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Born in Hertfordshire on 24th August 1945 the long and illustrious career of Mr. Ken Hensley began way back in the mid-sixties with semi-psychedelic outfit The Gods who in their early days also featured Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and Greg Lake, later to be part of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. However, by the time the band was signed to Columbia Records in early 1968, the line up was Hensley on guitar, keyboards and vocals, Lee Kerslake on drums, Joe Konas on guitar and vocals and John Glascock on bass and vocals (Glascock later turned up in Jethro Tull). The two LPs The Gods made for Columbia Genesis (SCX 6286) and To Samuel A Son (SCX 6372) now command a small fortune on the collectors market.
With The Gods attaining critical acclaim but little commercial success the band decided to drop their name and team up with veteran rock 'n' roller Cliff Bennett (he of Rebel Rousers fame). Under the name of Toe Fat the Blues based band recorded two LPs Toe Fat (Parlophone PCS 7097) and Toe Fat II (Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1015) and though neither LP charted they both received an American release courtesy of Tamla Motown's progressive Rare Earth label (RS 511 and RS 525 respectively).
It was around this time, early 1970, that Hensley was introduced to an Essex band called Spice. They were just in the process of changing their name to Uriah Heep so, along with guitarist Mick Box and vocalist David Byron, Hensley became an original member of a band that were destined to become an institution in the rock world. His church organ keyboard style perfectly complemented guitarist Box's rifferama and Byron's almost operatic vocal style. Never the darlings of the serious rock press, Heep nonetheless went on to sell millions of records worldwide and Hensley, as the band's chief songwriter, frequently featured in 'Best Keyboardist' polls in the music papers during his ten year, thirteen album career with Uriah Heep, that produced its fair share of rock classics.
Shortly after Heep's Live LP of 1973 had been released Hensley found time to record his debut LP Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf (ILPS 9223). Handling vocal, guitar and keyboard duties himself, the LP also featured then Uriah Heep bassist Gary Thain and drummer Lee Kerslake, his mate from The Gods days and also a member of Uriah Heep. However, he had little chance to promote it as Uriah Heep duties promoting Sweet Freedom took up all the time.
Once again during a break in Heep activities Hensley cut his second solo LP, 1975's Eager To Please (ILPS 9307) which was really a joint project with Colosseum bassist Mark Clarke and displayed an almost country feel courtesy of some steel guitar from B.J. Cole as evident on the single from the LP In The Morning / Who Will Sing To You (BRO 15). This was to be Hensley's last solo LP for a while as he spent the next five years engrossed in Uriah Heep (and its ever changing line ups) before himself leaving the band in 1980 citing "Musical and artistic differences" as the reason.
He immediately set about recording his third solo LP Free Spirit (BRON 534) with many of his rock star friends including Deep Purple's Ian Paice, The Who's Kenny Jones, and ex-Bowie sidekick Trevor Bolder amongst others. With the LP achieving little success, Hensley took off to America and joined boogie rockers Blackfoot, playing on the LPs Siogo (1983) and Vertical Smiles (1984). He still lives in St. Louis doing session work for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P. and is probably best summed up by Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.'s frontman) who said "Ken Hensley wrote the rule book for heavy metal keyboards as far as I'm concerned." Enough said!
Mark Brennan
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