Ken Hensley
Ken Hensley (born Kenneth William David Hensley in Plumstead, south-east Lo… Read Full Bio ↴Ken Hensley (born Kenneth William David Hensley in Plumstead, south-east London on 24 August 1945; died 4 November 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (especially Hammond organ and guitar) and producer best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s.
Hensley wrote, or co-wrote, the majority of Uriah Heep's songs during this period, including such hits as "Look at Yourself", "Lady in Black" (on both of which he also sang lead vocals), "Easy Livin'", "Stealin'" and "Free Me".
Biography
Born in London, Hensley moved with his parents, three brothers and sister to Stevenage, Hertfordshire in 1955. He started to learn how to play guitar at the age of 12, from a Bert Weedon manual. His first gig was at The Mentmore Pen Factory, in Stevenage (September 1960). After that, he played with The Blue Notes, Ken And The Cousins and Kit And The Saracens (1962). In 1963, this band evolved into The Jimmy Brown Sound, and they even recorded some now lost songs. At this time, Hensley's first "professional" opportunity almost came about: they were going to back Ben E. King on a British visit, but it never happened.[citation needed]
In Early 1965, Hensley lost his interest in soul music and formed a band called The Gods, with the young guitarist Mick Taylor, well known later for his work with The Rolling Stones. Ken wrote most of the material, sang and played the Hammond B3 organ (mainly because the band already had the talented Mick Taylor on guitar). What he didn't know then, was that he would be such an influential musician playing exactly the organ. The Gods' line-up included, at one time or another, vocalist and guitar/bass player Greg Lake (later of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer), bass player Paul Newton (who would be later the first Uriah Heep bassist), drummer Lee Kerslake (later also of Heep), bassist John Glascock (later of Jethro Tull), and guitarist Joe Konas. In early 1968 they signed with Columbia Records, and recorded 2 LPs and several singles. After that, Newton left the band to join Spice, an Essex-based band.
The band eventually split but Cliff Bennett, from Rebel Rouser, decided to make a more progressive sound, and called The Gods guys to join him. So, by the name of Toe Fat, they released 2 LPs (only the first one with Ken). During this time, Ken also played on a dubious recording: Head Machine's "Orgasm" (not exactly a band, a project more likely). At this time, Ken played mainly guitar again, as in the beginning of his career.
Paul Newton asked Hensley (Christmas 1969) to join forces in Spice, since they were looking after a keyboards player to make their sound less bluesy and more progressive at the time. In January 1970, Spice changed its name into Uriah Heep. Also on the line-up were guitarist Mick Box and vocalist David Byron. With Uriah Heep, Ken Hensley found a place to develop and show to the world his songwriting and lyrics abilities, keyboards and guitar playing. The major success came, and Heep is now acclaimed as one of UK's most legendary rock bands. The chemistry of the most classic line-up including Hensley, Byron, Box, Kerslake and bassist Gary Thain, plus the management provided by Gerry Bron (Bronze Records), were the launching points of their tremendous capability of making great music. During his time with Heep (1970 - 1980), they recorded 13 studio albums, and one of the most acclaimed live albums of all times: "Uriah Heep Live - January 1973" (not to mention lots of compilations and singles). Hensley also recorded his first 2 solo albums, "Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf" (1973) and "Eager To Please" (1975) during this time. With the departure of Thain (died in 1975) and Byron, other excellent musicians also got into the Heep family: John Wetton (Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, later of UK and Asia), Trevor Bolder (from Spiders From Mars, later of Wishbone Ash) and John Lawton (Lucifer's Friend), among others. The chemistry though, wasn't the same anymore.
In 1980 Hensley left the band, not happy with the musical directions they were choosing at the time. After trying to put a new band together first in the UK (Shotgun), he later moved to the USA and played a few gigs in North America with the suggestive name of Ken Hensley Band.
In 1982 Hensley joined Blackfoot, a hard rock Florida-based band. With them, he recorded 2 albums and achieved again some success, but he left after Bron told him about Byron's sad death in 1985. He had also released by this time his third solo LP, "Free Spirit" (1980).
Hensley had been since then almost in retirement, in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), making only a few appearances in some musical projects, with W.A.S.P., Cinderella and others. Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.) has defined exactly what Hensley means to the rock'n'roll history:
"Ken Hensley wrote the rule book for heavy metal keyboards as far as I'm concerned."
This could be debated as Jon Lord of Deep Purple may have written the rule book for heavy metal keyboards in general. Ken Hensley likely wrote the rule book for heavy metal piano as heard in Paradise/The Spell from Demons and Wizards. The period also gave birth to many other amazing keyboardists/organists, not the least of which were Alan Taff Freeman of Nektar, and John Evan of Jethro Tull.
Surprisingly though, things began to change in the mid 90s after years of silence. In 1994, "From Time To Time", a collection of lost recordings, was released featuring rare songs recorded by Ken between 1971 and 1982, as well as some very good early versions of Heep's classic songs, played by Ken and his roommates at that time, namely guitarist Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke (both of Free). Other musicians on the songs were bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson and Bad Company), guitarist Mick Ralphs (Bad Company), drummers Ian Paice (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) and Kenny Jones (The Who), amongst others.
In 1999 Hensley's musical activities began to increase, besides his work with St. Louis Music. He recorded an album, "A Glimpse Of Glory", together with his band Visible Faith. An eclectic collection of ballads and hard rock tunes, this album was hugely acclaimed by fans who were hungry for new material from Ken.
During the fourth Uriah Heep Annual Convention in London, May 2000, plans were made for a one-off concert by the so-called "Hensley/Lawton Band". Ken was joined by former Heep singer John Lawton, their first public collaboration since John's departure from Heep in 1979. With them were Paul Newton (Heep's original bassist), and 2 members of John's band, Reuben Kane on lead guitar and Justin Shefford on drums. They played a sort of old Heep classics and some of Ken's solo songs to an amazed audience, and the concert was recorded for a proper CD release, followed by a tour in Europe culminating with a concert in Hamburg, Germany, featuring a full orchestra and a new rendition of Heep's old classic "Salisbury"!
This is definitely not the end of the story, since Hensley has been quite busy working on his solo career. "Running Blind", his first effort in 21 years, was released worldwide and followed by a world tour with his band called "Free Spirit", that included some incredible musicians: Dave Kilminster (guitar), Andy Pyle (bass) and Pete Riley (drums). Kilminster and Riley later also played in the Keith Emerson Band (Kilminster is part of Roger Waters band nowadays). He now plays regular annual shows at small venues in Scandinavia, such as the "Summer Party" in Fredrikstad, Norway, where he has been playing consecutive gigs every August for nearly six years.
After moving to Spain, Hensley kept his schedule busy and released "The Last Dance" (with new songs), "The Wizard's Diary" (Uriah Heep classics re-recorded in 2004) and "Cold Autumn Sunday" (Ken's solo songs re-recorded in 2005).
Featuring a number of special guests, the rock opera "Blood On The Highway" was recorded at the end of 2006 and released in May 2007. The story portrays the rise and fall of a rock'n'roll star and the eventual restart. The lead vocals role was split between Ken himself, plus Glenn Hughes (ex-Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath), Jorn Lande (ex-The Snakes, Masterplan), John Lawton (ex-Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep) and Eve Gallagher.
In September 2008, Ken Hensley joined the stage again with John Lawton, Lee Kerslake and Paul Newton, all of Uriah Heep fame plus the addition of ex-Focus guitarist Jan Dumée, for the "Heepvention 2008" fans meeting. Two shows with one acoustic one day and a full set the day after set the standard for Uriah Heep's music through 2 decades.
Hensely continued to write and record a series of new albums, beginning with a collection of songs under the title of Love & Other Mysteries, recorded near his home in Spain and followed in 2011 by Faster, his first studio recording of new songs with his live band, Live Fire. A CD of one of his solo concerts was released by Cherry Red Records in 2013, shortly followed by a live CD recorded with Live Fire during a September/October tour. Trouble, an album of 10 new songs recorded with a revised Live Fire line-up was released, again by Cherry Red, in September the same year.
Hensley wrote, or co-wrote, the majority of Uriah Heep's songs during this period, including such hits as "Look at Yourself", "Lady in Black" (on both of which he also sang lead vocals), "Easy Livin'", "Stealin'" and "Free Me".
Biography
Born in London, Hensley moved with his parents, three brothers and sister to Stevenage, Hertfordshire in 1955. He started to learn how to play guitar at the age of 12, from a Bert Weedon manual. His first gig was at The Mentmore Pen Factory, in Stevenage (September 1960). After that, he played with The Blue Notes, Ken And The Cousins and Kit And The Saracens (1962). In 1963, this band evolved into The Jimmy Brown Sound, and they even recorded some now lost songs. At this time, Hensley's first "professional" opportunity almost came about: they were going to back Ben E. King on a British visit, but it never happened.[citation needed]
In Early 1965, Hensley lost his interest in soul music and formed a band called The Gods, with the young guitarist Mick Taylor, well known later for his work with The Rolling Stones. Ken wrote most of the material, sang and played the Hammond B3 organ (mainly because the band already had the talented Mick Taylor on guitar). What he didn't know then, was that he would be such an influential musician playing exactly the organ. The Gods' line-up included, at one time or another, vocalist and guitar/bass player Greg Lake (later of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer), bass player Paul Newton (who would be later the first Uriah Heep bassist), drummer Lee Kerslake (later also of Heep), bassist John Glascock (later of Jethro Tull), and guitarist Joe Konas. In early 1968 they signed with Columbia Records, and recorded 2 LPs and several singles. After that, Newton left the band to join Spice, an Essex-based band.
The band eventually split but Cliff Bennett, from Rebel Rouser, decided to make a more progressive sound, and called The Gods guys to join him. So, by the name of Toe Fat, they released 2 LPs (only the first one with Ken). During this time, Ken also played on a dubious recording: Head Machine's "Orgasm" (not exactly a band, a project more likely). At this time, Ken played mainly guitar again, as in the beginning of his career.
Paul Newton asked Hensley (Christmas 1969) to join forces in Spice, since they were looking after a keyboards player to make their sound less bluesy and more progressive at the time. In January 1970, Spice changed its name into Uriah Heep. Also on the line-up were guitarist Mick Box and vocalist David Byron. With Uriah Heep, Ken Hensley found a place to develop and show to the world his songwriting and lyrics abilities, keyboards and guitar playing. The major success came, and Heep is now acclaimed as one of UK's most legendary rock bands. The chemistry of the most classic line-up including Hensley, Byron, Box, Kerslake and bassist Gary Thain, plus the management provided by Gerry Bron (Bronze Records), were the launching points of their tremendous capability of making great music. During his time with Heep (1970 - 1980), they recorded 13 studio albums, and one of the most acclaimed live albums of all times: "Uriah Heep Live - January 1973" (not to mention lots of compilations and singles). Hensley also recorded his first 2 solo albums, "Proud Words On A Dusty Shelf" (1973) and "Eager To Please" (1975) during this time. With the departure of Thain (died in 1975) and Byron, other excellent musicians also got into the Heep family: John Wetton (Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, later of UK and Asia), Trevor Bolder (from Spiders From Mars, later of Wishbone Ash) and John Lawton (Lucifer's Friend), among others. The chemistry though, wasn't the same anymore.
In 1980 Hensley left the band, not happy with the musical directions they were choosing at the time. After trying to put a new band together first in the UK (Shotgun), he later moved to the USA and played a few gigs in North America with the suggestive name of Ken Hensley Band.
In 1982 Hensley joined Blackfoot, a hard rock Florida-based band. With them, he recorded 2 albums and achieved again some success, but he left after Bron told him about Byron's sad death in 1985. He had also released by this time his third solo LP, "Free Spirit" (1980).
Hensley had been since then almost in retirement, in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), making only a few appearances in some musical projects, with W.A.S.P., Cinderella and others. Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P.) has defined exactly what Hensley means to the rock'n'roll history:
"Ken Hensley wrote the rule book for heavy metal keyboards as far as I'm concerned."
This could be debated as Jon Lord of Deep Purple may have written the rule book for heavy metal keyboards in general. Ken Hensley likely wrote the rule book for heavy metal piano as heard in Paradise/The Spell from Demons and Wizards. The period also gave birth to many other amazing keyboardists/organists, not the least of which were Alan Taff Freeman of Nektar, and John Evan of Jethro Tull.
Surprisingly though, things began to change in the mid 90s after years of silence. In 1994, "From Time To Time", a collection of lost recordings, was released featuring rare songs recorded by Ken between 1971 and 1982, as well as some very good early versions of Heep's classic songs, played by Ken and his roommates at that time, namely guitarist Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke (both of Free). Other musicians on the songs were bassist Boz Burrell (King Crimson and Bad Company), guitarist Mick Ralphs (Bad Company), drummers Ian Paice (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) and Kenny Jones (The Who), amongst others.
In 1999 Hensley's musical activities began to increase, besides his work with St. Louis Music. He recorded an album, "A Glimpse Of Glory", together with his band Visible Faith. An eclectic collection of ballads and hard rock tunes, this album was hugely acclaimed by fans who were hungry for new material from Ken.
During the fourth Uriah Heep Annual Convention in London, May 2000, plans were made for a one-off concert by the so-called "Hensley/Lawton Band". Ken was joined by former Heep singer John Lawton, their first public collaboration since John's departure from Heep in 1979. With them were Paul Newton (Heep's original bassist), and 2 members of John's band, Reuben Kane on lead guitar and Justin Shefford on drums. They played a sort of old Heep classics and some of Ken's solo songs to an amazed audience, and the concert was recorded for a proper CD release, followed by a tour in Europe culminating with a concert in Hamburg, Germany, featuring a full orchestra and a new rendition of Heep's old classic "Salisbury"!
This is definitely not the end of the story, since Hensley has been quite busy working on his solo career. "Running Blind", his first effort in 21 years, was released worldwide and followed by a world tour with his band called "Free Spirit", that included some incredible musicians: Dave Kilminster (guitar), Andy Pyle (bass) and Pete Riley (drums). Kilminster and Riley later also played in the Keith Emerson Band (Kilminster is part of Roger Waters band nowadays). He now plays regular annual shows at small venues in Scandinavia, such as the "Summer Party" in Fredrikstad, Norway, where he has been playing consecutive gigs every August for nearly six years.
After moving to Spain, Hensley kept his schedule busy and released "The Last Dance" (with new songs), "The Wizard's Diary" (Uriah Heep classics re-recorded in 2004) and "Cold Autumn Sunday" (Ken's solo songs re-recorded in 2005).
Featuring a number of special guests, the rock opera "Blood On The Highway" was recorded at the end of 2006 and released in May 2007. The story portrays the rise and fall of a rock'n'roll star and the eventual restart. The lead vocals role was split between Ken himself, plus Glenn Hughes (ex-Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath), Jorn Lande (ex-The Snakes, Masterplan), John Lawton (ex-Lucifer's Friend, Uriah Heep) and Eve Gallagher.
In September 2008, Ken Hensley joined the stage again with John Lawton, Lee Kerslake and Paul Newton, all of Uriah Heep fame plus the addition of ex-Focus guitarist Jan Dumée, for the "Heepvention 2008" fans meeting. Two shows with one acoustic one day and a full set the day after set the standard for Uriah Heep's music through 2 decades.
Hensely continued to write and record a series of new albums, beginning with a collection of songs under the title of Love & Other Mysteries, recorded near his home in Spain and followed in 2011 by Faster, his first studio recording of new songs with his live band, Live Fire. A CD of one of his solo concerts was released by Cherry Red Records in 2013, shortly followed by a live CD recorded with Live Fire during a September/October tour. Trouble, an album of 10 new songs recorded with a revised Live Fire line-up was released, again by Cherry Red, in September the same year.
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Ken Hensley Lyrics
(This Is) Just the Beginning I don't know where to start I wanna follow my heart But…
A King Without a Throne Walk on the dusty road without any shoes See all the…
A Little Piece of Me It makes me laugh to see you smile And I'm so…
Believe In Me Carry me on your wings, Lord Carry me on your wings…
Black Hearted Lady Reading between the lines I find You don't mean what you…
Blood on the Highway So you wanna be a big time rock star Without my…
Brown Eyed Boy Well, I picked her up on the 44 One evening…
Circle of Hands Circle of hands Cold spirits plan Searching my land For an e…
Cold Autumn Sunday When the leaving birds fill the storm grey sky And the…
Crying I'm crying From deep in my soul to the core of…
Dancing You are my life, you are my love You're the heart…
Did You Know On Christmas Day we celebrate That Jesus Christ was born O…
Do You Feel Alright Do you feel alright?... One in the morning I'm always o…
Does Anything Matter Once was a boy from Dubrovnik Who insisted on pissing in…
Eager To Please You put a load on me Though you probably didn't mean…
Easy Livin' This is a thing I've never known before It's called easy…
Feelings Feelings, empty feelings Prayin', hopin', needin' Just when …
Finney's Tale Finney was a fighter He had both feet on the ground He…
Fortune Although now it seems like never When we were even less…
Free Me Free me Free me Why won't you free me Free me from your…
Free Spirit When I was young and my spirit was free to…
From Time to Time Once I loved a pretty woman 'Til one day she up…
Get A Line Get a line, on the Lord On his way and on…
Give 'em What They Want Don't ask them what they're looking for, don't ask them…
Give Me a Reason I was downtown drinking with the boys All of a sudden…
Go Down She sits so quietly At the window by the door Wondering if…
Guard Your Heart I can look in your eyes And tell that there's pain…
Guilty She's guilty of deceiving me She said she was in love…
How Shall I Know Momma told me one day I'd hear the bells Ringing in my…
I Close My Eyes When I think about the distance between us And how hard…
I Did It All There's a new face up on the stage tonight A new…
I Don't Wanna Wait I don't wanna wait until tomorrow I don't wanna wait anothe…
I dont wanna wait I don't wanna wait until tomorrow I don't wanna wait another…
I Know Who You Are Don't try to control me Don't try to console me Don't both…
If I Had The Time If I had the time to relive my life I don't…
Illusion In a forest known as heartbreak In a clearing in the…
In the Morning I'm just wandering through this day Thinking of you, father…
Inside the Mystery Mysteries sometimes need Special people to stop and read …
Inspiration You used to be my inspiration You showed me which way…
It Won't Last You can run away You can choose to stay Deny the fact Put…
It's Up to You Twisted images and broken promises One long crisis day afte…
Jesus There is nothing like the joy of knowing Jesus Believe in…
July Morning There I was on a July morning Looking for love With the…
Just the Beginning I don't know where to start I wanna follow my heart But…
King Without a Throne Walk on the dusty road Without any shoes See all the people…
Lady in Black She came to me one morning, one lonely Sunday morning, Her…
Let Me Be Me Well, I tried to do it your way and I…
Letting Go Images of Nikki Lynn came drifting through my head this…
Longer Shadows Winter came today and took the sun away Leaving me with…
Lost Where is my me, where is my us I lost my…
Love At First Sight You came to me with your eyes wide open And you…
Maybe You Can Tell Me It's not that I no longer love you For I loved…
Movin' In I've been standing on the edge For a little too long Waiti…
Moving In I've been standing on the edge For a little too long Waiting…
New Routine New routine... Risin' early, sleepin' easy I got myself…
New York New York, you're such a fickle city You've got a heart…
No More You've been cheating me so long Giving me the run around S…
Okey Okay, okay We're glad you're still around We've got to go,…
One Tender Moment Well, you can do what you wanna do And you can…
Out of My Control The empty conversation The coldness of your touch The mome…
Part Three Once upon a time Reason lived with rhyme And today I see …
Postscript It started out in London Such a long, long time ago Some…
Proud Words Stand up and fight Or you'll lose your right Do you want…
Rain It's raining outside but that's not unusual But the way tha…
Romance In the early morning just at daybreak I am faced with…
Second Chance Yeah... It's my life... My own words I guess... Have you eve…
Secret What is this place I find myself in Where we're all…
Send Me an Angel Everynight, I hit the streets All alone burnin' with the ne…
Shakey Ground Another victim lying in the street Just another statistic o…
Stargazer Walking down a dusty road I was lookin' for a reason An…
Stealin' Take me across the water cause I need some place…
Sweet Freedom As you look around you do you like what you…
Take And Take I gave my friend a helping hand But I find it…
Take Care One, two, three, four Just like footsteps in the snow Wh…
Tales We told our tales as we sat under Morning's sleepy sky With…
Telephone Well, I'm sitting by the telephone waiting for you to…
Tell Me Tell me, tell me, tell me Am I the one you…
Tell Me When Tell me, tell me, tell me Am I the one you…
The Cost Of Loving In the heat of the night when my heart is…
The Final Solution So the game goes on and on Still no way of…
The House On the Hill How well I remember the days in the house on…
The Joy Of Knowing Jesus There is nothing like the joy of knowing Jesus Believe in…
The Last Dance I met a sad old gypsy on the road to…
The Last Time I have traveled across the universe on wings of golden…
The Name Of The Game Here comes trouble in the shape of a lady She started…
The Return How low will you go to be part of the…
The System The night is closing in on another day A moment's peace…
The Voice of Love No matter where you are, you'll hear my voice Calling out…
The Wizard He was the wizard of a thousand kings And I chanced…
There Comes A Time There comes a time in every man's life He just forgets…
Think Twice He could have had most anything He could have had it…
Through the Eyes of a Child I once read a story 'Bout a world full of love Of…
We're On Our Way It started out in London In the back of Benny's pub We…
We're On Our Way... Postscript It started out in London In the back of Benny's pub We…
Weep in Silence You who thought Your eyes could tell no lies So your life…
What You Gonna Do What you gonna do?... What you gonna do when the phone…
When When will you rise, when will you rise again When will…
When Evening Comes At the break of day When my dreams have come and…
Who I Know Don't try to control me Don't try to console me Don't bother…
Who Knows Who knows who's to blame for it? Who knows who will…
Who Will Sing For You Who will sing for you When you need a song? Who will…
Win Or Lose You heard some people say Love will find a way But then…
Winter Or Summer See how the sun shines beyond the grey sky Then watch…
Woman Woman, you are a mystery to me You're really not what…
You If only you were a healer You could cure me of…
You've Got It You want it, you've got it It's all yours, the American…