Editing Uriah Heep (band) (section)

===Early days (1967–1971)===
[[File:Uriah heep 01041977 33 300.jpg|thumb|right|Mick Box in 1977]]

The band's origins go back to 1967 when 19-year-old guitarist [[Mick Box]] formed a band in [[Brentwood, Essex]] called Hogwash, which began playing in local clubs and pubs. When the band's singer left, drummer Roger Penlington suggested his cousin [[David Byron|David Garrick]] (who knew the band) as a replacement. Box and Garrick formed a songwriting partnership and having higher musical aspirations than their colleagues, decided to give up their day jobs and go professional. They set up a new band called [[Spice (British band)|Spice]]. David Garrick changed his surname to Byron. Drummer Alex Napier joined, having answered a music paper ad; bassist [[Paul Newton (musician)|Paul Newton]] of [[The Gods (band)|The Gods]] completed the line-up.<ref name="blows_1">{{cite web |url=http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/heepstory1.php |title=Uriah Heep Story |author=Kirk Blows |website=Uriah Heep |access-date=15 March 2007}}</ref>

Spice avoided playing covers and according to Box, always strove "to do something original". Managed initially by Newton's father, the band climbed their way up to [[Marquee Club|The Marquee]] level, then got signed by [[Gerry Bron]] (the Hit Record Productions Ltd.'s boss), who saw the band at the Blues Loft club in [[High Wycombe]]. "I thought they were a band I could develop and I took them on that basis", remembered Bron later. He became the band's manager and signed them to [[Vertigo Records]], the newly formed [[Philips Records|Philips]] label.<ref name="classic">{{cite web |url=http://www.classicbands.com/uriahheep.html |title=Uriah Heep |access-date=6 September 2009 |website=ClassicBands.com }}</ref> The four-piece found themselves booked into the Lansdowne Studios in London, still under the name of Spice. Then the name was changed to that of the well-known character from ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]'' [[Uriah Heep (character)|Uriah Heep]] (for, according to biographer Kirk Blows, "[[Charles Dickens|Dickens]]' name being everywhere around Christmas '69 due to it being the hundredth anniversary of his death"). According to Dave Ling's 2001 autobiography of the band, ''Wizards and Demons, The Uriah Heep Story'', though the "Uriah Heep" moniker was chosen in December 1969, the band continued to play gigs as "Spice" until [[Ken Hensley]] joined in February 1970. Uriah Heep then decided to widen the sound. "We'd actually recorded half the first album when we decided that keyboards would be good for our sound. I was a big [[Vanilla Fudge]] fan, with their [[Hammond organ]] and searing guitar on top and we had David's high vibrato vocals anyway so that's how we decided to shape it", Box recalled. Gerry Bron brought in session player [[Colin Wood]], followed by Hensley, a former colleague of Newton in the Gods, who was then playing guitar in [[Toe Fat]]. "I saw a lot of potential in the group to do something very different", remembered Hensley.<ref name="blows_1"/>

Their 1970 debut album, ''[[…Very 'Eavy …Very 'Umble]]'' (released as ''Uriah Heep'' in the United States), introduced Hensley's heavy organ and the band's guitar-driven sound, with David Byron's theatrical, dynamic vocals soaring above thunderous sonic backgrounds, although [[Steel-string guitar|acoustic]] and [[jazz]] elements also featured in the mix. The album's title references the signature phrase of the Dickens character ("very 'umble"). Hensley had little to contribute to the debut: Box and Byron wrote most of the material, including "Gypsy", in many ways (according to Blows) "a marriage of contrasts" that, in time, became their trademark. In a 1989 interview, Mick Box recalled: "The funny thing was we wrote it at the Hanwell Community Centre and [[Deep Purple]] were rehearsing in the room next door to us. You can imagine the kind of racket we were both making between us."<ref name="blows_1"/> During the winter of 1970, three-quarters into the recording of the album, drummer Alex Napier was replaced by [[Nigel Olsson]], recommended to Byron by [[Elton John]]. The debut was not popular with rock critics (especially in the US, where ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' reviewer Melissa Mills infamously promised to commit suicide "if this band makes it"). In the course of the album's making the writing relationship between Box, Byron and Hensley was beginning to develop. "It was very quick, because we were all into the same things. It was like it was meant to be, there was that kind of chemistry", Mick Box recalled.<ref name="blows_2">{{cite web |url=http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/heepstory2.php |title=Uriah Heep Story p.2 |author=Kirk Blows |website=Uriah Heep |access-date=15 March 2011}}</ref>

When Nigel Olsson returned to Elton John's group in the spring of 1970, [[Keith Baker (musician)|Keith Baker]] took his place.<ref>{{cite web |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/uriah-heep-p5733/biography |title=Uriah Heep biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=1 January 2011}}</ref> The band's second album, ''[[Salisbury (album)|Salisbury]]'' (February 1971), was more squarely in the [[progressive rock]] genre, with its 16-minute title track featuring a 24-piece [[orchestra]].<ref name="salisbury_allmusic">{{cite web |author=Donald A. Guarisco |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/salisbury-r20885/review |title=Salisbury album review |website=AllMusic |access-date=1 January 2011}}</ref> One of the album's tracks, "[[Lady in Black (Uriah Heep song)|Lady in Black]]", described by Donald A.&nbsp;Guarisco as "a stylishly arranged tune that builds from a folk-styled acoustic tune into a throbbing rocker full of ghostly harmonies and crunching guitar riffs",<ref name= "salisbury_allmusic"/> became a hit in Germany upon its re-release in 1977 (earning the band the [[:de:Löwe von Radio Luxemburg|Radio Luxemburg Lion]] award). Produced by Gerry Bron, the second album was significant for Ken Hensley's rise to the position of main songwriter.

In December 1970 Keith Baker left the band<ref name="blows_3">{{cite web |url=http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/heepstory3.php |title=Uriah Heep Story p.3 |author=Kirk Blows |website=Uriah Heep |access-date=15 March 2011}}</ref> and was replaced by [[Ian Clarke (drummer)|Iain Clark]] (from another Vertigo band, [[Cressida (band)|Cressida]]). With him the band toured Germany in late December 1970/January 1971 and made their first US tour in the spring of 1971, supporting [[Three Dog Night]] and [[Steppenwolf (band)|Steppenwolf]].<ref name="blows_4">{{cite web |url=http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/heepstory4.php |title=Uriah Heep Story p.4 |author=Kirk Blows |website=Uriah Heep |access-date=15 March 2011}}</ref>

By this time, Gerry Bron's deal with Philips/Vertigo was over, so he set up his own label, [[Bronze Records]]. The third album was recorded in the summer months of 1971, during the band's three visits to Lansdowne. "It was the point in time when the band really found a solid musical direction", said Bron later.<ref name="blows_4"/> The third album, ''[[Look at Yourself (Uriah Heep album)|Look at Yourself]]'', released in October 1971, marked the solidification of disparate ideas that had been a prominent feature of ''Salisbury'' and presented the unified sound and direction. "[[July Morning (song)|July Morning]]" has often been cited as the standout track.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stump |first=Paul |title=The Music's All that Matters: A History of Progressive Rock |date=1997 |publisher=Quartet Books Limited |isbn=0-7043-8036-6 |page=81}}</ref> "I think that 'July Morning' is one of the best examples of the way the band was developing at that point in time. It introduced a lot of dynamics, a lot of light and shade into our sound", Ken Hensley said.<ref name="blows_4"/> The album peaked at No.&nbsp;39 in the UK.