|
|
|
||||||||
CIRCUS RAVES Magazine -- No. 117, September 1975
Cover Story : "URIAH HEEP... After A Bum Reality, The "Return to Fantasy" with Wetton On Bass" by Ira Robbins [with additional research by Jonh(sic) Ingham]
"It's a wine and roses situation," quoth Ken Hensley, speaking of the hand-in-glove way that Uriah Heep's new bass player, John Wetton, has fit into the band. At his home, 300 feet outside London city limits, and miles from the maddened crowds surging toward the Heep concert stages, Hensley, the organist and main songwriter gushed with enthusiasm about the ex-King Crimson/Roxy Music man, who, since joining Heep in March, had brought back the fire to a band so troubled it was in danger of breaking up.
John Wetton's bass work has already enabled Uriah Heep to record their best album to date, and that's just a start. The rhythm player's unlikely shift from working with Robert Fripp to joining England's metal monster seems to have worked wonders for everyone involved.
Back in February, newspaper headlines announced the departure of Gary Thain from Uriah Heep. The rumors flew hot and heavy as reports that he had quit because of bad health were replaced with stories that he had been fired for incompetence. The real inside story included a little of both.
"He seemed totally unable to withstand the pressure of working the way we were working," Ken explained tactfully. "We decided that, for our sake and his, it was better to just part company. We thought it was best for the group and he agreed that it was best for himself as well." After Heep had sent out feelers for a month the British press suddenly announced that John Wetton had accepted an offer to join as soon as he returned from the Roxy Music American tour. After two weeks of rehearsals, the realigned Heep got to work on an album which had already been begun in January. In order to get Wetton involved, they scrapped everything that had been done previously with Thain and rerecorded it.
A month later (quicker than usual), Return to Fantasy (on Warners) was ready, and Hensley was overjoyed. "I'm really excited about the album because I think it's the one we've been looking for. I'm absolutely over the moon about it. We've got a lot more to say as a group now than ever before!"
"Last year was not a good year for us," Hensley continued in a less exuberant tone. "I thought everything had gone sour; there was something holding us back."
Thain had contributed unwittingly to the drag on the group when, in a freakish and near-tragic accident he was blitzed with thousands of volts of electricity onstage and fell to the floor unconscious. Because of complications resulting from his near-electrocution Heep had to cancel several gigs. Even when he was supposedly recovered Gary continued to suffer from continual exhaustion. It was rumored that he was disturbed by the group's alleged impatience with his slow recuperation and that he doubted even then that he would be able to stand up to the band's commitments over the next year. The group was not in the sweetest shape.
Swiss watch band: "Today I have occasion to eat my words," Hensley brightened up. "Because all the enthusiasm and pleasure is back. Wetton's enthusiasm has rubbed off on everybody. He's an excellent player and reliable as a Swiss watch."
John Wetton, for his part, is equally positive. When he first joined Heep in the studio he thought he would just play the notes and only exert his influence after fitting in a bit more. Instead, they recorded five tracks in two days and were so pleased they decided to wipe out all the Thain-recorded numbers and start afreash.
While music purists raised their eyebrows over the strange coupling, John spoke out candidly: "I thought it would be difficult to lever my way in -- on any other level I'm not interested -- but it's worked out much better than anyone thought it would. I didn't have too much idea of their music. I hadn't seen them play in years, but I knew it was brash and loud and I was overjoyed to be working in a regular band again that I had some say in."