Throughout his career, Hensley has been known for his versatility as a musician and his ability to write and perform music in a variety of styles, including rock, blues, soul, and pop. He also worked as a producer and collaborated with several other musicians and bands. He also played keyboards, guitar, and sang backup vocals, and his contributions helped make Uriah Heep one of the most popular and influential hard rock bands of the 1970s.Īfter leaving Uriah Heep in 1980, Hensley continued to perform and record music as a solo artist and with various other bands. Hensley was an important creative force in Uriah Heep, writing many of the band's most popular and enduring songs, such as "Lady in Black", "The Wizard", and "Easy Livin'". With Hensley on board, Uriah Heep released a string of successful albums, including "Very 'eavy. In 1969, he joined Uriah Heep and became the band's keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter. Hensley was born in London, England, and started his music career in the early 1960s as a member of several local bands. Ken Hensley (Real-name: Kenneth William David Hensley, 1945-2020) was an English musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Uriah Heep.
His contributions to Uriah Heep and his powerful, soulful voice continue to inspire new generations of musicians and fans. He died in 1985 at the age of 38 due to a liver failure caused by his alcohol abuse.ĭavid Byron is remembered as one of the greatest hard rock vocalists of his time and a key figure in the development of the progressive rock genre. He continued to perform and record music with several other bands, but he never achieved the same level of success he had with Uriah Heep. He also wrote some of the band's most memorable lyrics, including those for the songs "Lady in Black" and "The Wizard".ĭespite his success with Uriah Heep, Byron struggled with personal issues and alcohol abuse, and eventually left the band in 1976.
He was known for his soulful, blues-influenced delivery and his ability to convey emotion through his singing. Very 'umble" (1970), "Salisbury" (1971), and "Demons and Wizards" (1972).īyron's distinctive voice and powerful stage presence helped make Uriah Heep one of the most popular and influential hard rock bands of the 1970s. With Byron on board, Uriah Heep quickly gained a reputation as one of the leading progressive rock bands of the early 1970s, and released a string of successful albums, including "Very 'eavy. In 1969, he joined Uriah Heep, which was then known as Spice, and became the band's lead vocalist.
Collector's note: The American version of this album had different cover art (the tank on the British edition was replaced by a gruesome image of man tearing out of his own skin) and replaced "Bird of Prey" with a bluesy B-side entitled "Simon the Bullet Freak.David Byron (Real-name: David Garrick 29 January 1947 - 28 February 1985) was an English rock singer best known as the lead vocalist for the progressive rock band Uriah Heep.īyron was born in Epping, Essex, England, and started his music career in the mid-1960s as the lead singer for several local bands. All in all, Salisbury is too unfocused for the casual listener but offers enough solid songs for the Uriah Heep completist. Another problem is that the overly busy brass and woodwind arrangements that have been grafted onto it intrude on the group's sound instead of fleshing it out. However, Salisbury is undone by its title track, the 16-minute track that dominates the album's entire second side: it feels more like a lengthy jam session instead of a prog epic with distinctive and carefully crafted sections. It has a gentle, appealingly psychedelic feel that is topped off by David Byron's falsetto vocal and some soaring harmonies from Byron and Ken Hensley. The big surprise on this side is "The Park," a ballad-style song built on a light blend of acoustic guitars and ethereal keyboards.
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Highlights on the song-oriented side include "Bird of Prey," a soaring rocker that blends furious, power chord-fuelled verses with spacy, keyboard-drenched instrumental breaks, and "Lady in Black," a stylishly arranged tune that builds from a folk-styled acoustic tune into a throbbing rocker full of ghostly harmonies and crunching guitar riffs. Salisbury tips the band's style in the prog direction, containing one side of songs and one side dominated by a lengthy and ornate epic-length composition. On their second album, Uriah Heep jettisons the experiments that weighed down Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble and works toward perfecting their blend of heavy metal power and prog rock complexity.
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