeon cinema, no bingo meant a reasonable finish at a time when I could still get home. I still remember the excitement of sending the stamped addressed envelope and the tickets turning up in the post. The actual concert was everything I could have hoped for. The cinema’s now a multiplex, but back then it was a single hall that held around 3,000 people. For Wonderworld it was packed to the very rafters. As the lights went down, the stage filled with dry ice and the stick-thin figure of Gary Thain was picked out by the spotlight as he strode towards the front of the stage playing the opening bars of Stealin’. I had always enjoyed the dramatic quality of Heep’s music and here it was in all its full theatrical glory. My relationship 149

with Uriah Heep was already strong, but this was the moment of consummation. Like all the others, I knew then that the marriage was for life.’

An electric shock suffered by Gary Thain onstage during a 1974 American tour interrupted the bickering.

‘All I remember was going to the amplifier to adjust the equalizers so I could get more treble on my bass,’ he later recalled. ‘The next thing that happened was I blacked out. David immediately realised I was electrocuted and he rushed over and pulled the bass from my hands. At first he thought I was dead because I wasn’t breathing and I was lying there stiff as a board.’

Thain also aired his displeasure with Gerry Bron, commenting: ‘I think he thinks I’m putting it on. The music’s been forgotten and now it’s a financial thing.’

Sadly for Thain, his relationship with Uriah Heep – and indeed his very mortality – were both about to be snuffed out. Never the strongest of individuals, Gary’s accident further took its toll on a body already weakened by heroin. He was becoming less and less reliable and the group were eventually left with little choice. Gary had to be replaced.

Just three months later, Thain’s girlfriend Yoko Sugiria found him dead in the bath at his home in the south London suburb of Norwood. He’d taken a heroin overdose. Although it can not categorically be proven, one can only assume that his descent into full dependency upon the drug was accelerated by his removal from the group at a time when more than ever he needed support and help. For Ken Hensley, however, there was little he could offer. The personal demons were beginning to overrun the Heep camp.

Admits Ken: ‘Personally, I didn’t cope with it very well at all. By that time I had become so involved in drugs that I really wasn’t in the best of shapes. I certainly wasn’t a particularly good band member at that time. The only thing that kept me sane was the sense that we had achieved so much, and that we could continue to achieve more if 150

we kept going in that same direction. But we were all so busy dealing with our own problems that we couldn’t pay enough attention to helping Gary deal with his. I understand that heroin is a tough drug; I’ve never been involved in it so I don’t know.

‘Unfortunately, we had to part company with Gary because we just couldn’t prop him up anymore. We even carried him onto planes, we convinced pilots to let him fly with us, even though he clearly was in no condition to travel. And somehow we managed to get him through the shows.’

Besides the musicians, a significant proportion of the blame for later events should have lain at the door of the group’s representation, who clearly knew what was going on. But Mick Box insists that instead of being lavished with the tender loving care that the situation deserved, they were shoved back out on tour after Thain’s accident.

‘There was no support from the office, we were pushed back out there for the almighty dollar,’ he sighs quietly. ‘That was the beginning of Gary’s downfall. It would never have been allowed to happen today. Look at the Toxic Twins [Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and singer Steven Tyler]: somebody realised they’d made them a load of money and stuck them in a clinic. We had the same problem with Gary and David, but the support wasn’t there.’

Even after Thain’s death, the penny still hadn’t dropped with Ken Hensley. ‘On the day I found out about him I went out and did cocaine,’ he later admitted. ‘I thank God for destroying that addiction.’

And was Gary the only heroin user in Uriah Heep at the time?

‘Absolutely,’ acknowledges Box. ‘We didn’t even know it for a while, but a lot of it was because he was getting no appreciation.

Ultimately, he was weak-willed. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t dabbled along the way, but I found that it did nothing for me. So we’d go out, have some pints and get a hangover the next day. But with Gary, it was always different…’

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Lee Kerslake is one of the most widely respected drummers in rock. His highly individual vocal contribution is also a major part of the trademark Heep sound.

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153

Album Track-By-Track

Wonderworld

Released July 1974 Album Review by Jim Ferrie

Mid-1974 saw the release of the new Heep studio album, Wonderworld. For tax reasons it had been decided to go abroad to record again (like Sweet Freedom before) but this time Heep decided upon Munich in Germany.

In hindsight the band weren’t that suited to recording away from home because it still felt like being on tour and the excesses of that time remained with them unabated which no doubt interfered with the artistic flow. Egos fluttering overhead, arguments over trivia, cocaine (Ken), heroin (Gary), alcohol (David), Mick trying to hold it together, Lee getting sick of it all and a less cohesive approach to album creation were doing no favours to the creative process.

I, of course knew nothing of all this. I just bought my group’s new album (and the sheet music book to go with it). I enjoyed all Heep projects but this, their seventh studio album, was obviously the weakest thus far. Of the nine tracks, four were great, three were good to OK, and two I didn’t like much.

In me there was a slight disappointment over the lack of consistency, but the good ones were good and my loyalty remained undiminished. They toured, I went, and they were superb as usual.

Wonderworld (Hensley) A rather slowish first track to a Heep album but my ear was taken by the synthesiser start immediately, then to piano and David’s vocals which excel on this song although I don’t consider it to be anywhere near Ken’s best but it’s still a good song. It did enough to make me smile. I remember thinking it was OK for me but how many new fans would it bring in? I remember too the Wonderworld Tour at 154

the Glasgow Apollo where Mick rather foolishly kicked the head of a fallen mike off, straight into the audience, whistling over the head of a growling bouncer. Said bouncer grabbed me and demanded to know which of them had done it. I denied all knowledge of course! I may have saved Mick’s life that night.

Suicidal Man (Box/Byron/Hensley/Kerslake/Thain) Next came this excellent rocker. It starts with the riff being played with guitar and organ in unison, Gary’s bass. I was way up front on the mix and sounded absolutely fantastic. David’s vocals shone bright on this one helped by some sensible after recording treatment.

The backing vocal arrangement was absolutely awesome. On the negative side, Mick’s guitar was way down the final mix and for those of us who joined the journey with Look at Yourself, this was never very welcome. That aside, I played this one over and over again. This was my personal favourite of the album. It was good live too.

Back at the Apollo, David continued the bouncer torment by lowering his mike down off the stage and bopping a bouncer on the head with it. The tormented, black suited one was not amused.

The Shadows and the Wind (Hensley) This was another absolute gem from the pen of Mr Hensley and given the unique Uriah Heep treatment. The bass lines from Gary were prominent in the mix and showed off his prowess as a fine musician despite his difficulties personally which included an electric shock sustained on the US tour that year.

The organ builds up slowly with a restrained drummer boy beat from Lee building up with it and meeting David’s vocals, which are brilliant on this track. The whole vocal arrangement was innovative and worked very well indeed. David sounded like he was enjoying it. We even descended into an unaccompanied multi-vocal section that was just superb. This song demonstrated Kens writing qualities 155

and the guy’s ability to turn that song into a Heep ‘thang’. Awesome beyond belief.

So Tired (Box/Byron/Hensley/Kerslake/Thain) A rocky number that I thought worked better on stage than on record. At the time, I thought it was alright if a little uninspired.

That said, it had some interesting moments. The vocal section worked well as did the section before the last chorus where we had the band play a couple of bars and each band member in turn played solo for the next two bars. It was a good number but not one that I played too often. Again, the guitar was a bit too far down the mix for my liking.

Live, they made the best use of the song though.

The Easy Road (Hensley) An interlude with a soft Ken composition and heavy orchestration.

I guess this is what we would term a ‘singer’s song’. Heep did include this in the live set and it came over very well. It’s a lovely song and this type of ballad is not out of place on a Heep album. It didn’t send me into raptures (like Rain for example from The Magician’s Birthday did) but I recognised quality and acknowledged its rightful place on a Heep album. A piano based song with an orchestral arrangement that fitted well but I felt that David struggled to hit the high notes as would be expected and to me he sounded tired on this track.

Something or Nothing (Box/Hensley/Thain) I was always interested to hear what the single release would be because I wanted Heep to have a UK hit. I assume the strategy was to get radio and hence public interest in the new album through a specially written ‘hit’.

A thundering bass from the increasingly belligerent Gary Thain right from the start and a decent up front guitar riff set the mood.

This was a well-crafted song that just rocked along. I played this one 156

time and time again. David’s vocals were superb again and we hear good experimentation in the support vocals and they worked fine. A real foot-stomper. The lead guitar break is good with organ support just right throughout. It fades a bit quickly at the end but I played the grooves out of this one. I still don’t know why it didn’t chart.

I Won’t Mind (Box/Byron/Hensley/Kerslake/Thain) A bluesy number, which I hated at the time. The bass lead in riff was memorable and the guitar breaks were neat and interesting and the whole song was a bit different from the usual Heep stuff. It was overlong, meandering and pointless. I do remember a press review giving Heep some praise (I’ll wait for you to get back on your chair now) for trying something different although it did sound that they were desperately trying to find something positive to say amidst the usual negativity. I didn’t like it at the time and didn’t play it often. On relistening to it in a new century, I do find that I still don’t like it. So there!

We Got We (Box/Byron/Hensley/Kerslake/Thain) This continued where I Won’t Mind left off and I didn’t like this one either nor did I play it that often. I liked the guitars, which sounded good. The vocal high jinks didn’t work particularly well. The whole song seemed a bit pointless to me and appeared to be included perhaps because there was nothing else to put in.

The gut feeling at the time was that the album was great until these two tracks. It then lost the plot, lost momentum, became disjointed and not representative of what Heep were good at. The album became a collection of whatever was lying around at the time or that’s how it felt to me. I felt a bit disappointed because I never wanted to find fault with any Heep album and had never done so before.

Dreams (Box/Byron/Hensley) Well, we got to finish the album on a high note. Dreams continued 157

the last two songs attempts to innovate but this time it actually succeeded principally because it sounded like the Heep we knew and loved. The vocal lines of the song were interesting. (The notes and words I mean) The song stops at one stage and the organ starts, then high vocal aahhs come in, synthesiser, more high aaaahs, more synth, more vocals, break to a guitar flitting from speaker to speaker and back to the verse. Brilliant. Loved it. Gary’s bass was back to form again. The song breaks to organ and begins to build up but this time a disjointed, distorted voice wails… ‘Dreamer, dreamer, dreamer’ which is lifted from the previous album and a track called Dreamer.

This was a fitting last track. The last song on the last album from this line-up.

Time for change…

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Chapter 6

The Best and the Worst of Times

G

ary Thain’s successor was none other than former Family/King Crimson/Roxy Music bassist John Wetton.

Undoubtedly, Wetton was a valuable addition to the band, being a skilled writer and talented vocalist as well as a gifted instrumentalist. For Ken Hensley, however, there could never be a real replacement.

‘John’s a fine bass player, a great singer and a good arranger, but we weren’t replacing the bassist, we were replacing a very significant part of the band’s chemistry,’ observes Hensley. ‘It just wasn’t replaceable, at least not in my opinion anyway. And so that was the beginning of the end of the whole thing really.’

In many ways, Heep’s latest appointment was surprising, as the Derby-born Wetton’s musical pedigree seemed totally incompatible to 159

that of the band. John’s baptism into music had come via the church, his older brother being the organist of the local parish. So the younger Wetton brother was given the task of performing the bass parts. By the age of ten, American radio had inspired him to begin playing a style of rock that itself would eventually grace the airwaves. But as John later recalled, his apprenticeship in the Bournemouth area had already introduced him to various local musicians, including Lee Kerslake.

‘During an American tour with Roxy Music, Lee and Mick Box were staying at the same hotel on Collins Avenue in Miami,’ explains Wetton. ‘We had such a lovely time, we went out for dinner and I’d known Lee since the Bournemouth days. In fact, I’d known them both for a while, but I’d known Lee for a longer. And I loved them both dearly.

‘Something must have happened at that meeting in Miami because when I came back from the Roxy Music tour, there was an offer to join Uriah Heep. To me, it was the most natural thing in the world. They were old friends, and we were intertwined through Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake playing with Greg Lake. Uriah Heep were the nicest blokes in the world to be in a band with, and I felt very at home. I had a meeting with David Byron on the day that they asked me to do the job and I said, “Look, I do have ambitions to become a singer and a writer in a band” and he said, “As long as it isn’t this band, that’s okay”.

‘So David and I became very firm friends. I didn’t have any feelings about replacing Gary Thain, he was a great bass player and it didn’t involve me changing my style. So I just settled into playing very basic bass. I was aware that Heep’s most successful period came along after Lee and Gary had joined but that didn’t really play any part in my psychology during the whole thing. You join a band, you put in what you can.

‘In King Crimson, I’d been playing the most ridiculously complicated rock music in strange time signatures,’ continues Wetton. ‘Uriah Heep offered me a refreshing break from all that. I 160

could just be myself, have some fun and play some really strong rock music. The reason [I joined] was definitely not for money. At that time, Roxy Music were offering me the same money as Uriah Heep, if not more, I just didn’t want to stay in Roxy Music.’

But not everyone was happy with Heep’s latest arrival, and a dissenting Wetton fan wrote submitted an amusing poem on the subject to the letters page of Sounds. The ode said: ‘When Crimson split I had to weep, My whole life was bad, But now John Wetton’s joined Uriah Heep, And I think I’m going mad.

Please, please, I feel so low, Tell me it’s a lie, If Bill Bruford now joins Status Quo, I think I’m gonna die.’

John was quickly made to feel at home, but already some enormous tensions were bubbling away. Notably, as we’ve already touched upon, there was the very real power struggle between David and Ken. Despite the kudos of having written so much of the material, the keyboard player was jealous of the attention that his singer was receiving.

‘I suppose that they may have been looking at me to provide a catalyst or spark that would bring the band back to its peak,’ observes John now. ‘That was unfair. There was always friction between Ken Hensley and David Byron as to who was the spiritual leader and who was the visual leader, and that was never resolved. There had been bands, the Beatles for one, where you had a visual, cuddly toy that leads the band and someone who was its spiritual leader. Within Uriah Heep, it was always a struggle and so I think I became part of all that because mainly Lee and Mick were looking to me to provide some kind of spark, which I did try to do.’

With egotism threatening to consume every in its path, Lee Kerslake went on record as stating that self-esteem could be used 161

positively. In an interview of the era he said: ‘Let’s put it like this, if you build yourself up an ego and you go onstage with that ego, you put on a better show.’

‘I don’t agree,’ interjected Hensley, who’d been sitting nearby.

‘Well, I think it’s true,’ continued Lee unabashed. ‘If I’m built up to feel like I’m something [special], I really work at it. If someone makes me feel like I’m crud, it disheartens me.’

The first public offering from the Wetton line-up was to be Return to Fantasy, released in 1975. The title track in particular was an instant hit with Heep fans. It was a gothic masterpiece that still ranks among the best of Heep from any era. The rest of the songs, however, were distinctly below par. Geoff Barton of Sounds summed it up in print as ‘a fair rock album’ but singled out Gerry Bron’s ‘predictable, rather too crisp and tidy’ production for criticism.

Neither was he too enamoured of David Byron’s lead vocals, the ‘castrated harmonies’ and ‘calculated embellishments over a (largely) a musical bish-bash background.’

The other UK music papers did their usual jobs. One that shall remain nameless said: ‘This album is excruciatingly tedious. If your idea of a good time is watching the television test card with the sound turned off, this is for you. Prima Donna, opening track, Side Two, sounds like something Status Quo rejected because it wasn’t complex enough. David Byron’s singing employs a tricks of the trade sameness, Mick Box is a minimal guitarist and Ken Hensley seems to treat his keyboards more as electronic whoopee cushions than musical instruments.’

Perhaps the most incisive critique was written by the NME’s Tony Stewart, who said: ‘Heep are trying to be three different things, which only occasional complement each other. Do they want to be heavy? Do they wish to re-establish their own reputation, blighted by Wonderworld? Or do they want to shine as writers of good songs and players of good music? Basically, Heep must overcome the conflicting facets of their collective personality.’

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Nevertheless, Bronze did a good in promoting and marketing Return to Fantasy. In Britain, some £10,000 was spent on TV advertising and £3,000 on radio. Consequently, it charted highly in the UK, plus America, Europe, Australia and Japan.

‘It’s true that Return to Fantasy was Heep’s best selling album in the UK, but you cannot merely promote something in order to make it successful – it has to be there in the grooves,’ Wetton later ventured. ‘I’ll admit you can have a failure without good promotion from the record company, but that same promotion will not guarantee a hit or a big selling record. It would not have been as popular as it turned out to be if it had not received that level of promotion.

‘The fact was that it was a very good album, and it was back in the vein that people wanted to hear from Uriah Heep. Albeit a little more sophisticated, it was back to the rock roots. Return to Fantasy always felt like a group album, like something Heep should have been doing and it was right on target. There were two songs that I was actively involved in writing. One is Shady Lady and the other is Devil’s Daughter. I was made a promise by one of the management people that because my own publishing situation was so complicated, that I would be paid separately from the contract. Of course I never was, which proves that that sort of stuff still went on in those days. I never, ever did that again; I should have had a writing credit on both those songs. Admittedly, a lot of the stuff was written before I joined but those two weren’t, I was at least twenty percent responsible for them, but I did not receive one penny.’

Once again, a tour quickly followed very quickly, taking Heep to Scandinavia and the rest of Europe, Britain, the USA and Canada.

Gerry Bron predicted that the year-long trek would see the group playing to a million punters and travelling 30,000 air miles.

And, for once, live reviews were very positive. Melody Maker’s Brian Harrigan took his life into his hands by praising a show played

by Heep’s latest line-up at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

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Byron and Box rock out. This was one of the performances which Mick gave in 1975 despite having to play with his right arm in a plaster cast.

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‘New-boy John Wetton lumbered about the stage like a lumberjack on a drunken Saturday night, toting a hefty bass guitar instead of a tree-trunk,’ he said. ‘And Kerslake is all down to muscle – he just has to pound that battery of drums to make his presence felt.

‘Mick Box stalks the stage like a mad Mexican midget,’ Harrigan continued. ‘He’s a minimal guitarist, but who cares? With charisma like this, he doesn’t even need strings. Ken Hensley takes frequent slugs from a relay of glasses of orange juice. One minute he’s stonefaced – the next he’s wracked with paranoia, his face split into a manic, leering grin. But the king is David Byron, clad all in white, his top open to the waist. Every movement is a dramatic gesture, every nuance a potent reinforcement of the mood of a song. Heep are a loud band, as if anybody in the world needed telling, but here they tempered sheer volume with clarity.’

Heep’s backstage rider on the 1975 tour included many, many bottles of Dom Perignon champagne – mostly swigged from the neck – plus, spirits, beers and whatever happened to be each member’s personal tipple. Grinned Kerslake: ‘It’s just a little bit of stardust to make you feel good.’

‘They [the promoters] give you anything you ask for,’ added Ken with wonder. ‘They’ll give you ten limousines if you ask for them.

They’ll give you fifty bottles of champagne.”

But it was not all plain sailing, and on the fourth date of Heep’s forty-two-show US tour, Box famously fell off the stage in Louisville, Kentucky, shattering the radial bone in his right arm. He recalls: ‘I’d had my normal ration of booze, and a bottle of Remy Martin helped to take the pain away as the show continued, but then I fell off the stage again and broke my other wrist in two places!’

Box carried on with the tour against medical advice, sometimes playing with his left arm in plaster. Even more ludicrously, at a festival in front of 80,000 fans in Cleveland, Byron insisted that each member of the group should take separate limousines for the 200yard trip between the hotel and the venue. ‘The bill was Aerosmith, 166

Blue Öyster Cult and the Faces,’ chuckles Mick now. ‘Everyone was trying to outdo each other, so Rod Stewart topped us all by taking a helicopter in!’

As the above anecdote suggests, Heep’s problems concerning drugs, alcohol and rampant self-esteem had certainly not disappeared with Gary Thain’s departure. The imminent release of Take No Prisoners, a solo album from David Byron, was perhaps making the situation worse. While Hensley had also stepped away from the band to release his own albums, Proud Words on an Empty Shelf (or, as Box has sometimes been known to refer to it, ‘Brown Turds on a Rusty Elf’) and Eager to Please, he still seemed focussed on his day-job. Was Byron becoming just a little too confident?

‘Some people who’ve heard my album and who know Uriah Heep have said that it sounds more like Uriah Heep than Uriah Heep does,’ David told Sounds writer Dan Hedges. ‘Others have said that it sounds more like Uriah Heep should sound. It’s got the rawness of early Heep, but it also has more diverse elements.’

Smelling a rat, Hedges asked Byron whether Heep were perhaps in danger of stagnating.

‘Well, I felt that Uriah Heep was becoming pretty stylised,’ conceded the singer with unusual tact. ‘And the only way to do anything about it was to do it on a solo album. If you try to do some of those things on a Heep album, people go, “Yeah, it’s a great song, but…”’

Yet Byron still spoke with optimism about two new tracks he was about to lay vocals upon.

‘What’s happening on the new Heep album, which was never allowed to happen before, is that more of our ideas are being allowed to come out,’ he prophesied.

The writing was already on the wall for David Byron. Musical disagreements were compounded the growing belief of his colleagues that his antics were jeopardising their career. Eventually it all came to head at a show at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1975.

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Years later Hensley explained: ‘First of all, I want to say that we all had our problems at this time. You probably know by now that mine was cocaine and that was the biggest mistake in my personal and professional life… it was so unnecessary! David’s problem was boredom and booze, especially Chivas Regal.

‘David was getting drunk all the time, that was a big problem, I’m not judging or criticising him. The problem is when you’re the lead singer, the spokesman and the mouthpiece of the band and you drink a bottle of Chivas Regal before the show starts it’s a recipe for disaster. David sometimes became very belligerent and took that out on the audiences, and they don’t forget that stuff!

‘The Philadelphia Spectrum was sold out to 25,000 people. David had a little situation with the mic stand, he stepped on it and cut his lip, and just then the crowd started cheering. He thought they were laughing at him and went ballistic, cursed the audience out all night long.’

‘Dave told them all to fuck off,’ interjects a still incredulous Box. ‘I was tuning my guitar at the time and couldn’t bring myself to turn around and face the audience. We couldn’t catch a cold in Philadelphia after that. Later, we confronted him in the dressing room and he just pointed over to all his stage outfits and said, “What do you mean I don’t care?” That was when we knew he’d definitely lost the plot. We were talking about music, he was on about something completely different.’

Hensley: ‘The following year in Philadelphia we couldn’t even sell out the Box Theatre, which is 3,000 seats. The worst part was that David wasn’t just pissing his own career away; he was throwing ours along with it. We were all tarnished with the same brush. We talked about it, and it continued. And we talked about it again and it still just continued.’

Eventually, Hensley decided he could take no more and opted to fly home from the middle of the American tour. His decision was more than a mere tantrum. To all those whose eyes were still on the ball it was a clear signal that the situation had to be addressed.

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‘I went home because I knew we were in trouble,’ explains Ken. ‘It was the only way to get everybody’s attention, but it didn’t solve the problem. Of course, things were made worse by the fact that David was our frontman, and if he was out of it then it really showed. It was the beginning of a very sad ending.

‘I told Gerry Bron that we couldn’t carry on like that. Every show we did was going to do us more harm than good. Maybe it was a drastic move, but I wanted to bring some focus onto this instead of putting a plaster on it. It came down to a situation where I think Gerry talked about it a couple of times and we tried to get the situation sorted out, but in the end it was unworkable. And so we all decided that David would have to be replaced. Which was really sad because David was no more replaceable any more than Gary had been.

‘So that again for me was tough because at the time I felt like giving up. But Gerry kept talking me into staying, saying we’d do another album or tour and so on. So I stuck around for another three years or more longer than I really wanted to.’

Bron later admitted: ‘David was a total pain in the ass. He was making himself more and more unpopular.’

According to photographer Fin Costello, the band sometimes tried to bring humour to an increasingly trying situation.

‘Everybody knew that David Byron would refuse to go onstage if he didn’t have his mixture of champagne and orange juice, so at a particular gig in Hamburg somebody in the band thought it would be a laugh to send him some afternoon tea instead,’ laughs Costello.

‘There were twenty-five tea trolleys lined down the corridor, and Byron caused a bit of a ruck about it because they’d all been charged to his room.’

Of course, Byron wasn’t the only one guilty of indulging in far too much alcohol at the time. From around this era there exists a seminal tale of rock ’n’ roll irresponsibility. According to rock fable, a certain band member was arrested for drinking and driving his Rolls Royce 169

– a far more serious offence in the UK than in America. When the policemen ordered the clearly inebriated individual to get out of their vehicle, popular legend has it that they steadfastly refused to do so until the constable put his hand on their shoulder and uttered the immortal words, ‘You’re nicked, me beauty.’

But although Byron’s final exit from Uriah Heep was on the horizon, the first six months of 1976 still offered some electrifying performances. Louis Rentrop witnessed such a spellbinding Dutch gig.

He recalls: ‘It was at the Jap Eden Hal that February. The atmosphere was electric. I can still almost smell the weed smoke when I think of that night. The venue was sold out and Uriah Heep entered the room like a tornado. Devil’s Daughter was very aggressive. David was lying on the ground more then standing on his feet. Ken was rocking his Hammond so much it looked as if it could fall any moment. Mick was on top form, playing brilliant guitar, but also waving and laughing.’

Album Track-By-Track

Return to Fantasy Released November 1975 Album Review by Brian Jones

This was the eighth studio album to be recorded and released in a hugely creative period lasting just five years. That’s one album every seven-and-a-half months! It’s amazing how Heep managed to maintain such consistently high standards but ultimately the cracks just had to begin to show. The album was destined to contain one of the absolute highlights in Heep’s recording career in the form of the title track. The rest of the album however shows the strains of the constant writing/recording/touring treadmill. For the first time on a Heep album there are not enough quality songs to justify the album’s 170

status as a classic. The song writing well had obviously run a bit dry and rather than allow a period of rest and use the time to re-charge the batteries and develop strong new ideas, Heep once again plunged into the studio, with decidedly mixed results. Unforgivably some great material was thrown away as B-sides at a time when the album really needed to be the strongest the band could possibly deliver.

This is the first of two albums with new boy John Wetton on bass.

Wetton’s impeccable pedigree from Family, King Crimson and Roxy Music suggested the possibility of an exciting and fresh burst of creativity. On the back of a strong marketing campaign the album quickly surged to No. 7 in the UK charts. Sadly, it was to prove a false dawn. Disappointed by the patchiness of the album, many record buyers did not return for a taste of the follow up High and Mighty, which was in many respects a far superior album.

Return to Fantasy (Hensley/Byron) Ken Hensley is on record as saying that this album is ‘Definitely not Heep at its best.’ While that may be true of the album, over all it is certainly not true of the title track. Quite simply this is Heep at their very best with a song that comes close to being the single best track of their entire career. Haunting, eerie and dramatic there is an intense gothic aura about this track which captures everything good about the band.

Shady Lady (Hensley/Box/Byron/Kerslake) After the highs of the intro we quickly plumb the depths of filler land with this seedy and rather pointless tale which takes the form of a dialogue with a prostitute. Heep had always seemed to have higher lyrical aspirations than this in the past and the lack lustre arrangement is only saved from disaster by Byron’s animated delivery. The Time Will Come which appeared as the B-side on the Return to Fantasy single was a much stronger candidate for inclusion on the album.

Unbelievable that it should be overlooked in favour of this twaddle.

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Uriah Heep onstage in support of the Return to Fantasy album.

Left to right: Mick Box, Lee Kerslake, David Byron, John Wetton and Ken Hensley.

‘There was definitely a fragile side to [David Byron], but he wouldn’t allow anyone to see it.’

– Mick Box

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Devil’s Daughter (Byron/Box/Hensley/Kerslake) A neat little rocker which was reintroduced into the live set over twenty years later. But why the cow bell Lee? They only seem to fit in very special circumstances… and this clearly isn’t one of them.

Beautiful Dream (Hensley/Byron/Box/Kerslake) Given time this could have been developed into a real classic.

Interestingly the demo is much better than the finished item. All the classic Heep elements are there but the finished song somehow misses the target. Still worth visiting again for the lovely bridge section with Byron’s high dreamy vocal ‘we’ll take you floating to…’ and the trademark Heep harmonies blending together in timeless fashion.

Prima Donna (Byron/Box/Kerslake/Hensley) Another filler, which bizarrely was chosen as a single. It also made it into the stage set where despite the obvious limitations of this slight tale it was extended mercilessly with a long audience participation sequence that ate up precious time in the set, which could have been used for much stronger material. Shout It Out (the B-side of the single) was a much stronger contender which was criminally left off the album.

Your Turn to Remember (Hensley) A pure pop song written in the manner of the Bay City Rollers, who were massive at the time, but somehow it works. This is a great little throw away song which has never been played live, but definitely should be. Pure fun.

Showdown (Hensley) The sound of the barrel being scraped comes across loud and clear in this reworking of Tears in my Eyes the song is minus a distinctive chorus. The rhythm section is all over the place and the outro is completely devoid of ideas and is positively painful to listen to.

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Why Did You Go? (Byron/Box/Hensley/Kerslake) The first Heep song to display an overt country influence with the pedal steel guitar and bleak lyric. As the song develops the country influences gradually give way to the Heep rock sound we all love. It succeeds brilliantly and provides one of the few high-points of the album. This track was revived for the Acoustically Driven show in December 2001.

A Year or a Day (Hensley) This album really needs an epic finisher. Although this track has aspirations towards greatness ultimately it never really gets off the ground. It moves between the moods a little too quickly to stand comparison with say Pilgrim. An extended Box solo would really have helped here because it’s only now that we realise we have reached the end of the album without hearing a real guitar solo. ‡ Having made the decision to remain with Heep, Ken Hensley knuckled down to the task of writing for the album that became High and Mighty. By now, David Byron had withdrawn altogether from the writing process. The other most notable thing about the album was that Uriah Heep had co-produced it themselves, instead of Gerry Bron.

‘We still had the potential to turn things around, but there were also other issues going on,’ says Hensley. ‘Record sales were going down a bit and we were wondering why, and if we could do anything about the situation. And, of course, we all had our own versions of how to do that. One of David’s theories was to fire Gerry Bron, but actually it was our own fault. We had allowed so many other things to get involved, taking our eyes off the music and losing the plot completely.

‘So we focused on the trappings of success and on the problem areas, looking for someone to blame and Gerry was the one that got 175

blamed. That, in turn, created a whole new set of problems. So one way or another it snowballed instead of getting solved.’

When High and Mighty arrived in the racks in May 1976, Sounds hailed it as a ‘step in what appears to be the right direction’. The NME grudgingly concurred: ‘This set is engaging enough in places’, though reviewer Bob Edmands also sarcastically chided: ‘Ken Hensley’s lyrics give some glimpse into why he’s highly regarded in foreign parts.’

Hensley himself remains enamoured with High and Mighty, partly because ‘it felt like making a solo album with the band. Nobody else had any songs, so John Wetton and I found a musical area where we were so compatible,’ he explained. ‘We enjoyed arranging he songs, doing silly things in the studio, but having a lot of fun. But the album was a commercial failure because it bore no real relationship to a Uriah Heep album.

‘It was more of a flashback to Look at Yourself, an era in which were allowed to go anywhere we wanted. But we couldn’t do that anymore because we were expected to deliver a certain type of record,’ continued Hensley. ‘So commercially it was a failure, it didn’t even get released in America. Gerry Bron chose to bury it, and I think that our decision to fire him had a lot to do with that. Gerry hated High and Mighty, he said it was awful. I don’t think that was true. I think he’d just made up his mind that he wasn’t going to like it no matter what we did, because he had basically been given the nudge. I suppose it was a human reaction.’

Speaking in 1992, Hensley expanded: ‘With High and Mighty, we got a long way from Uriah Heep. I was given the job of writing that album and producing it, no one was stopping me, give me an inch and I’ll take a yard, no problem. We stopped Gerry producing, saying that was the reason why records were not selling. That was total bullshit, it was our fault. We drifted away from what the band was known for. We were already in trouble when John Sloman came along, but that just made it worse.’

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Box describes High and Mighty was ‘less of the ’eavy and more of the ‘umble’ and admits that the acrimony of the time often forced him to relinquish power in the only way he knew how. ‘We used to say, “Why do we need to stay here and listen to this shit. Let’s go down the pub”. The album’s title just about sums up the kind of state we were all in.’

At one point in a somewhat muddled recording process, Mick Box recalls Byron lying spread-eagled on the floor and trying to record his vocals through one of the microphones intended to capture Lee Kerslake’s floor-tom. He chuckes: ‘Gerry Bron came into the studio, saw what he were doing, declared we were all mad and walked out.’

This anecdote aside, Byron was a notable absentee during much of the recording, having become seriously ill with chicken pox.

‘Somebody had to put a vocal down on One Way or Another to see if it would work,’ explains Wetton. ‘David was away for six weeks or so. There’s a really dangerous studio condition called thing demophobia that can become a state of mind. You get more and more attached to the demo, but when the real version is done, it doesn’t sound so good to the people who’ve already heard the demo 55,000 times.

‘So when I did the vocals on the demo, everyone including the writers, the producers, the band and the engineers got used to hearing my voice on it. And when David came back from having chicken pox they all said it sounded pretty good, so we left it that way. David played the Hammond organ part on it and everyone was happy. That’s the story behind it, it wasn’t me trying to push myself to the front, quite the opposite.’

As Ken earlier alluded, to this day certain members of Heep still harbour the suspicion that Gerry Bron put less effort than usual into marketing the album – as a consequence of being deposed from the producer’s chair. The sleeve, which featured a winged gun flying across a clear blue skyline, was certainly extremely lacklustre.

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However, at the time of its release in 1976, Bronze did finance a spectacular junket to Europe to mark the album’s launch.

‘We flew a bunch of people over to Switzerland, to a mountain-top restaurant where a James Bond movie had been filmed,’ says Box. ‘We’d all been drinking from the moment we left Heathrow Airport.

After several hours of knocking them back we finally arrived at the foot of this mountain, all ready to take this cable car to the top. We were pissed as newts and a geezer went, “Now be careful what you drink when you reach the restaurant because of the high altitude one drink up there is like having six down here.” We reached the summit and it was like being hit with a sledgehammer, I’ve never felt so completely legless. We went into this restaurant, which was revolving to make matters even worse – and people were passing out into their food, throwing up out of the windows. It was terrible.’

All these years later, High and Mighty still sharply divides the Heep fraternity into two camps, the minority who love it – and the rest. In 1976, Byron described it as ‘A bummer,’ adding: ‘We decided to put all Ken’s songs on the album, and hoped it would work out. But we should have used everyone’s songwriting. Mick Box also played just a few [guitar] parts on the album.’

For many, High and Mighty lacked the indefinable quality of the greatest Heep material. The production had a crisper more modern feel and in Midnight there was a gem to rank with the greats. Misty Eyes, Weep in Silence and especially Can’t Keep a Good Band Down were all superb songs. Like the rest of the work he did with Heep, John Wetton is still very proud of the album.

‘Both of the albums I did with Heep still sound really good after all this time,’ he says. ‘I like One Way or Another from High and Mighty, I also like Shady Lady and Return to Fantasy from Return to Fantasy and Footprints in the Snow is fantastic. Also, Weep in Silence, not because I co-wrote it, but because it’s a great song.

‘The thing I enjoyed most was the camaraderie, it was I wonderful band to be in, the friendship was great,’ continues Wetton. ‘And 178

when the music was happening it was brilliant. But the thing I least enjoyed was the back-biting. There was a lot of inter-band jealousy.

But we had some fabulous times, particularly Lee, Mick and myself.’

Wetton also has a favourite touring anecdote. Smilingly he recounts: ‘One day in Birmingham, Alabama, Lee Kerslake and I sat in a coffee shop for most of the afternoon working out whether we could jump from our hotel bedroom balcony on the fourth floor into the swimming pool. We finally did it at about three o’clock in the morning, only to discover that all the doors were locked on the inside of the swimming pool. So we had to walk out of the car park, stark naked, back through the reception and pick up a spare pair of keys from the front desk. That was a normal evening on tour with Heep.

There are hundreds of examples like that. It was one of the funniest bands I’ve ever been in. There was always a humour that kept the band going.’

However, during the course of promoting High and Mighty, John Wetton became the second Heep bass player to receive a severe electric shock on stage.

‘It happened in Minneapolis and I fell backwards into the drum riser,’ he relates. ‘My knee was underneath me when I fell and it twisted very badly. That injury stayed with me for a few years. I have no idea what caused it, the only explanation that’s been given to me and that really satisfies me is that the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul have a changeover of electricity power supply from one power station to another. And that happened to coincide with the time that I got the shock. Lee Kerslake said he saw a blue flash between the microphone and my mouth, the next thing I knew I was about twenty feet backwards from where I was standing.

Afterwards, I had to be careful about kneeling down for about six months.’

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Ken Hensley was increasingly frustrated by the problems caused by Byron’s drinking, however his own behaviour, fuelled by a massive cocaine addiction, was far from the ideal model.

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Album Track-By-Track

High and Mighty Released June 1976 Album Review by Pete Wharton

High and Mighty became the last Uriah Heep album featuring David Byron. Like the Conquest album, after which Ken Hensley left, it still causes lots of debate amongst fans of Uriah Heep. Not least amongst the reasons being the unusual choice of an inverted pistol with aircraft wings for the album cover artwork. High and Mighty was also the first album produced by the band themselves rather than the Svengali-like Gerry Bron. The band’s troubles at this time have been well documented elsewhere and there can be no doubt that this had an impact on the final production of the album. The fiasco with the launch party for High and Mighty when journalists were flown out to a mountain top in the Swiss Alps was typical of the Heep excess of the time and how they would handle the press all wrong. Not surprisingly the album received a somewhat lukewarm reception and the sacking of David Byron in the hot summer of 1976 lost the band many fans.

One Way or Another (Hensley) An instantly recognisable opening to the album; I like the bass riff at the start that emulates how the song title scans. Then the vocals come in and at the time I can remember wondering, ‘What the heck was wrong with David’s voice?’ Only later did we, of course, discover that John Wetton was taking lead vocals on this track. Therein lies one of the many perceived problems with the album. If you don’t like the vocals of John Wetton on the opening track then it doesn’t exactly enthuse you to carry on and listen to the rest and that would be a shame. The middle refrain featuring Ken Hensley sounds nicely like something that could have come straight from Proud Words on a Dusty Shelf. Then we return to Wetton’s weird vocals and the way 181

they seem to meander up and down almost presages John Sloman! I always find the end to this song rather boringly repetitious as if the band were just filling out some allotted time slot.

Weep in Silence (Hensley/Wetton) As a complete contrast to the last track, Weep in Silence has a beautifully gentle opening. Then Lee’s powerful drums come in but yet they don’t overwhelm. The Mellotron is working well as guitar comes in and continues the building mood. Ken Hensley’s masterly B3 playing provides a deliciously swelling background Hammond organ. Absolutely solid melodic bass playing follows David’s vocals beautifully. A truly classic Uriah Heep sound that also performs the other magic trick of Heep songs and conjures up images in the listener’s head. The chorus to me provides those haunting images of long suffering women weeping in silence and trying to carry on as best they can. Of course, you can’t ignore that weeping slide guitar and just how lovely and appropriate it is as the song fades out with repeats of the title line. This is a track that you can be so easily tempted to play again straight away as you think how beautiful it was, and wonder what you’ve missed because you just don’t understand what it was on about at all!

Misty Eyes (Hensley) David is in fine form on opening vocals as the Hammond organ swells into an upbeat rhythm. I like the use of the staccato organ sound. There’s the trademark harmonies and swelling organ even if the chorus may be a little simplistic. There’s more staccato organ in the middle break. Nice pedal guitar then chorus comes back but sounding slightly heavier. David is handling vocals well at end and overall it’s an enjoyable listen, without being a classic.

Midnight (Hensley) The organ backed by a heavy melodic bass provides the intro to the 182

closing track of Side One. You feel Gary Thain would have been proud of the bass lines and it’s a shame the bass wasn’t so up front more often. David does a good job of the rather weak and strange lyrics. The rhythm section up front complements background organ well. The song is made however by the bass playing of John Wetton.

The high vocal harmonies are trade mark Heep, but don’t always seem to work in this track. As the organ leads into the end section, David is doing a great job with what he’s got to work with. It’s definitely a listenable, enjoyable song for the bass playing if nothing else and was always enough as you reached the end of side one to make you want to get up and try the second side.

Can’t Keep a Good Band Down (Hensley) The Heep fan’s anthem, it is a total mystery why the band don’t play this anymore. It starts off great with swirling organ and heavy guitar, but then, when the vocals come in, it just seems to shrink to lightweight. You just know that if this had been kept stronger, then it could have been massive, with every hard done by rock band wanting to use it. It’s so frustrating that it’s not played now because Trevor has the skills to put in the same melodic style of bass as John Wetton but even heavier and it needs the heaviness of a track on ...Very ’Eavy.

Even so, it’s still our anthem and whenever I hear it, it still makes me want to say just sock it to them anyway, David. I’d like to have seen this open the album instead of One Way or Another though.

Woman of the World (Hensley) Very below par for Heep’s usual standards, just total filler really.

Maybe being generous, Heep were predicting the rise of ‘girl power’ with their tale of this predatory female, ‘running here and there with no thought for the social diseases.’ Strange vocal effects make you wonder – what on earth Heep thought they were doing? Only powerful drumming from Lee and strong bass lines from John Wetton rescue this from the trash can.

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Footprints in the Snow (Hensley/Wetton) Thankfully Heep recover from the previous abominable track.

Mick’s opening acoustic guitar, sets the scene for how this is going to go. David’s vocals open in that truly maestro style of his, ala What’s Within My Heart. There’s some nice backing from mellotron as the track moves to the heavier refrains of, ‘It may look like the start but it could be the end.’ Then it’s Heep at their fascinating best as you think it’s about to go back to a gentle sound but it doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful harmonies as they go back to the heavy refrain. This is the heavier riffing sound that Heep should have used more often and for longer.

Can’t Stop Singing (Hensley) Oh dear, lulled into a false sense of security by Footprints in the Snow, suddenly we’re back with the filler. What is this ‘Load of laughs in Africa’ chant at the start all about? David does his best with what are pretty poor lyrics. The chorus is rescued by the background organ and the bass lines. Overall it’s just a mish-mash of styles that doesn’t work and you feel it’s just the band playing around and maybe it was Bron’s revenge to include it on the album.

Make a Little Love (Hensley) The opening seems to set the standard for this and it wouldn’t be amiss on the Firefly album? I find the vocals too much in the background and sounding strained. Lyrically it’s weak, not leaving David much to work on. Again the bass and the drumming rescue it from the complete mire. That said and even if it is just filler it’s still a pleasantly rocking little tune that’s a bit of fun and pleasant enough.

Confession (Hensley) This is when you take back any bad thoughts you’ve had about this album. ‘Worth the price of admission’ for this track alone. This is just Ken Hensley songwriting at his most absolute genius best.

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Track order wise its David Byron’s last song with Uriah Heep and what a way to go out! This is a real tear-jerker just like that other Heep classic, The Easy Road. Just like on that classic, David’s voice and presentation again just totally surround you and fill you. I’m sure even now, in the age of the ‘new man’, that any man in love, on hearing this will immediately empathise with the feelings of this song. That feeling of trying to do one’s best for one’s lover, but failing because we are basically just men and don’t quite understand the plot!

I have to admit that I’ve always loved best those Heep songs focused around the simple piano sound and the vocal harmonies here too are just outstanding. This song makes you realise what a damned waste the tragic loss of David was to music! ‡ Although he didn’t know it at the time, the clock was now running down for David Byron. The Wembley shows of 1976 were to be his last British dates with the band, and shortly afterwards, Heep moved on to Europe and the Pinkpop festival in Holland. As usual Louis Rentrop was there to watch his heroes.

‘Uriah Heep were headlining what was Holland’s biggest festival, with the Chieftains, Little Feat, the Streetwalkers, the Outlaws and the Jess Roden Band all going on first,’ recalls Louis. ‘It was a very hot day, and there were 40,000 people. Never had a rock concert in Holland drawn a bigger crowd till that. Uriah Heep had some bad luck. Television was covering the festival for the first time. The cameras stood so close to the band that the roadies weren’t happy.

There had been a fight backstage between Heep’s roadies and the TV crew. Later on this became of the main stories of the festival in all the reviews – not the band’s performance. David Byron was at his best, showering the crowd with champagne. This was to be Heep’s peak in the Netherlands, and like many others, it was the last time I saw David Byron.’

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Heep in Boston in 1976.

(Left to right) John Wetton, Ken Hensley, Mick Box, David Byron and Lee Kerslake.

‘Unfortunately, we had to part company with Gary because we just couldn’t prop him up anymore. We even carried him onto planes, we convinced pilots to let him fly with us, even though he clearly was in no condition to travel. And somehow we managed to get him through the shows.’

– Ken Hensley

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Another report suggests that during a show in Sweden, Byron was so inebriated that he tumbled from the stage and sang the first six numbers of the show from the orchestra pit. David’s drinking was unravelling all the goodwill that the band had worked so hard to develop.

The final straw came in Spain after Heep arrived early at a concert venue. Finding the stadium locked, Byron had gone into full ‘Do you know who I am?’ mode and kicked down the plate glass doors to gain entry. As Mick chuckles ruefully, ‘the Spaniards are not known for their quiet temperament when things like that happen.’

But the sad truth was that this was merely one of many regrettable scenes. Uriah Heep is, and was, very much an English band. Respect for others, politeness and consideration aren’t terribly rock ’n’ roll qualities these days, but they do matter and even a quarter of a century later they still disappoint Mick Box. ‘Somehow we got through that Spanish gig,’ he sighs, ‘but I think that even David had resigned himself to it by then.’ In one of those strange co-incidences, Byron was dismissed from Uriah Heep on the same fateful night that support act the Heavy Metal Kids dispensed with their own frontman, Gary Holton.

In July of 1976, Gerry Bron issued a band statement saying: ‘It was felt by the rest of the group that they could no longer reconcile David’s attitude to their own, so we had to act in what we considered to be the best interests of Uriah Heep.’ The band were reported to have chosen a new lead singer and Hensley, who flew in from the States to speak to the press, also stated: ‘I am not saying there will not be any more changes – we have got to get it right.’

For some fans, the band’s magic walked out the door with their charismatic talisman. Everybody knew that the sacking was a huge gamble. Despite reservations concerning the singer’s dark side, Hensley and Box were aware of the void that his dismissal would leave.

‘David was a fantastic frontman and could never be replaced in that context,’ said Hensley. ‘Just as we replaced Gary with another 188

great bass player, we couldn’t replace Gary. David and I were not friends in the real sense of the word. When I had time off I tended to go and do my own thing; I’d race cars, take vacations, write songs and make demos, so I never really got close to any of the band. David allegedly once said in an interview, “I feel nothing when I sing Ken’s songs – I just sing them”. We don’t know what mood he was in when he said that, one of David’s greatest assets was his ability to interpret and express a song, whether it was mine or anyone else’s, so I suspect he was just feeling a little unkind when he made that statement.’

Mick Box now speaks of his own doubts.

‘Of course I was afraid of the consequences for the band,’ admits the guitarist now. ‘With his ability as a vocalist and a writer, Dave left enormous boots to fill. But we’d got to the point where something had to be done. And to tell you the absolute truth, even if it had all fallen to pieces at that moment it wouldn’t have bothered me too much. I could still play guitar, I’d have gone off and done something else. When I became a musician I did it for life, so I knew I’d have found another niche.’

David Byron wasn’t shocked at being asked to leave. Instead of expressing his bitterness of anger, he told the press that he understood.

‘I’m absolutely relieved,’ he meekly informed the New Musical Express. ‘All the things that have been tearing me apart for a year have gone. Yes, I was sacked. But no, I don’t cherish any bad feelings.

Either I’d outgrown them, or they’d outgrown me.’

As well as expressing his friendship for John Wetton, Byron told the paper that he’d already quit Heep on three separate occasions, but been persuaded to return each time. The band were still selling out concerts, but as David pointedly asked, ‘For how long could that go on when record sales are dwindling?’

In a lengthier Sounds interview, Byron told writer Dave Fudger that many of his issues had been with ‘the people that organised the band. I thought that people had lost, maybe rightfully so, a little faith 189

in us over the last two years. We could literally get to America and not know where we were playing…’

Never one to settle down for too long, John Wetton left the group two weeks later. It was perhaps an ironic decision, as Byron’s departure could have given him the opportunity he sought to sing up front that later arrived in UK and Asia, and further down the line as a solo artist.

‘Some people drag out the corpse of a group and do the annual tour and album, and there’s no fresh inspiration,’ he told the NME. ‘It happened with Deep Purple and it was beginning to happen to Uriah Heep. I didn’t think David’s voice was as good as it was three or four years ago. He was wearing it out, screaming at the top of his voice every night. He won’t resent me for saying this, because it’s offered as friendly advice, but what he needed was three or even six months off the road; which the band couldn’t – or wouldn’t – take.

‘And he suffered badly, because his voice was getting worse and worse. The band was beginning to gang up on him because they thought he was letting them down, and eventually he was sacked.’

‘Whatever personal reasons that David was feeling uncomfortable for within the group, I felt the same,’ explained Wetton in another interview. ‘So I had to get out. The time for me to be with Uriah Heep was over. David and I were very close, we kept in contact all the time.

‘The last person I’ve seen from the band was Ken Hensley which was in Los Angeles,’ he adds. ‘We didn’t talk about what later happened to David, people tend not to talk about it. I left just before he was fired. I chose to go on holiday to Majorca for some peace after the madness of the European tour. I informed my managers whilst I was in Majorca that I would not be taking up my contract with Heep, and after I did that I was informed that David had gone.

‘Obviously, I don’t know what it was like within the band after David. Things were starting to become uncomfortable during that European tour, they probably had been for six months or so. Sitting 190

on a plane to Barcelona, I asked the promoter where a good place might be to go to get away from it all and he said that there was this place called Deya in Majorca which was perfect. So I did just that and let it all cool down a bit.

‘I stayed in contact with David all the way through the period after he’d left the band,’ adds Wetton. ‘All I can say is I really, really loved David, I went to his funeral. He and I were very similar characters, soul brothers if you like. I don’t understand what happened with him in the band. I know there was a feeling that if David could be got rid of, all the problems would be solved. But it’s never that easy. In fact, you’re probably better off starting with the manager when it comes to weeding out the difficulties. I’m not saying that’s a general rule, but that’s what I’ve found in my experience.

‘David took it very badly when he was fired,’ concludes Wetton sadly. ‘Nobody likes being fired and David had an ego like everyone else has in this business. My guess is that he probably resorted to trying to anaesthetise the pain in the only way he knew how to.’

The loss of David Byron brought an end to a classic period in Heep lore. They had achieved an incredible amount, but still had a long road ahead of them. Stay tuned for the next instalment of the Heep saga in the Music Legends Special Edition – Uriah Heep Fallen Angels: The Lawton Years.

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