I discovered this band years ago through Pandora. I have Look At Yourself album. I forget if a own others.
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Uriah Heep
- Thread starter Bassaasin
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- uriah heep
When I first started playing bass in the 70s A friend said to me, "You'll be a good bass player when you can play this song".
One of the best bands of their era, no doubt.
I think someone, likely a rock journalist, once coined them as "a poor man's Deep Purple" - and yeah, they were both heavy rock bands with lineups consisting of vocal/guitar/keys/bass/drums, but anyone with ears would never confuse the two.
"GO DEEP, OR GO HEEP!"
- Every* heavy rock fan of the 1970s
(*Probably zero)
I think someone, likely a rock journalist, once coined them as "a poor man's Deep Purple" - and yeah, they were both heavy rock bands with lineups consisting of vocal/guitar/keys/bass/drums, but anyone with ears would never confuse the two.
"GO DEEP, OR GO HEEP!"
- Every* heavy rock fan of the 1970s(*Probably zero)
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I beat whatever journalist may have penned those words when I heard them in 1972, andOne of the best bands of their era, no doubt.
I think someone, likely a rock journalist, once coined them as "a poor man's Deep Purple" - and yeah, they were both heavy rock bands with lineups consisting of vocal/guitar/keys/bass/drums, but anyone with ears would never confuse the two.
"GO DEEP, OR GO HEEP!"
(*Probably zero)
thought to myself, “what is this third rate Deep Purple wannabe crap?”. Sorry, they were awful. Gillan may not have been the most literary lyricist around, but I found the Heep’s stuff utterly pretentious, all that wizard stuff; it was the sort of thing Spinal Tap lampooned on “Stonehenge”. Wishbone Ash, as an example, were far more fresh and interesting at that time(even with all that ‘Warrior’ malarky), but didn’t get anywhere as much attention. Byron’s vocals were annoying, Box wasn’t much of a guitarist, Thain…well, he was solid but not exceptional, compared to what else was going on at the time. The only instance where they bested DP was when they came up with a tune that was even more excruciatingly monotonous, overly long, and irritating than “Child In Time”….”July Morning”. That said, I met Ken Hensley in the 80’s, when he was a product rep for SLM, and he was a nice enough guy.
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I was lucky enough to play Easy Living (and Sweet Lorraine) in a cover band when the songs were not oldies. Really a hoot to play! Even when barking out harmonies or screeching the top voice part during the bridge.
The live versions are perhaps my favorite rock song ever.
The live versions are perhaps my favorite rock song ever.
But Uriah Heep had Gary Thain!
So? I sat through the first three albums by Grand Funk, who I thought were garbage, in order to hear Mel Schacher, the only interesting thing about that band, but then they started toning down his contributions.But Uriah Heep had Gary Thain!
And the Purps had Glover.
Thain was a cut above most rock bassists at the time. IMHO and all that.
They can be credited with having the greatest album cover ever!
D
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Heep are a superb band but always misunderstood... they were never a "poor man's Purple" because they were always the prog side of rock - or maybe the rock side of prog - where DP were a commercial rock singles band. If you think they're pretentious or self-indulgent you probably don't get any of that proggy 70s stuff because that was what it was all about 
Salisbury is a great album, and a 16-minute title track really says where they're coming from.
Salisbury is a great album, and a 16-minute title track really says where they're coming from.
Yes, when in my impressionable teen years, I was into Uriah Heep.
When the "Live" 2-LP came out, I was hearing it everywhere. Plenty of hours spent in somebody's room flipping through the picture book insert and noticing the ash, seeds and stems in the binding
If I had to pick my favorite track, definitely "The Wizard".
When the "Live" 2-LP came out, I was hearing it everywhere. Plenty of hours spent in somebody's room flipping through the picture book insert and noticing the ash, seeds and stems in the binding
If I had to pick my favorite track, definitely "The Wizard".
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My favorite would be Stealin' in fact I just listened to it last night.
So Anyway, first band I was in did Easy Livin' and Stealin' by UH. I'm sure I didn't have the chops back then to play some of those runs. Wait...I Still Don't!
Our singer was very pretty and had a lot of presence, so no one paid attention to what I couldn't play.
Not to mention that Bob Daisley was in Heep for a couple years. That’s enough right there
The late Lee Kerslake was a monster on the drums. He wasn't so shabby on the first 2 Blizzard Of Oz records either.
The older I get, the better UH sounds to me. Not to mention that late Gary Thain has been one of my biggest influences for more than four decades now.
I've seen them twice - sadly without Byron - but they still put on an excellent show.
For whatever reason I always keep on coming back to this one
I've seen them twice - sadly without Byron - but they still put on an excellent show.
For whatever reason I always keep on coming back to this one
