Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble

The US and Canadian version not only differed in album title, but also the cover art and track listing. Lucy Blues was dropped for the US version and replaced with Bird Of Prey (off the band's second UK release, Salisbury).

The recording for what was to become Uriah Heep's first album started in July 1969 at Lansdowne Studios in London's Holland Park, after Gerry Bron had signed his newly discovered act SPICE to his Hit Record Productions Company. Bron had seen the hard-working SPICE at the Blues Loft in High Wycombe and thought they might be a suitable band to develop if they could cut it in a recording studio. SPICE then consisted of Mick Box on guitar, David Byron as singer, Paul Newton on bass, and one Alex Napier on drums.

Recording was performed in fits and starts throughout the latter part of 1969 by the four piece and as work progressed the powers that be suggested keyboards as an addition to the recording process. A friend of Gerry Bron's, Colin Wood was drafted in on a session basis and played keyboards and mellotron on several of the tracks being recorded by Spice. His playing does in fact grace a few of the Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble album tracks. Upon the suggestion of Heep's bass player, Paul Newton, Ken Hensley was drafted in as a permanent addition to the band. Ken and Paul had played and recorded together in The Gods a few years earlier. The band's name was to change at the same time as Hensley's entry; at Bron's suggestion the band altered their name and Uriah Heep was born. The name Uriah Heep stemmed from a character in a Charles Dickens novel and, being a centenary year for the famous author's death, his name was plastered all over buses and billboards in London.

"It just sounded good," says Mick Box about the name today.

With Hensley in place, the band re-recorded some of the songs SPICE had been working on and also recorded extra material that Hensley had written or co-written with his new found band.

Song writing and recording rapidly became prolific and no less than a dozen tracks had been recorded for Heep's debut album. As it happened though, only eight tunes ever made it onto the original vinyl. In fact, the remaining SPICE tracks lay buried in the vaults until they were mixed in 1993 and released on The Lansdowne Tapes (Red Steel RMCCD 0193) - for the curious, this release gives a real insight into the band's early recording career.

With the addition of Ken Hensley into the Spice/Uriah heep arena, the band quickly developed their definitve sound based on vocal harmonies and driving Vanilla Fudge influenced guitar/keyboard combination. It was the adaption and refinement of this sound along with Hensley's composing skills that took the band to the top in the mid seventies. However, it was far from plain sailing as the band proceeded to go through no less than four drummers during their first year of trading. Alex Napier, the drummer from Spice, was replaced by Nigel 'Ollie' Olsson (later of Elton John fame) and it was this line-up that completed the Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble album, issued on the new Phillips offshoot Vertigo Records in June 1970, each copy commanding the princely sum of 42s 6d!

Slated by the critics, Heep's debut album did go on to become a 'gold' seller once the band hit the big time.

Gypsy was released as the B side of The Wizard in the UK, although the single version was the full length album version including tea cups clinking in the background of the drum solo. The version we have included here was a remixed and edited version that only ever came out on the original Best Of Uriah Heep.

© 1991, 1995 Robert M. Corich

From Rolling Stone Magazine, October 1, 1970

URIAH HEEP (Mercury SR 61294)
If this group makes it I'll have to commit suicide. 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. UH is composed of five members: vocals, organ, guitar, bass, and drums. They fail to create a 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 contributed to the 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... (This is where the clip runs out. If you've got the rest, please send it to me!)

Content Copyright © 1997 Jay Pearson

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