SOMEWHERE ALONG THE
LONELY ROAD
I HAD TRIED TO FIND YA
When they were at their
most popular circa 1974,
when this concert
was recorded for
the
King Biscuit Flower Hour,
Uriah Heep
was consistently
selling out large theaters
and mid-sized arenas.
This show,
recorded in
San Diego,
was captured in one
of the band's strongest
U.S. markets.
Presenting a
radio friendly
blend of hard rock
and
British progressive rock,
the Heep
(as they were called)
had become a
rock 'n' roll mainstay
on FM stations
across the U.S.
with songs like
"Easy Livin',"
"Stealin'"
and
"July Morning."
Those songs,
and many others,
make up this concert,
which is really a
greatest hits collection
recorded live.
"Heep was as powerful as any band anywhere,"
said keyboardist,
vocalist
and chief writer,
Ken Hensley
in July 1999,
when this show was
originally re-mixed for CD release,
"and this night,
so long ago,
was a powerful night.
Not perfect,
but powerful!"
Hensley is referring to
the fact that the show
was recorded with a
few technical glitches
and a less than
perfect performance
by the band,
but what is lacking in
musical perfection
is more than made up for
by a
highly energetic performance.
Featuring the
Classic
Heep lineup
of
Hensley,
bassist
Gary Thain,
guitarist
Mick Box,
drummer
Lee Kerslake,
and vocalist
David Byron,
this show features the
career music of a band
that saw considerable
commercial success,
but never crossed over
to the big league
like other bands
from that era
like Deep Purple,
Led Zeppelin,
Emerson Lake & Palmer,
The Who,
and the Stones.
In addition,
they were almost
universally hated by
rock critics,
who later had to eat
their words
when Uriah Heep
released five
gold albums
that were in the
U.S. Top 40
between
1972 and 1975.
"The critics hated us,
particularly when we started
to accomplish all the things
they said we
would never accomplish,"
said Hensley.
"But, all we ever listened to
were our fans,
the ones that bought
the tickets and the records."
The band was formed
in the late 1960s
by Byron and Box,
initially calling themselves
Spice.
They re-named the band
Uriah Heep
from the name of a
character in the
Charles Dickens novel,
David Copperfield.
They then asked fellow
Brit
Ken Hensley
to join,
and he brought along
drummer
Lee Kerslake,
his bandmate in the
Bournemouth,
U.K. based club group,
the Gods.
The Gods
were also home to future
Rolling Stone
Mick Taylor
and
Greg Lake,
prior to
King Crimson
and
ELP.
An early drummer
was
Nigel Olsson
who would spend
40 years
on and off
drumming for
Elton John
and over their nearly
40 year existence,
the band has had over
the band has had over
36 members.
Today,
only
Mick Box
remains from
the original lineup.
Vocalist
Vocalist
David Byron,
who sang on all
the radio hits
the band ever had,
developed a
serious drinking problem
and by 1977,
he was out of the band.
The group continued
with new vocalist
John Lawton,
but failed to have
any more hits.
By the mid
and late-1980s,
most of the
classic lineup
had left,
including
Lee Kerslake
who joined
Ozzy Osbourne's
Blizzard of Ozz
in 1981.
Vocalist
David Byron
launched a
failed solo career
in 1978,
but his drinking
caught up with him
and he died in 1985.
This classic recording
has many highlights,
including the
aforementioned hits,
and other classics
such as
"Sweet Lorraine,"
"Gypsy,"
"Sweet Freedom,"
"Look At Yourself"
and an encore
medley of
classic rock 'n' roll hits
that includes
"Roll Over Beethoven,"
"Blues Suede Shoes,"
"Hound Dog,"
and
"At The Hop."
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