KEN HENSLEY
Manchester, UK, March 26, 1979
I can definitely say that there will not be any more personnel changes in Uriah Heep that's for sure, categorically, 100%, you can have it in writing if you want.
...After 1976 and all the big personnel changes we had a lot of work to do rebuilding the
band, not only reputation wise but musically. I feel that now, at the point of Fallen
Angel, we've got to the point where we're now starting to get the best out of the
band. I can see that there is a future for the band, it really depends on which direction
we want to go in. what we're going to do right now is after this tour - we've been
touring nonstop for the last couple of years - we're going to stop touring for a while
and spend more time in the studio working on the next album. In other words we're going
to take longer in the studio, more time to prepare the songs, more time to rehearse and
more time to record. We'll just concentrate on getting the right things on the record and
playing our tours around that.
TREVOR BOLDER
Asked what his favorite song from Fallen Angel is and why
KEN HENSLEY
I don't particularly feel any animosity towards John - he did what he did to the best of his
ability and we started to think that that just wasn't the best way for us. There's fault
on both sides really.
...we put our heads together [and] decided it was because of the chemistry of the band it
just wasn't working, and because John was the odd-man-out in many ways.
He lacked, perhaps, part of the training - the early days, if you like. Being a part of the
band is a lot more than just singing and turning up when you're supposed to. You
virtually live in each other's pockets... and John tended to do what was needed, rather
than extending himself. I think there was a partial lack of commitment. I can't say that
John worked any less than the rest of us, and certainly he did what he did very well...
but he wasn't 'one of the lads' if you know what I mean.
On John's wife travelling with the band
...It's (John's firing) just that we knew something needed doing, and it may not be the last
thing that needs to be done. Who knows?
GERRY BRON
Regarding his role as Heep's manager, producer and record company boss:
...The others all felt they weren't given a chance to write songs and I got the blame for
that because as the producer I picked the songs. But I only ever picked the songs that I
felt should see light of day.
Regarding the behind-the-scenes unrest:
KEN HENSLEY
I didn't help the situation because I never made any secret of the fact that I'd just bought
a Ferrari or a Rolls Royce. I could have been a little more low key about it.
...We were always on deadlines and I hated deadlines because there was always a call for
another twelve songs, and they all needed to be like Easy
Livin' and I could never respond to that. But maybe I wasn't writing as hard as I
used to because I was as guilty as everybody else of enjoying the trappings of success.
MICK BOX
Everything he (Hensley) wrote, he had to use, and that's not right. And if you insist in
using everything you end up with substandard albums.
LEE KERSLAKE
I couldn't agree with the management's attitude. As far as he (Bron) was concerned the only
person worth anything was Ken Hensley.
JOHN LAWTON
Whilst I was in Heep we had the same problems, we were trying to produce ourselves even
though Gerry Bron, the manager, was supposed to be the producer, he didn't have much
idea. It was decided that we'd bring on Jimmy Miller, we thought he must be something if
he's produced The Rolling Stones but he turned out to be the biggest waste of time I'd
ever seen.
MICK BOX
I have gone on record before saying that I felt this album was a little "poppy"
for my liking, and although the songs were still good, it lacked a real rock edge. This
is, of course, purely my opinion, but I felt we were chasing a Free
Me commercial course as per
Innocent Victim, and really my heart was in a Free
'N' Easy rock direction. The outside of the cover was strong, but the inside, I
thought was a bit limp. In case you are wondering, that is Ken's little girl in the
picture. I did enjoy writing and recording Woman Of The
Night and Lee's Come Back To
Me was a special song that had great success, especially in Germany. As for the
"poppy" side of things, I felt that John's voice carried these through just
great. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the album, but I would have been a lot happier had we
retained some stronger rock roots. Incidentally, I have met a guy who has the whole
Fallen Angel cover tattooed on his back. He showed me in a pub in England, and I
was a little concerned when this six foot tall guy came over to me, shook my hand and
then proceeded to take his shirt off to show me. Well, it was only fair that we shared a
couple of pints of beer after that because it did look terrific, with tremendous detail.
During the current tour of England, I met a guy at a venue called JB's somewhere in
Middle England. He had the whole of the Fallen Angel album artwork tattooed on his
back! Unbelievable! I was most impressed. It never ceases to amaze me that we have the
greatest fans in the world. Enjoy this re-mastered version along with the added bonus
tracks.
KEN HENSLEY
Now I REALLY like Fallen Angel!! I think there are some very strong songs here, though they do fall on
the "pop&qout; side of things a bit! I do remember that the "vibes" were
quite good at this time, and for that reason I may have had some hope. I know I did say
some optimistic things in magazine interviews then! Very enjoyable!
Previous album Content Copyright © 1997 Jay Pearson
Manchester, UK, March 26, 1979
Whad'ya
Say. We recorded it quite a while before we actually put it on the album. We always
liked it but we never knew whether it was going on the album. Then we listened to it
again after a few months and we found it was great, one of the best tracks.
October 27, 1979
I can't comment on that because it's always difficult. I know - I've taken my old lady on
the road loads of times, and it's a very difficult balance to maintain. My contention is
that if you're really going to give 100% you should be available 100%, and there's no
way, with the best will in the world, that a guy can be available 100% with that kind of
distraction. Let's face it, your old lady IS a major distraction... but that's hard for
me to say, because I'm not always on my own myself.
A very short while later, Lee Kerslake was no longer in the band.
1989
I think what they say about you not being able to do all these things is quite ridiculous.
It was only because we were doing all those things together that they became successful.
Far from being a conflict, we were able to make unified decisions ourselves. I think it
worked extremely well.
The whole problem stemmed from the songwriting and the fact that Ken ended up earning more
because he wrote the songs. It allowed Ken to do so much more; he had his (motor) racing
team interests, a big home with built-in studios and his collection of cars.
1989
1989
1989
1992
Togliatti, Russia, February 1997
'Appy Days.
St Louis, Missouri, May 1997
Next album
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