Demons & Wizards

Demons & Wizards was Uriah Heep's fourth album and, like the previous three, was recorded at Lansdowne Studios in London's Holland Park. Unlike the previous albums, which were all recorded on 8 track, Demons & Wizards was the first soundbite to upgrade to 16 track.

With the Look At Yourself album charting in the UK and obtaining silver status in the USA the follow up album was to become a watershed release for the band.

In fact, during the aftermath of the Look At Yourself release the band was in a semi state of disarray with the departure of founder member and bassist Paul Newton and drummer Ian Clarke. Newton was replaced by one Mark Clarke (ex Colosseum and Tempest) and Lee Kerslake entered to take over the now vacant drumming position. Kerslake had previously worked with Ken Hensley and Paul Newton in The Gods prior to the formation of Heep. He had earlier declined an offer to join Uriah Heep (due to commitments with his then current project, The National Head Band). Mark Clarke proved unsuitable and departed after only three months, but not before co-writing The Wizard with Hensley. The band even laid The Wizard down on tape prior to his departure. Enter Gary Thain, a New Zealander who had already made a name for himself in musical circles with Keef Hartley and his band. Thain replaced Clarke mid-way through an American tour. Playing live had given the four Englishmen and the Kiwi time to gel and by the time they returned to the UK it was obvious this combination was also going to work in the studio. Work was completed on Demons & Wizards in early 1972 and was ready for a May release date. Thain and Kerslake completed what was to become the definitive and ground-breaking (especially in album sales) version of the band. Demons & Wizards was by far the best album the band had recorded to date; it was also the album that elevated their status into the superstar world of rock and roll giving them bone of the best selling albums of the year.

Packaging for the album was also deserving of praise with a cover and internal painting commissioned from Roger Dean. This was the first of only three sets of cover art by the talented and highly regarded Dean, the second painting gracing Heep's fifth album The Magician's Birthday. Dean did not provide album art for the band after these two albums until 1995 when the band's latest release Sea Of Light was released.

Dean's fantasy inspired artwork along with song titles like Rainbow Demon, The Wizard and Traveller In Time linked the band to mystical themes, although there was apparently never a conscious effort to create these themes. The album was described in the original sleeve notes by Ken Hensley as 'just a collection of our songs that we had a good time recording'. The album spawned two singles, The Wizard and Easy Livin' (backed either by the original album version of Gypsy, the non-album track Why, or All My Life, depending in which country it was released).

Easy Livin' entered the charts all over the world with the exception of the UK. The Wizard also obtained good sales and both singles helped put the album forward for an 11 week stay in the charts, peaking at number 20 in the UK. According to Hensley and Box, Demons & Wizards was the album that 'put them on the map'.

The original album contained nine tracks and was originally recorded and mastered for vinyl. What you have in your hands is the fully digitally re-mastered version of those original tracks. None of the original album material has been re-mixed, only remastered to the highest possible standard using the original first generation master tapes. We have however added relevant songs recorded during the Demons & Wizards sessions. Some of these have been mixed recently and are available for the very first time on this release.

The original b-side single version of Why was first released on CD in 1991 on Rarities From The Bronze Age (Sequel NEX CD 184) and remastered in August 1995. The long version was recorded during the Demons & Wizards sessions early 1972. It is from this version that the single b-side version is edited. This recording was mixed and mastered for the first time in 1995. This version previously unreleased. Why was however first recorded in 1971 during the Look At Yourself sessions, although only as a studio jam (an 11 minute epic). The 11 minute version was first released in 1993 on the CD The Lansdowne Tapes (Red Steel RMC CD0193).

The flip side of Easy Livin', Why was only previously available on single (before Rarities, most copies of which are now old and scratchy (in my case completely worn out). It was a track I believe to be one of the best they ever did. The song was one of the few to include the writing credits of the original bass player Paul Newton. According to Mick and Ken, "One day when the band were in the studio jamming we started palying Why. We all liked the song so much that we kept on playin it... for 14 minutes, after which we ran out of steam." The original title therefore was Why Fourteen Minutes? The band later used the song to stitch up their road crew during a concert in Belgium. The crew were ready for the band to finish with their usual encore Gypsy but the band feeling they wanted a change decided to play something different. Out of the bag came Why... and it lasted the same time as a live version of Gypsy... 14 minutes!

Home Again To You was a demo recorded during the Demons & Wizards sessions. Although not typical Heep, it is an interesting number showing a bluesey side to the band. This recording was mixed and mastered in 1995. Previously unreleased song.

© 1991, 1995 Robert M. Corich

Content © 1997 Jay Pearson

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