We went through the university of life together, running around the world creating havoc. “We were brothers from different mothers. “Lee’s eyes lit up and he sat up in the bed and it was our old Lee again” Box who also spoke at the funeral, says. His mind was fine, his speech was fine, but you could see that his body was in decay.”īox says that he played his ill bandmate some demos for the upcoming Uriah Heep record. “I saw him at his home about a week before he passed away. He still managed to record a solo album and come up onstage with us every so often,” Box says. But five years ago, he was given two years to live. ![]() “I’ve known for five years that Lee’s health wasn’t the best. As drummer from the glory years of 1971-79 and then again 1981-2007, he was the member closest to Box both professionally and personally. “Dear old Lee,” is Kerslake, who died in September of this year after a long battle with cancer. “I also wanted to keep the legacy of, Gary, Trevor Bolder, and John Wetton alive. I’ve been through all the changes and kept the spirit alive of what Heep stands for,” he says. “If I’m there, the heart and soul of the band will be there. And he feels a little extra burden – gladly taken – of being that consistent link throughout the band’s entire history. Mick Box is the only original member left in the current lineup that also includes Bernie Shaw (vocals), Phil Lanzon (keyboards), Davey Rimmer (bass), and Russell Gilbrook (drums). There’s also two art cards by Roger Dean featuring both the original and “reimagined” covers for Demons and Wizards and The Magician’s Birthday, a double gatefold vinyl LP of the latter, and a 64-page album sized book featuring comments from the four members, a band timeline, and various programs, posters, and ephemera (though an opportunity was lost here for more historical or critical essays on the band’s music and career). Though some hardcore fans have grumbled online about the absence of any rarities, demos, outtakes, or more live material. He also recorded with The Les Humphries Singers - whose Sing Sang Song (opens in new tab) was the German entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975 - plus Rebel, Zar, Gunhill, the Hensley Lawton Band, the Lawton Dunning Project and his own John Lawton Band.Weighing over five pounds, 50 Years in Rock features 18 CDs containing the band’s entire 24 studio album discography, another CD of their 1973 live record, and four additional CDs of material curated by original or classic lineup bandmembers Box, Ken Hensley, Lee Kerslake, and Paul Newton, for a total of 23 discs. ![]() Lawton also sang at Roger Glover's Butterfly Ball live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1975, alongside David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Ian Gillan. And Lawton filled in for Uriah Heep singer Bernie Shaw in 1995 after the latter was forced to miss two week's worth of shows with a throat problem. They broke up a year later, but reunited in 2015 for some live shows and a new album, Too Late To Hate. It's a good way to work, I think."įollowing his departure from Uriah Heep, Lawton recorded a solo album, Heartbeat, in 1980, before rejoining Lucifer's Friend for 1982's Mean Machine. And if I need help, Mick and the guys are the first ones to step up and say, “Yeah, we'll come and do this for you.” We can't argue about that at all. ![]() "I always say, 'Once you join the Heep family, you never leave, regardless.' And I'm always there for them if they need help. Lawton parted ways with Uriah Heep in September 1979, but remained on good terms with his former bandmates. "It only probably happened in the first couple of months really of joining the band where the press were kind of like, “John Lawton who? And Lucifer's Friend who?" And so I didn't think too much about the fact that I was replacing somebody like David Byron. "After I got the phone call from Ken, I basically had to go out and buy the album, The Best of Uriah Heep, to familiarize myself with the music. "I didn't know enough about Uriah Heep before I joined," Lawton told Jeff Cramer (opens in new tab). The Yorkshireman’s blues voice presented Heep with a raft of new possibilities, and he would record three studio albums with the band: Firefly, Innocent Victim, and Fallen Angel. Lawton joined Uriah Heep in 1976, having made his name in Germany as the frontman of cult rockers Lucifer’s Friend.
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