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.
Second Chance
Ken Hensley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's my life...
My own words I guess...
Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
When they know they're your heart
And you know you were their armour
And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her
And everything you stand for, turns on you to spite you?
What happens when you become the main source of her pain?
"Daddy look what I made", Dad's gotta go catch a plane
"Daddy where's Mommy? I can't find Mommy where is she?"
I don't know go play Hailie, baby, your Daddy's busy
Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gonna write itself
I'll give you one underdog then you gotta swing by yourself
Then turn right around in that song and tell her you love her
And put hands on her mother, who's a spitting image of her
That's Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady's crazy
Shady made me, but tonight Shady's rocka-by-baby...
You look like you're in another world
but I can read your mind
how can you be so far away
lying by my side
Things ain't always what they seem or cracked up to be
Like all these fakin' ass rappers in this industry
Talkin' bout what they got, and they ain't got a damn thang
How you own three cars, but you don't own ya own name?
Get ya business right boys, the first class is in session
Get a entertainment lawyer in the music profession
Start up ya own company, trademark the name
That's gon' run ya bout a grand so start savin' ya change
Open a bank account quick, and then follow these steps
Sign yourself to yourself and start signin' ya own checks
Hit the booth and start recording at the speed of need
Whatever gets ya juices flowin' could be speed or weed
Get it mixed and mastered, pressed up and plastered
Sell it to ya whole hood out the trunk, ya bastard!
Show all the non-believers what you destined to be
And in just a couple years you could be rich like me
You look like you're in another world
but I can read your mind
how can you be so far away
lying by my side
Money to be made best believe a nigga clockin,
I run it myself like a quarterback option,
I pitch a 10 g's tell a bitch to go shopping,
she buy herself some clothes, and she bought me back a chopper,
see niggas tryna kick it, but no I don't play sucka,
I'm all about my cake I'm tryna marry Betty Crocker,
a package on the way you know my whip game proper,
and enough for one key I see seventy thousand dollas,
Now I was shootin dice, smokin on a joint,
I bet with Yo Gotti, he hit five straight points,
we ovahere hustlin, we ova here grindin,
you rap about money and nigga might sign ya,
you rap about me and a nigga might find ya,
banana in ya ass with ya head right behind ya,
DOPE GAME BITCH let his mamma worry bout him, you can holla at me for a fee
You look like you're in another world
but I can read your mind
how can you be so far away
lying by my side
The song Second Chance by Ken Hensley talks about the struggles of life and how things can quickly turn upside down. The first verse depicts a father's love for his daughter and how he would go to great lengths to protect her. However, he realizes that sometimes despite his efforts, life takes a turn for the worse. When he becomes the source of his daughter's pain, he is faced with the consequences of his actions. The second verse talks about the music industry and the pressure to have material possessions to prove one's worth. The singer encourages aspiring artists to focus on building a successful business and owning their craft. The final verse touches on the struggles of making money while surviving in a society that glorifies the drug trade.
The lyrics of Second Chance resonate with anyone who has faced difficult circumstances and overcome them. The song encourages listeners to keep fighting in the face of adversity and to turn their lives around no matter how difficult it may seem. The powerful message of the song, combined with Hensley's soulful voice, makes it unforgettable.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah...
Affirmation to begin the song
It's my life...
The singer owns and controls his life
My own words I guess...
The singer is independent in his creative expression
Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
A rhetorical question asking if someone has ever loved unconditionally
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
Clarification that this is not a metaphorical expression
When they know they're your heart
When someone is your emotional center
And you know you were their armour
When you protected and defended someone you love
And you will destroy anyone who would try to harm her
The intensity of one's protective emotions
But what happens when karma, turns right around and bites you?
A warning of the negative consequences of one's actions
And everything you stand for, turns on you to spite you?
When those things that define you betray you
What happens when you become the main source of her pain?
When the person you love is hurt because of you
"Daddy look what I made", Dad's gotta go catch a plane
A father unable to be present because of work obligations
"Daddy where's Mommy? I can't find Mommy where is she?"
A child's innocent questions about a missing mother
I don't know go play Hailie, baby, your Daddy's busy
A father's distraction with his work
Daddy's writing a song, this song ain't gonna write itself
The creative process needs hard work and dedication
I'll give you one underdog then you gotta swing by yourself
A father teaching his daughter the importance of independence
Then turn right around in that song and tell her you love her
The importance of expressing love to one's family
And put hands on her mother, who's a spitting image of her
An ironic reference to the violent persona of Slim Shady (Eminem)
That's Slim Shady, yeah baby, Slim Shady's crazy
A reference to Eminem's rap persona and its craziness
Shady made me, but tonight Shady's rocka-by-baby...
A reflection of the influence of Slim Shady in the singer's art
You look like you're in another world
Observation about someone's appearance
but I can read your mind
An indication of the singer's familiarity with the other person
how can you be so far away
Observation about emotional distance between two people
lying by my side
The physical closeness does not guarantee emotional intimacy
Things ain't always what they seem or cracked up to be
A warning about the illusion that surrounds some things
Like all these fakin' ass rappers in this industry
A criticism of the lack of authenticity in some musicians
Talkin' bout what they got, and they ain't got a damn thang
A critique of the superficiality and shallowness in some music lyrics
How you own three cars, but you don't own ya own name?
A question about the real ownership of an artist's intellectual property
Get ya business right boys, the first class is in session
Advice to rappers to take care of their financial and legal affairs
Get a entertainment lawyer in the music profession
A recommendation to hire a specialized legal professional
Start up ya own company, trademark the name
A suggestion for musicians to create their own enterprises and establishcopyrights
That's gon' run ya bout a grand so start savin' ya change
The estimated cost of starting a company and the need to save money
Open a bank account quick, and then follow these steps
A series of steps to take in order to have a music career
Sign yourself to yourself and start signin' ya own checks
Taking charge of one's career by negotiating contracts and payments
Hit the booth and start recording at the speed of need
To record music at the pace that is inspiring or motivating
Whatever gets ya juices flowin' could be speed or weed
Music creation can be induced with a variety of stimuli
Get it mixed and mastered, pressed up and plastered
The production and distribution aspects of music creation
Sell it to ya whole hood out the trunk, ya bastard!
An entrepreneurial approach to distributing one's music
Show all the non-believers what you destined to be
An aspiration to prove oneself to doubters
And in just a couple years you could be rich like me
An optimistic forecast about a music career success
Money to be made best believe a nigga clockin
A focus on the financial gains of music production
I run it myself like a quarterback option
An analogy of managing one's music career with a football play
I pitch a 10 g's tell a bitch to go shopping
A reference to spending a large sum of money on a shopping trip
she buy herself some clothes, and she bought me back a chopper
An illustration of the rapper's materialistic and violent lifestyle
see niggas tryna kick it, but no I don't play sucka
A statement of the rapper's aversion to fake interactions
I'm all about my cake I'm tryna marry Betty Crocker
An indication of his preference for wealth and stability
a package on the way you know my whip game proper
A reference to acquiring and dealing drugs
and enough for one key I see seventy thousand dollas
A reference to the initial investment and potential returns from drug dealing
Now I was shootin dice, smokin on a joint
A description of the rapper's recreational activities
I bet with Yo Gotti, he hit five straight points
A reference to gambling with another rapper
we ovahere hustlin, we ova here grindin
A declaration of busy activity towards financial gain
you rap about money and nigga might sign ya
A suggestion that rap lyrics about money can help someone get signed
you rap about me and a nigga might find ya
A threat to someone who raps about the rapper
banana in ya ass with ya head right behind ya
An explicit and violent threat to the person who disrespects the rapper
DOPE GAME BITCH let his mamma worry bout him, you can holla at me for a fee
An unapologetic response to the criminal aspects of the rapper's lifestyle
Contributed by John J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.