Uriah Heep, January 2006

Only the first two Heep albums were issued on Vertigo, and I think both are worth about £40 each now. The Bronze reissues are more common really.

However, the Heep albums pale in terms of value compared to stuff like Dr Z (sold less than 75 copies...Black Widow knock off on the evidence I've heard and Gordon(of Peter and Gordon,um,fame- his album sold reportedly 23 copies!). Yet, unlike those the Heep albums are genuinely great records- Heep alongside Colosseum, Gentle Giant, Black Sabbath and Status Quo were the most popular and best the label had to offer.

Cheers John!

My first Heep gig would have been January 1973, the first time they played the Apollo/Greens Playhouse. That was the tour which produced the great "Live 1973". Did you see them before that?

I don't have any of the Vertigo releases. The early albums were quickly re-released on Bronze, so if you have a Vertigo one look after it, it's probably of value. There are many collectors who specialise in Vertigo albums, regardless of the music. It seems to be one of the most sought after labels.

Really cool interview.

Jim Garten wrote: salmacis wrote: I always rather enjoyed Ken Hensley's Moog solos myself! I noticed you didn't like his solo on 'Gypsy' on your review of 'Live 73' Jim, but I think it has a certain charm and is very enjoyable I remember a quote years ago in a music magazine saying a club was "more crowded than a canteen serving hatch full of music journalists trying to escape a Ken Hensley moog solo" (not the kind of quote you forget in a hurry) Seriously though, I've always loved his Hammond playing & slide guitar work, I just feel his Moog playing (at the time) showed more enthusiasm than aptitude... still, at least it wasn't him who ruined 'Lucky Man'

- that's a pretty amusing quote! Another one I've read claimed Ken was using keyboards 'as a musical whoopie cushion...'.

 

I don't think Mick's saying there's any wall as such. All he's saying is that although they were in the band together, they were never friends as such.

Bear in mind that Ken joined the band on stage for the first Magician's Birthday Party.

Jim Garten wrote: Nice updates, from Phil Lanzon "I quite like the idea of a keyboard solo but Not the long rambling things of old" Who could he be referring to.... Look out! Ken's at the Moog again... Run, children, Run! "Emerson was (and probably still is) the best all rounder. Then there's Brian Auger, ace Hammond player. Dave Greenslade...." A man after my own heart - nice to hear a namecheck for Brian Auger, too.

I always rather enjoyed Ken Hensley's Moog solos myself! I noticed you didn't like his solo on 'Gypsy' on your review of 'Live 73' Jim, but I think it has a certain charm and is very enjoyable and technically sound enough to these ears; indeed, it far exceeds any solo his counterpart Jon Lord ever played on the Moog. Ever hear 'Space Truckin' at California Jam? One of the worst Moog solos ever, imo...

Nice to see Phil give Greenslade a namecheck. Phil Lanzon is an excellent player in his own right, and I see no real reason why Heep would ever need to have Ken Hensley in the line-up again; I doubt very much either party would want Ken to return- both Heep and Ken have their own, separate careers now. I'm more than happy with Phil Lanzon's excellent keyboard work- he's also a fine songwriter particularly when working with Mick Box.

I just added your interview in a printed version to my own 'Alucard Archives'. 'Salisbury' was one of my first and favourite records. I didn't listen to Uriah heep for ages until I bought recently a 'Curved Air' DVD (classic rock) with an extra bonus of 'Acoustically driven' the DVD, with concert footage and interviews,looks great, I have to get back in touch with UH's music.

 

 

 

Great job, Bob!

I think we can safely say Phil Lanzon's place in the band is safe... no prospect of a return of Mr Hensley, then.

Never realised the falsetto vocals were Box, either...

Yet another great interview  (although  Django Reinhardt's name is a bit messed up  )

salmacis wrote: Great interview Bob! Really pleased to read this one as Heep are a fave band of mine, and it must have been a thrill for you to interview them! Particularly interesting was that this interview focuses on less covered aspects of the band's career; also interesting to read that there still seems to be an element of tension between Heep (Mick Box, at least) and Ken Hensley.

Excellent interview Bob ... Salmacis, I was lucky enough in the past to interview both Ken and Mick via email (this was about six years ago when Sonic Origami came out and Ken was working on a Christian rock project called Visible Faith)

Regarding the friction I don't think it really exists too much any more ... they both said that the band was driven apart by egos ... and the general impression was that David Byron and Ken Hensley (who candidly admitted as much) possessed the biggest egos back then, and that Mick was something of an all-round nice guy who was caught in the middle and trying to keep things together ...

In the 80s when Mick reformed Heep for Abimonog, Ken wasn't best pleased about it, but that seemed to be water under the bridge by the late 90s when I interviewed them ... I met Mick very briefly in 2001 and he was extremely down to earth ...


Edited by Trotsky