Ken Hensley
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| Ken Hensley | |
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 Ken Hensley playing with Uriah Heep at the Magician's Birthday Party 2001
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kenneth William David Hensley |
| Born | 24 August, 1945, in Plumstead, South East London, England |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter, Singer |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboard instrument, Guitar |
| Years active | 60s - present |
| Associated acts | Uriah Heep |
| Website | ken-hensley.com |
Ken Hensley (born Kenneth William David Hensley, 24 August 1945, Plumstead, South East London, England) is a keyboard (especially Hammond organ) player, guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s.
He wrote, or co-wrote, the majority of the Uriah Heep's songs during this period, including such hits as "Look at Yourself", "Lady in Black" (on both of which he also sang lead vocals), "Easy Livin'", "Stealin'" and "Free Me".
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born in London, Hensley moved with his parents, three brothers and sister to Stevenage, Hertfordshire in 1955. He started to learn how to play guitar at the age of 12, from a Bert Weedon manual. His first ever gig was at The Mentmore Pen Factory, in Stevenage (September 1960). After that, he played with The Blue Notes, Ken And The Cousins and Kit And The Saracens (1962). In 1963, this band evolved into The Jimmy Brown Sound, and they even recorded some now lost songs. At this time, Hensley's first "professional" opportunity almost came about: they were going to back Ben E. King on a British visit, but it never happened.[citation needed]
In 1965, Hensley lost his interest in soul music and formed a band called The Gods, with the young guitarist Mick Taylor, well known later for his work with The Rolling Stones. Ken wrote most of the material, sang and played the Hammond B3 organ (mainly because the band already had the talented Mick Taylor on guitar). What he didn't know then, was that he would be such an influential musician playing exactly the organ. The Gods' line-up included, at one time or another, vocalist and guitar/bass player Greg Lake (later of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer), bass player Paul Newton (who would be later the first Uriah Heep bassist), drummer Lee Kerslake (later also of Heep), bassist John Glascock (later of Jethro Tull), and guitarist Joe Konas. In early 1968, they signed with Columbia Records, and recorded 2 LP's and several singles. After that, Newton left the band to join Spice, an Essex-based band.
The band eventually split but Cliff Bennett, from Rebel Rouser, decided to make a more progressive sound, and called The Gods guys to join him. So, by the name of Toe Fat, they released 2 LP's (only the first one with Ken). During this time, Ken also played on a dubious recording: Head Machine's "Orgasm" (not exactly a band, a project more likely). At this time, Ken played mainly guitar again, as in the beginning of his career.
Paul Newton asked Hensley (Christmas 1969) to join forces in Spice, since they were looking after a keyboards player to make their sound less bluesy and more progressive at the time. In January 1970, Spice changed its name into Uriah Heep. Also on the line-up were guitarist Mick Box and vocalist David Byron. With Uriah Heep, Ken Hensley found a place to develop and show to the world his songwriting and lyrics abilities, keyboards and guitar playing. The major success came, and Heep is now acclaimed as one of UK's most legendary rock bands. The chemistry of the most classic line-up including Hensley, Byron, Box, Kerslake and bassist Gary Thain, plus the management provided by Gerry Bron (Bronze Records), were the launching points of their tremendous capability of making great music. During his time with Heep (1970 - 1980), they recorded 13 studio albums, and one of the most acclaimed live albums of all times: "Uriah Heep Live - January 1973" (not to mention lots of compilations and singles). Hensley also recorded his first 2 solo albums, "Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf" (1973) and "Eager To Please" (1975) during this time. With the departure of Thain (died in 1975) and Byron, other excellent musicians also got into the Heep family: John Wetton (Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, later of UK and Asia), Trevor Bolder (from Spiders From Mars, later of Wishbone Ash) and John Lawton (Lucifer's Friend), among others. The chemistry, though, wasn't the same anymore...
In 1980, Hensley left the band, not happy with the musical directions they were choosing at the time. After trying to put a new band together firstly in the UK (Shotgun), he later moved to the USA and played a few gigs in North America with the suggestive name of Ken Hensley Band.
In 1982 Hensley joined Blackfoot, a hard rock Florida-based band. With them, he recorded 2 albums and achieved again some success, but he left after Bron told him about Byron's sad death in 1985. He had also released by this time his third solo LP, "Free Spirit" (1980).
Hensley has been since then almost in retirement, in St. Louis (USA), making only a few appearances in some musical projects, with W.A.S.P., Cinderella and others. Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.) has defined exactly what Hensley means to the rock'n'roll history:
"Ken Hensley wrote the rule book for heavy metal keyboards as far as I'm concerned."
Surprisingly though, things began to change in the mid 90's after years of silence. In 1994, "From Time To Time", a collection of lost recordings, was released featuring rare songs recorded by Ken between 1971 and 1982, as well as some very good early versions of Heep's classic songs, played by Ken and his room-mates at that time, namely guitarist Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke (both of Free). Other musicians on the songs were bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson and Bad Company), guitarist Mick Ralphs (Bad Company), drummers Ian Paice (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) and Kenny Jones (The Who), amongst others.
In 1999, Hensley's musical activities began to increase, besides his work with St. Louis Music. He recorded an album, "A Glimpse Of Glory", together with his band Visible Faith. An eclectical collection of ballads and hard rock tunes, this album was hugely acclaimed by fans who were hungry for new material from Ken.
During the fourth Uriah Heep Annual Convention in London, May 2000, plans were made for a one-off concert by the so-called "Hensley/Lawton Band". Ken was joined by former Heep singer John Lawton, for the first time 21 years after John's departure from Heep in 1979! With them were Paul Newton (Heep's original bassist), and 2 members of John's band, Reuben Kane on lead guitar and Justin Shefford on drums. They played a sort of old Heep classics and some of Ken's solo songs to an amazed audience, and the concert was recorded for a proper CD release, followed by a tour in Europe culminating with a concert in Hamburg, Germany, featuring a full orchestra and a new rendition of Heep's old classic "Salisbury"!
This is definitely not the end of the story, since Hensley has been quite busy working on his solo career. "Running Blind", his first effort in 21 years, was released worldwide and followed by a world tour with his band called "Free Spirit", that included some incredible musicians: Dave Kilminster (guitar), Andy Pyle (bass) and Pete Riley (drums). Kilminster and Riley later also played in the Keith Emerson Band (Kilminster is part of Roger Waters band nowadays). He now plays regular annual shows at small venues in Scandinavia, such as the "Summer Party" in Fredrikstad, Norway, where he has been playing consecutive gigs every august for nearly six years.
After moving to Spain, Hensley kept his schedule busy and released "The Last Dance" (with new songs), "The Wizard's Diary" (Uriah Heep classics re-recorded in 2004) and "Cold Autumn Sunday" (Ken's solo songs re-recorded in 2005).
Featuring a number of special guests, the rock opera "Blood On The Highway" was recorded at the end of 2006 and released in May 2007. The story portraits the rise and fall of a rock'n'roll star and the eventual re-start. The lead vocals role was split between Ken himself, plus Glenn Hughes (ex-Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath), Jorn Lande (ex-The Snakes, Masterplan), John Lawton (ex-Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep) and Eve Gallagher.
[edit] Bands & roles
- The Gods (1965–1968) – Lead vocals and keyboards, occasional guitar
- Toe Fat (1968) – keyboards, backing vocals, occasional guitar
- Head Machine (1968) – Lead vocals, keyboards, guitars
- (this was a one-album project put together by a producer to showcase his own songs)
- Weed (1971) – Lead vocals, keyboards, guitars
- (the other musicians playing on the album are thought to have been from a German band called Virus. A one-shot side project from Uriah Heep)
- Uriah Heep (1969–1980) – keyboards, backing and occasional lead vocals, acoustic and slide guitar, primary songwriter
- Shotgun (1980) – lead vocals, keyboards, guitars
- Ken Hensley Band (1981) – lead vocals, keyboards, guitars
- Blackfoot (1982–1985) – keyboards, vocals, slide guitar
- W.A.S.P. (guest on 1989 album) – keyboards, producer
- Bruce Cameron {guest on album} - keyboards
- Hensley-Lawton Band (2000–2001) – keyboards, guitar, lead and backing vocals
- Ken Hensley's Free Spirit (2002) - keyboards, guitars, lead and backing vocals
- Ayreon (2004) - Hammond solo on Day Sixteen: Loser from the album The Human Equation.
- Ken Hensley & the Viking All-Stars Band (2005) - keyboards, guitars and lead vocals
- Ken Hensley & Live Fire (2006-2007) - keyboards, guitars and lead vocals
- Therion (2007) - Hammond solo on "Trul" from the album Gothic Kabbalah.
- Toni Rowland (2008) - Produced and played on the album "Unfolding"
[edit] Books
- Uriah Heep - 10 Jahre Rockmusik (Markus Ott & Ken Hensley, 1980)
- When Too Many Dreams Come True - The Ken Hensley Story (2006)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo albums
- Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf (1973)
- Eager To Please (1975)
- Free Spirit (1980)
- The Best Of Ken Hensley (1990)
- From Time To Time (1994)
- A Glimpse Of Glory (1999)
- Ken Hensley Anthology (2000)
- Running Blind (2002)
- The Last Dance (2003)
- The Wizard's Diary (CD/DVD) (2004)
- Cold Autumn Sunday (2005)
- Elements - Anthology 1968 To 2005 (2006)
- Inside The Mystery (2006)
- Blood On The Highway (2007)
- Live Fire (DVD) (2007)
- Love... And Other Mysteries (2008)
[edit] With Uriah Heep
- Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble (1970)
- Salisbury (1970)
- Look At Yourself (1971)
- Demons And Wizards (1972)
- The Magician's Birthday (1972)
- Uriah Heep Live (1973)
- Sweet Freedom (1973)
- Wonderworld (1974)
- Return To Fantasy (1975)
- The Best Of Uriah Heep (1975)
- High And Mighty (1976)
- Firefly (1977)
- Innocent Victim (1977)
- Fallen Angel (1978)
- Conquest (1980)
- Live At Shepperton '74 (1986)
- Live In Europe 1979 (1986)
- Still 'Eavy Still Proud (1990)
- Rarities From The Bronze Age (1991)
- The Lansdowne Tapes (1994)
- A Time Of Revelation (1996)
- Live In San Diego 1974 (1997)
- Chapter & Verse - The Uriah Heep Story (2005)
[edit] With The Gods
- Genesis (1968)
- To Samuel a Son (1970)
- The Gods Featuring Ken Hensley (1976)
[edit] With Head Machine
- Orgasm (1970)
[edit] With Toe Fat
- Toe Fat (1970)
[edit] With Weed
- Weed...! (1971)
[edit] With Blackfoot
- Siogo (1983)
- Vertical Smiles (1984)
- KBFH presents Blackfoot Live 1983 (1998)
[edit] With the Hensley Lawton Band
- The Return (2001)
- Salisbury Live (2001)
[edit] With John Wetton
- More Than Conquerors (2002)
- One Way Or Another (2002)
[edit] With Toni Rowland
- Unfolding (2008)
[edit] External links
- Ken Hensley official website
- Official website for pre-1986 Uriah Heep
- Uriah Heep official website
- Official US Uriah Heep fan website
- "England's Own Uriah Heep" fan website
- Netherlands Uriah Heep fan website
- A biography
- Rock N Roll Universe Interview 2005
- Toni Rowland Official Website
