<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We have visited Uriah Heep twice in past FTV\u2019s.\u00a0 There was a feature focusing on guitarist Mick Box back in 2017 (FTV:\u00a0 Uriah Heep 11-15-17) and another featuring drummer Lee Kerslake in 2019 (FTV:\u00a0 RIP Lee Kerslake 5-8-19).\u00a0 In the 2017 piece, Box talked about the challenges of being the last original band member and how he treated the current version of Uriah Heep almost like it was a new band.\u00a0 When we spoke about Kerslake two years ago, the main theme centered on the drummer\u2019s determination to fight through a myriad of health problems that had been dogging him since he retired from Heep in 2007.\u00a0 As the above title hints, one of them is now the last man standing from the classic Uriah Heep lineup, and it isn\u2019t Kerslake.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Like many bands that survive decades longer than the norm, Uriah Heep has had a fair number of members since their 1970 debut, <\/span>Very \u2018Eavy, Very \u2018Umble.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>The rate of attrition in Heep was not rapid when compared to some bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd.\u00a0 Skynyrd\u2019s tragic plane crash on October 20, 1977 claimed six souls including three band members, their assistant tour manager, and the two pilots, a mere three days after the release of their <\/span>Street Survivors<\/span><\/i> album.\u00a0 Skynyrd has reached the same \u2018last original man of the classic line-up\u2019 status with only guitarist Gary Rossington still performing as they wind down their storied career.\u00a0 At age 73, Mick Box is busy planning Heep\u2019s return to the road in the post COVID-19 pandemic world.\u00a0 In his most recent discussion with <\/span>Classic Rock Magazine <\/span><\/i>(<\/span>The Magic Circle<\/span><\/i> – <\/span>CRM <\/span><\/i>#286 – April 2021), Box revisited the band\u2019s history as the fiftieth anniversary of their breakout album <\/span>Demons And Wizards <\/span><\/i>looms on the horizon in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Uriah Heep wasn\u2019t Mick Box\u2019s first band.\u00a0 He began his professional career with The Stalkers in his teens.\u00a0 The Stalkers became Spice in 1966 when they first came to the attention of their eventual manager\/producer\/publisher Gerry Bron.\u00a0 Box learned his craft in the shadow of The Kinks, The Small Faces, The Who, and Johnny Kidd & the Pirates.\u00a0 It was Bron (who later\u00a0 formed Heep\u2019s label,\u00a0 Bronze Records) who suggested the Uriah Heep name.\u00a0 He set them up to write and record their first album at a community center in West London.\u00a0 The MkII Deep Purple lineup was also working on their <\/span>Deep Purple In Rock<\/span><\/i> album at the same Hanwell CC.\u00a0 Box recalled listening to Purple through the walls during this period.\u00a0 Heep\u2019s <\/span>Very \u2018Eavy, Very \u2018Umble <\/span><\/i>album was constructed as the band was, in Box\u2019s summation, \u201cjust thrashing about trying to find a direction.\u201d\u00a0 The mix of folk, blues, jazz, and hard rock did not find favor with the rock press at a certain American music magazine that was trying hard to be the arbiter of what was or wasn\u2019t \u2018good\u2019 rock music.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rolling Stone <\/span><\/i>magaizne critic Melissa Mills famously wrote, \u201cIf this group makes it, I\u2019ll have to commit suicide.\u201d\u00a0 While this seems overly harsh, one needs to remember <\/span>Rolling Stone<\/span><\/i> seemed to have little liking of bands coming from across the pond in the early 1970s.\u00a0 Led Zeppelin\u2019s debut album was deemed \u201cdull, redundant and prissy\u201d.\u00a0 The previously mentioned <\/span>Deep Purple In Rock <\/span><\/i>was described as \u201cdull\u201d and the band as, \u201cquiet nonentities, lacking both expertise and intuition.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWooden, inane, and plodding\u201d were applied to Black Sabbath\u2019s first album, with <\/span>RS<\/span><\/i> further categorizing the heavy metal pioneers as, \u201cJust like Cream!\u00a0 But worse.\u201d \u00a0 I would be stating the obvious to say <\/span>Rolling Stone<\/span><\/i> was trying to be a little too hip (even for them) as they predicted the demise of all of these bands way too early in their careers, including Heep.\u00a0 I find no evidence that Mills did herself in (in the wake of Uriah Heep\u2019s success), but it is worth noting a search for Heep\u2019s name today conjures up many pages covering their positive reviews and album sales over the five decades that have passed since she tried to shovel dirt on them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After the release of Mill\u2019s \u2018suicide\u2019 review (which the band included in the liner notes for a later album), the band dug in a went to work on two albums released in 1971;\u00a0 <\/span>Salisbury <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Look At Yourself.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 The band\u2019s line up of David Byron on vocals, Mark Clarke on bass, Lee Kerslake on drums, Box on guitar, and Ken Hensley on acoustic guitar and keyboards remained intact during the first American tours in 1971 and 1972.\u00a0 What changed was the band\u2019s songwriting dynamics.\u00a0 Hensley began to take the lead in crafting the next two studio albums rather than Box and Byron.\u00a0 Between the release of <\/span>Salisbury <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Look At Yourself, <\/span><\/i>Heep played their first gig in America.\u00a0 Opening for Three Dog Night in front of 16,000 new fans in Indianapolis was an eye opener.\u00a0 Hensley recalled later, \u201cWhen we got there, and saw all the limos and groupies, it was mind-boggling for us.\u201d\u00a0 Box continued the band\u2019s reaction:\u00a0 \u201cThere was never a feeling of being overawed by it all.\u00a0 We all felt that this is where we should be.\u00a0 The American audience loved us from the first minute onward.\u201d\u00a0 Bassist Clarke opted out of the band after their second tour\u00a0 supporting Deep Purple.\u00a0 Feeling the stress of touring would drive him mad, the ex-Colosseum bassist left after a four month stint with Heep.\u00a0 He may not have been around when Gary Thain replaced him for the recording of their fourth record, but he did leave his imprint on the track that would elevate them from a slot opening for other groups to headlining their own shows.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Box recalled Hensley noodling on an acoustic guitar in the back of their tour van:\u00a0 \u201c[Ken playing <\/span>The Wizard<\/span><\/i>] was the first time I\u2019d heard anyone play guitar with a drop-D tuning.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t find a middle eight, so Mark Clarke wrote that, and the whole song sounded so good to everyone.\u00a0 I think we all knew it was something special.\u201d\u00a0 Especially Bron who quickly booked them into Lansdowne Studios in Holland Park to record it for a single release.\u00a0 Before it went international, New Zealnder Thain had joined the band and his trial by fire came via a five night stand at the legendary Whisky A Go Go club in Los Angeles.\u00a0 The meld of Heep\u2019s two newest members clicked and they kicked the entire band up another notch.\u00a0 According to Box, \u201cNow we finally had a real steam engine of a rhythm section.\u00a0 Having those two powerhouses behind us provided a wonderful foundation for the band.\u00a0 Lee was a fantastic drummer, and Gary would come up with these great bass lines that never got in the way of the melody of the song but always seemed to enhance it.\u00a0 It was an incredible knack,\u00a0 It was a real pleasure to work with the pair of them.\u00a0 Everything just clicked into place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0By March of 1972, Uriah Heep was back at Lansdowne to work on their fourth release <\/span>Demons and Wizards. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0Everything was, as Box said, clicking:\u00a0 \u201cEveryone one was focused…and the chemistry of the band was bar none.\u00a0 There were no personality clashes, no factions fighting for different things, no diversions.\u201d\u00a0 Hensley later noted, \u201cThere was a magic in that combination of people that created so much energy and enthusiasm.\u00a0 We all wanted the same thing, we were all willing to make the same sacrifices to achieve it and we were all very committed.\u201d\u00a0 As he had done with the sessions for <\/span>Look At Yourself<\/span><\/i>, Hensley took charge and brought in five songs.\u00a0 Tracks like <\/span>The Spell, Rainbow Demon, Paradise, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Circle of Hands<\/span><\/i> followed similar fantasy themes that had been mined in the album\u2019s first track, <\/span>The Wizard.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Jamming with Byron and Kerslake, Box crafted the more Zeppelinesque tracks <\/span>All My Life, Poet\u2019s Justice, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Traveller in Time.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 The band was so well tuned, they pumped the songs out in quick fashion.\u00a0 Box told <\/span>CRM, \u201c<\/span><\/i>Someone would nip out to the shop, and come back to find another song written.\u00a0 It was such an easy album to record.\u201d\u00a0 With FM radio just starting to open up the airwaves beyond the 1960\u2019s Top Forty formats, bands like Uriah Heep were positioned to make albums meant to be heard as albums, not just one-off singles.\u00a0 Hensley said, \u201c[FM] liberated my creativity.\u00a0 And the fact that FM radio in America was pioneering the musical freedom trend made it even more inspiring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The ear-catcher for the album was actually written in fifteen minutes by Hensley in response to a tongue-in-cheek comment made while waiting for a flight to America.\u00a0 While discussing the outside world\u2019s views of the rock star life, someone said, \u201cIt\u2019s easy living, isn\u2019t it?\u201d as a joke.\u00a0 The band had previously concluded that they had overthought some of their arrangements, but Hensley didn\u2019t over work this one.\u00a0 <\/span>Easy Livin\u2019 <\/span><\/i>was the unanimous choice for the \u2018radio hit\u2019 single the band needed to put <\/span>Demons and Wizards<\/span><\/i> on a fast track to the top of the charts.\u00a0 Released on May 19, 1972 it peaked in the U.K. at No. 20 a month later.\u00a0 Even <\/span>Rolling Stone<\/span><\/i> did an about face and gave both the album and the <\/span>Easy Livin\u2019<\/span><\/i> single (released in August) triple thumbs-up reviews:\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>Demons and Wizards <\/span><\/i>has to be the party album of the year so far.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThey may have started out as a thoroughly dispensable neo-Creak & Blooze outfit, but at this point Uriah Heep are shaping up into one hell of a first-rate modern rock band.\u201d\u00a0 \u201c[<\/span>Easy Livin\u2019<\/span><\/i>] is a flat out fuzz-toned punk rocker.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Easy Livin\u2019 <\/span><\/i>would peak at No. 39 in the <\/span>Billboard<\/span><\/i> Hot 100<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Demons and Wizards <\/span><\/i>would reach No. 23 on the <\/span>Billboard Hot 200<\/span><\/i> chart by the end of October.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The band went back on the road, starting in the American midwest where they had found an accepting audience.\u00a0 They were now living the rock star life they had dreamed about, but along with the dream, they began to see the darker side of fame.\u00a0 Byron told <\/span>The New Musical Express <\/span><\/i>the following in a feature he sat for in 1973:\u00a0 While in Detroit, a Mick Jagger-obsessed fan known as \u2018Jaggers\u2019 wearing a long black coat and white face paint visited their dressing room.\u00a0 Jaggers told them, \u201cYou see, the thing is, people think I\u2019m dead.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I dress in black.\u00a0 If any one asks if you\u2019ve seen me, say you haven\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Byron states for the record, \u201cIt turns out he was a lunatic.\u00a0 And it goes on and on and on in every major town in America.\u201d\u00a0 Box finishes by adding, \u201cIt got very, very silly.\u00a0 We got to the point where we had bodyguards outside of each of our hotel rooms…It got very decadent.\u00a0 All the stories you hear about being in a successful rock band in America are true.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t tell you any of them.\u00a0 Ha, ha!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The wheels began to depart the vehicle when Gerry Bron made the classic management mistake found at the heart of many a band\u2019s disintegration.\u00a0 Instead of giving the lads some time to enjoy their new found celebrity, he pushed them back into the studio reasoning, \u201cWhat better way is there to capitalize on the success of <\/span>Demons and Wizards<\/span><\/i> than to push out another album right away?\u201d Bron\u2019s \u2018go-go-go\u2019 mentality resulted in a\u00a0 lackluster album (<\/span>The Magician\u2019s Birthday<\/span><\/i>) and a growing feeling in the band that Bron was only listening to Hensley.\u00a0 They still sold a lot of records but never approached the level of <\/span>Demons and Wizards<\/span><\/i> again.\u00a0 Having played in 61 countries and amassed album sales in excess of 45 million worldwide does not quite frost over the lumps in the cake that appeared in the decade after <\/span>Demons and Wizards<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gary Thain was shown the door early when he complained about Bron\u2019s slave driving ways.\u00a0 He was gone by 1974 and soon after died from a heroin overdose.\u00a0 David Byron\u2019s alcohol consumption made him increasingly unreliable.\u00a0 He was phased out of the band and the health problems Byron developed took him out of the picture permanently in 1985.\u00a0 Kerslake and Box had visited him to try and get him back into the band, but for some reason David\u2019s manager advised him to pass on the offer. \u00a0 Byron was all of 38 when he passed away and Box still wonders how Thain and Byron\u2019s story would have unfolded if the Bron team had been a little more compassionate about the band member\u2019s physical and mental health.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the subsequent years, Box and Kerslake kept Uriah Heep together with a succession of vocalists (six at current count but the longest serving voice is current singer Bernie Shaw) and several bass players including the late John Wetton (Roxy Music, King Crimson, Asia) and Trevor Bolder (Wishbone Ash, Spiders from Mars).\u00a0 When Hensley left in 1980, most assumed the band was going to begin an unstoppable death spiral.\u00a0 The lone remaining original member and only guitar player through all the years, Mick Box, had other ideas. As he told <\/span>CRM<\/span><\/i>, \u201c[Heep] have enjoyed career highs that precious few modern rock bands could ever aspire to.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got a great foundation with a history and songs that have stood the test of time, and we\u2019re still writing new music which the fans are enjoying.\u201d\u00a0 For the record (pun intended), Heep\u2019s 25th studio album, <\/span>Living the Dream<\/span><\/i> came out in 2018 and whatever plans they may have had to record more new music are on hold with the current COVID 19 pandemic complications that have left the entire music business in disarray.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we last visited Lee Kerslake in April of 2019, he was already well past the \u2018shelf date\u2019 his medical providers had predicted for him.\u00a0 Kerslake finally laid down his sticks for good in September of 2020 after completing one final recording project (<\/span>Eleventeen<\/span><\/i>) which was released in 2021.\u00a0 Hensley kept busy with numerous musical projects after his Heep years.\u00a0 He eventually moved to America and then to Spain.\u00a0 A quick scan of his music diary shows he kept busy with solo and touring gigs right to the end.\u00a0 He also completed an album shortly before his death (<\/span>My Book of Answers<\/span><\/i>) that was slated for release in March of 2021.\u00a0 Hensley passed away in Spain in November of 2020 after a brief illness.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of the original players who crafted <\/span>Demons and Wizards<\/span><\/i>, it will be left to the last man standing, Mick Box, to comment on the significance of their finest vinyl moment:\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s something on every Uriah Heep album that I can look back on with fondness, but <\/span>Demons and Wizards<\/span><\/i> means a lot to me.\u00a0 Where we were as a unit, creatively, it was the band at its height, with that line-up.\u00a0 Listening back to the album through speakers at Lansdowne back in 1972, we felt like we had something special, but that was just in our inner circle.\u00a0 After that you just hope that it might take on a life of its own and become successful.\u00a0 Which to our immense gratitude, it did.\u00a0 I know how much that music means to so many different people, and it\u2019s humbling.\u00a0 With the Roger Dean cover, it was the first time that the music and the lyrics and the artwork were intrinsically linked, and I think that contributed to its success.\u00a0 But then, funnily enough, it was <\/span>Easy Livin\u2019<\/span><\/i> with no mystical lyrics whatsoever, which was the hit that opened up the world stage for us.\u00a0 If that song taught us anything, it\u2019s that sometimes in this business it\u2019s best not to overthink.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Right said, Mick Box.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s only rock and roll…and we like it!<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 The Wizard miming Demons and Wizards (look ma, no cords!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We have visited Uriah Heep twice in past FTV\u2019s.\u00a0 There was a feature focusing on guitarist Mick Box back in 2017 (FTV:\u00a0 Uriah Heep 11-15-17) and another featuring drummer Lee Kerslake in 2019 (FTV:\u00a0 RIP Lee Kerslake 5-8-19).\u00a0 In the 2017 piece, Box talked about the challenges of being the last original band member 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