Uriah Heep

Off-topic
1

When I was a kid I was a huge fan of the hard rock band Uriah Heep. Easy Living, Look at Yourself, The Magicians Birthday, Wizards and Demons, Sweet Freedom, etc, I ate it all up. I saw them twice in concert at the Schaefer Music Festival in NYCs Central Park, once in the pouring rain. I mourned when bass guitarist Gary Thane died in a bizarre drug related electrocution (or something). I read with incredulity in Creem magazine how they claimed to have chosen the bands’ name completely independently of the indentically named Dickens character. I remember the importance of the time of being able to name all the band members past and present, when they joined, when and why they left and where they were at the moment.

And, I just loved their kick ass rock n roll.

Whadya know, some of these guys are still around: Uriah Heep.

Anybody else have any recollections of this band?

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

2

Was it Uriah Heep that did ‘Stealin’ (when I shoulda’ been buyin’) ???

3

Alas, it was. :smiley:

ARTIST: Uriah Heep
TITLE: Stealin’

Take me across the water
'Cause I need some place to hide
I done the rancher’s daughter
And I sure did hurt his pride, ah ha

{Bridge}
Oo-oo oo-oo, ah ah ah
Oo-oo oo-oo, ah ah ah

Well, there’s a hundred miles of desert lies
Between his hide and mine
I don’t need no food ‘n’ no water, Lord
'Cause I’m running out of time

Fightin’, killin’, wine and women
Gonna put me to my grave
Runnin’, hidin’, losin’, cryin’
Nothing left to save but my life

{Bridge}

{Refrain}
Stood on a ridge and shunned religion
Thinking the world was mine
I made my break and a big mistake
Stealing when I should have been buying

All that fightin’, killin’, wine and those women
Gonna put me to an early grave
Runnin’, hidin’, losin’, cryin’
Nothing left to save but my life
Life, life, life, life, life, life, life, life

So I…
{Refrain}

I was stealing when I should have been buying
I was stealing when I should have been buying

Stealing, when I should have been buying
Stealing, when I should have been buying

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

4

Yep, that’s it. One of my all-time favorites along with “Riot” from the “Colliseum Rock” album by Starz. Remeber that one?
Got all lyrics to it???

The man come ‘round here
Shotgun in his hand
Says I got to marry his daughter
Give her a weddin’ band

Man, what did I do
To deserve all this
Gave that girl just what she wanted
She wanted more than a kiss

If I never do nothin’ for the rest of my life
I’m gonna blow this town wide open tonite
It’s a riot (and so on and so on)

5

Wow, must confess that I do not. But if you’re looking for info, try these:

Starz Fanz
Starz Central

Cheers,
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

6

WOW!!!
Thanks Raphael,
Now I can finally own that “Coliseum Rock” album.
It’s been out of circulation forever and now it’s available on cd! Yahoooooo!!!
You just made my day, I owe ya’ a beer!!!

7

Uriah heep was good but nobody compares to


:slight_smile:

8

Re: Uriah heep was good but nobody compares to

I love Led Zeppelin, have a bunch of their albums, saw them at Madison Square Garden a couple of times in the 70s, but have forever harbored some ill-will towards them for the fact that while others of the British Invasion (Clapton, The Stones, etc) openly acknowledged their debt to the black bluesmen of America, they blatantly stole from them. And had to pay Will Dixon handsomely for it.

Still it’s true, they sure burst some ear drums, but in a good way.

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

9

I bet they could probably afford to pay. Makes this little (non) tribute album all the more interesting. http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/24r41.html

10

Here are some samples from this album. Personally, I’d rather listen to those artists do their own material.

One thing for sure is this conversation has made me wish I had more dough to blow on music.

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

11

Re: Uriah Heep

i find myself on the deep purple side of this ‘divide’ and have allways considered uriah heep to be derivative
unfairly i’m sure
it seems to be one of those preconceived ideas that got itself cast in stone
i did try
i bought the first album in a concerted attempt to listen thru their entire body of work and convinve myself otherwise
somehow the plan didn’t work
and everytime i listen to ‘child in time’, it doesn’t seem to matter that much
:wink:

(learning later that the embrio versions of the two groups shared practise space didn’t do much to dispell my opinion)

12

while on the subject…

13

Re: Re: Uriah Heep

Deep Purple was also grand. I never had a problem listening to both, although I did have Uriah Heep all to myself, so to speak.

Talk about derivative, though. How about Triumvirat? I loved these guys as well, despite recognizing them for a blatant ELP rip-off. Some claim them not to be, however. Again, though, I was the only one among my friends to listen to them.

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

14

I actually have that whole lotta blues album , it’s pretty good. Esp. whole lotta love and rock and roll. Yeah Deep Purple was an awesome band as well. I always liked LAZY. Saw a lot of good bands back then at San Diego’s balboa stadium, days on the green, and at the sports arena. Never did get to see Deep Purple but saw Zeppelin in 77’

15

While exploring my Heepsterness a bit, I’ve been thinking that Uriah Heep actually was Spinal Tap.

I came across this interview while googling both terms together. The answer to the first question is quite priceless.

16

I do believe you are absolutely correct.

17

I remember seeing them several times at the Greyhound in Fulham Palace Road, must have been around 1971. Happy memories of underaged drinking - but of the unlamented Watneys Red Barrel :astonished:

Wassail!

18

That’s funny.

I still don’t have any Uriah Heep in my collection. I need to fix that.