''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 or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

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 Wales ...

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 bands debut album.

Recordings

About half of the recordings belong to a band called

Spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

, 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 lead vocalist with the rock band Uriah Heep. Byron possessed a powerful oper ...

— 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. Early life and education Bron was born in Hendon, Middlesex, into a Jewish family, the elder brother of actress Eleanor Bron. Their fat ...

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

Lansdowne Studios Lansdowne Studios was a music recording studio in Holland Park, London, England, which operated between 1958 and 2006. Background The studio was located at Lansdowne Road, Holland Park, within Lansdowne House, a Grade II listed eight-storey bu ...

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 singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of Uriah ...

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 (or reorchestration) 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, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

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 rock drummer and singer best known for his long-time affiliation with Elton John. A dynamic drummer and backing vocalist, Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as a member of the Elton J ...

(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