''The Lansdowne Tapes'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

by the British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Uriah Heep and released in 1993. The recordings featured on the album date from the time before the change of name to Uriah Heep and during the early sessions that culminated in material eventually used on the band’s debut album.

Recordings

About half of the recordings belong to a band called

Spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

, which featured

Mick Box Michael Frederick Box (born 9 June 1947) is an English musician who is the lead guitarist of rock group Uriah Heep, having previously been a member of The Stalkers and Spice, both with original Uriah Heep vocalist David Byron.Larkin, Colin (20 ...

, David Garrick — who later changed his name to

David Byron David Garrick (29 January 1947 – 28 February 1985), better known by his stage name David Byron, was a British singer who was best known in the early 1970s as the original lead vocalist of the rock band Uriah Heep. Byron possessed a powerfu ...

— Paul Newton and Alex Napier; they were signed to

Gerry Bron Gerald Lincoln "Gerry" Bron (1 March 1933 – 18 June 2012) was an English record producer and band manager. Gerry married Penny Bron in 1982. Early life and education Bron was born in Hendon, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, the elder brother of ...

's company Hit Record Productions on 1 August 1969. These early recordings feature tracks laid down by Spice at the

Lansdowne Studios __NOTOC__ Lansdowne House is a Grade II listed eight-storey building on Lansdowne Road, Holland Park in London, constructed in 1902–04 by Scottish architect William Flockhart, for South African mining magnate Sir Edmund Davis. The building c ...

from July to December 1969, many of which formed part of Spice's live set at the time. Originally intended for an album release, some of the songs were shelved when

Ken Hensley Kenneth William David Hensley (24 August 1945 – 4 November 2020) was an English musician, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep (band), Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of ...

became a member of the band in February 1970. His influence gave them a distinctive sound which was marked with a name change to Uriah Heep, in time for their first album '' ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble'' scheduled for May 1970 release. The rest of the album features material taped by the embryonic Uriah Heep line-ups. It includes several takes of old favourites and previously unreleased tracks that were recorded for the first three albums, all taped during 1969-1971. The songs were

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed from the original 8-track tapes at Lansdowne Studios.

Track listing

Formations

*SPICE :

(guitars),

(vocals), Paul Newton (bass), Alex Napier (drums),

Colin Wood Colin Arthur Wood (born 15 June 1943) is a British musician engaged in the field of jazz and rock music. Wood was born in Camberwell, South East London, & was moved to Somerset in 1950. He played jazz piano while still at school. In 1962 he went ...

(keyboards) *URIAH HEEP 1: Mick Box (guitars), David Byron (vocals), Paul Newton (bass),

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English drummer, best known for being a lifelong member of the Elton John Band. He has had an equally long career as a session musician and composed, recorded and produced albums as a solo artist. Ca ...

(drums),

(keyboards) *URIAH HEEP 2: Mick Box (guitars), David Byron (vocals), Paul Newton (bass), Keith Baker (drums), Ken Hensley (keyboards) *URIAH HEEP 3: Mick Box (guitars), David Byron (vocals), Paul Newton (bass), Iain Clark (drums), Ken Hensley (keyboards)

Production

– original recordings producer *Peter Gallen – engineer *Track recovery, mixing & post production – Robert M. Corich *Robert M. Corich – compilation producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lansdowne Tapes 1993 compilation albums Uriah Heep (band) compilation albums Albums produced by Gerry Bron