Uriah Heep

For those who cannot begin to understand the importance this magnificent band has had on alot of lives I will try to explain it as best as I can.At the start of 4th year in high school the music scene went mushroom.It was the most exciting of times.Purple were there as were Sabbath and Zeppelin.Free were stomping up the charts.Grand Funk were flying the American flag.Tull were charting and Prog's giants were flexing their muscles but still hadn't assailed my ears at the time.Every other day somebody in the schoolyard had a new band that they had discovered.Wishbone had to be heard or it was the Groundhogs or Budgie.Me and friends were buying albums for fun then I saw this awesome album cover and I instinctly knew that this was going to be good.The album was ' Very Heavy Very Humble.It wasn't good it was bloody amazing.When I first heard Byron singing I was in vocal heaven.Vocals mean more to me than anything else in a band.From the pulsating ' Gypsy' to the emotions of 'Come away Melinda' and ' Walking in your Shadow and Dreamare' I was hooked and was for years through Salisbury Look at Yourself and the truly superb ' Demons and wizards.' In betwen I had discovered Prog huge style and gorged myself on all that I could hear.I love rock music in all it's formats but Prog had taken possession and it has throughout 35 years but Uriah Heep are deeply etched in my heart and always will be.Some of you on here will wonder at the adoration some of us have for this band.But when your sixteen years old and have just watched Byron delivering ' Gypsy ' live and watched Hensley grappling with the Hammond from only six feet away then they produce a concert you will never forget then perhaps if you are music lovers you can begin to understand why they mean so much.

Easy Livin great post about ' Circle of Hands'

salmacis wrote: Any Heep fans familiar with Ken Hensley's solo albums like 'Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf' and 'Eager To Please'? They aren't especially Heep esque really, but reveal Ken to be one of the finest songwriters Britain ever produced.

His last album 'The Last Dance' has Heep written all over it. It's easy to imagine David Byron singing those songs! Worth checking out!!!

DeathRow wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Has anybody noticed that David Byron goes "ooh" or "aah" or sometimes "ooh-aah" at least once in every single song on Salisbury? Check it, if you don't believe it. Doesn't he do so on every single song in the Uriah Heep catalogue he was a part of. LOL It was one of their trademarks, together with the WahWah sound of mick Box, and the heavy distorted dirty organ sound of Ken Hensley. :)

Those trademarks are funny!  I recall there was a review article included in some remaster CD of "Salisbury", where the writer decribes the vocals of Byron as "Fjord vocals". Those kind of vocals occur, when somebody falls from a fjord on a very cold day...

A track by Uriah Heep which deserves special mention is “Circle of hands”. This started life as the last track on side one of “Demons and Wizards”, initial impressions being that while it was a great number, it was a something of a clone of “July Morning” from the previous “Look at yourself” album. The structures of the songs are very similar, with a powerful opening burst leading to a soft vocal section and louder refrain, both tracks closing with a repeated instrumental theme. By this time, Ken Hensley was clearly writing with Byron’s style of vocal delivery upper most in his mind, the “Demons and Wizards” album as a whole finding the two of them in greater harmony than any other Uriah Heep album.

“Circle of hands” really began to take on a life of its own during the bands subsequent live performances, to the extent that by the time of the “Live ‘73” album (sometimes referred to as “Friday night in Birmingham”), it had arguably become the highlight of their act. The original version closed with a repeating slide guitar solo, which faded after a couple of minutes. The live version however was a complete transformation. David Byron gives one of his finest virtuoso vocal performances here.  The closing slide guitar theme is repeated briefly before being picked up by Hensley on moog synthesiser, and developed into a magnificent solo. It should be remembered that at the time, only an handful of bands were using synthesisers successfully. Indeed, on the closing section of the studio version of “July Morning”, Manfred Man had been brought in to play the synth solo, Hensley at the time being unfamiliar with this new instrument.

The “moog” (as it was then commonly known) was still tricky to programme and use in a live environment, as evidenced by Hensley’s unscripted noises and audible asides to his roadie just before his solo on the preceding “Gypsy”. The sound he used for the solo on “Circle of hands” was still rather unusual for the time, with only artists such as Emerson and Wakeman really exploiting it commercially. As Hensley develops the theme, the band’s engine room of Lee Kerslake and Gary Thain picks up the pace, the synthesiser soaring to a screaming held note. Hensley pushes the synthesiser to even further heights while Kerslake pound out every beat of the rapidly increased rhythm on bass drum. The track climaxes in a wonderful cacophony of controlled chaos, forming the absolute pinnacle of the show. 

It was interesting that Yes subsequently adopted a similar style of ending for “Starship trooper” some years later.

“Circle of hands” has remained a live favourite throughout the numerous line of changes of the band, the current long lasting line up also having included a version on their “Spellbinder” live album.

In 2001,Uriah Heep took the brave decision to turn off the power for an entire show. (Bear in mind their sound over the years has been based on the driving power of the Hammond organ, and the wailing wah-wah guitar of Mick Box, combined with volumes which could set off earthquakes in unstable regions.) The result was the astonishing “Acoustically driven” set, which consisted of unplugged versions of many of the band’s classic songs.

The closing number was a medley made up of “three tracks form “Demons and Wizards”, Paradise”, “The wizard” and of course “Circle of hands”. This version of “Circle of hands” sees a female vocal trio replacing David Byron’s “whoa, whoa” refrains, before the slide guitar theme is picked up, this time by uillean pipes. The pipes are backed by sympathetic instrumentation, including acoustic guitar and acoustic bass. Here, the sound does not build to a crescendo, instead, the backing subsides to leave only the unaccompanied pipes replicating the original slide guitar theme. On the DVD of the gig, Mick Box sits motionless, eyes shut, mesmerised by the sheer beauty of the sound. It is clear this is a highly emotional moment for him. Here is a song he was a key part of during its birth, and over 30 years later he is leading a performance of it which is completely different, yet utterly magical. As the final note on the pipes is held, then abruptly stops, ending the gig, there is a momentary silence. It is as if both band and audience are reluctant to break the spell first through their applause. Inevitably though, that reaction manifests itself, as the need to recognise the performance overwhelms the futile hope that a single moment could last forever.

One of the things which really makes “Circle of hands” special is the complete contrast between the “Live 73” version, and the “Acoustically driven” rendition. There is no question that we are listening to the same song, yet on the former it is one of the most bombastic, musically aggressive performances ever witnessed. On the latter though, the melody is brought to the fore like never before, and the song becomes a piece of pure beauty.

I find listening to the two live versions of this song I have highlighted to be truly inspirational.  After playing the “Live ‘73” version, I am physically exhausted. The volume has been pushed to 11, and the foundations of the house dislodged yet again. Conversely, the “Acoustically driven” version raises the hairs on the back of my neck, my throat dries, and I avoid speaking for fear of a stray faltering of my voice revealing the overwhelming emotion I am experiencing.  

The song may have been written by Ken Hensley, but it is the band members past and present collectively who deserve the credit for all it has since become.

“We must sacrifice, the future has its price, and today is only yesterday’s tomorrow.”