URIAH HEEP – VERY EAVY VERY UMBLE LP – Nr MINT- UK 1971 BRONZE

Uriah Heep – …Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble
(Bronze Records  1971   ILPS9142)
Matrix No’s: A2/B2 – UK Pressing

Gatefold Sleeve in Excellent+/Nr MINT condition
– some rubbing around edges front & back

Vinyl in Nr MINT- condition
(there is 1 small mark that gives a couple of light clicks on the intro to the first track)

Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. Twelve of the band’s albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in 1975) while of the fifteen Billboard 200 Uriah Heep albums Demons and Wizards was the most successful (#23, 1972). In the late 1970s the band had massive success in Germany, where the “Lady in Black” single was a big hit. Along with Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, Uriah Heep had become one of the top rock bands in the early 1970s.

Uriah Heep’s audience declined by the 1980s, to the point where they became essentially a cult band in the United Kingdom and United States. The band maintains a significant following and performs at arena-sized venues in the Balkans, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia and Scandinavia. They have sold over 40 million albums worldwide with over 4 million sales in the U.S, where their best-known songs include Easy Livin’, The Wizard, Sweet Lorraine, and Stealin’.

…Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble is the debut album of British hard rock band Uriah Heep.

It was released in the United States as Uriah Heep with alternate sleeve artwork, and with “Bird of Prey” in place of “Lucy Blues.” The album is notable for being rooted more in raunchy blues rock than the band’s subsequent albums, a sound which would evolve into straighter hard rock on later releases.

The album was generally panned by the mainstream critical press upon its release, although it has since been acknowledged as an early classic of the heavy metal genre. The harshest critic was Rolling Stone magazine reviewer, Melissa Mills, who began her review, “If this group makes it I’ll have to commit suicide. From the first note you know you don’t want to hear any more.”

The original vinyl release was a gatefold-sleeve, featuring David Byron on the front sleeve, almost unrecognisable beneath the cobwebs.

The album was first released on the Vertigo label in the UK, as was the follow-up Salisbury, but both were quickly reissued by Bronze when the band signed to that label.

Track listing

Personnel

• Mick Box – lead & acoustic guitars, vocals
• David Byron – lead vocals
• Ken Hensley – piano, organ, mellotron, slide guitar, vocals (except “Come Away Melinda”, “Wake Up (Set Your Sights)”)
• Paul Newton – bass guitar, vocals
• Alex Napier – drums (tracks 1–3, 6–8)
• Nigel Olsson – drums, percussion (tracks 4 & 5)
• Keith Baker – drums (“Bird of Prey”)

Additional personnel

• Colin Wood – keyboards (“Come Away Melinda”, “Wake Up (Set Your Sights)”)