Hello,
Well thanks for your review of the Heepvention and from what I have read you guys all had a great time. It does the heart good to know that we still have true Heep fans out there and it is a constant source of inspiration to continue forever onward and upward.
It will be a blast to meet you all Stateside so I am keeping my fingers
crossed that this will be in the near future.
Until then thanks a million for
your support and keep on rockin'.
'Appy Days,
Mick Box.
"Hey...are you the Heep Guys?"Dave Crookham - May 17th, 1997 |
Quotable Quotes from the Convention....(Thanks to Barry Lombardo for sending these to me !)
Jesse Lowe (On Rockarama)- That's gotta be the worst song they've ever done
!
Bob Winward-"Hey, You look like Tom Arnold"
Tim McGuinness - "Gee
Thanks"
Barry Lombardo - (on ME) "I know...you look like that guy on WKRP
in Cincinnati, your from Ohio , You could be him"
Dave White - " Howard
Hessman?!!"
Barry Lombardo - " I know (on Bob Winward) - You look exactly
like Charlie Watts with a David Letterman smile"
Bob Winward - "Barry, you
look exactly like I pictured you. You look like Alex Gitlin !!
Dave White -
(On watching a the "Easy Livin" video with David Byron)-"Look, David had his
hair done"
Dave White - (On watching a Heep interview video with Mick
Box)-"Look, Mick had his hair done"
Barry Lombardo - "Does anybody want a
Bong Hit?"
Dave White - " You know I can't believe we're doin'
this"
Dave Crookham while some pics were being taken - "Let's do the
Wonderworld Pose", I'll throw my head back with outstretched arms" Bob Winward
- "When I was a kid, I would try to Get my friends into Uriah Heep, and I
would actually get mad if they didn't like it "!
Dave White- "(When David
Byron 1st hit the T.V. screen)- "Isn't he great?")
Barry Lombardo - "Does
anybody want a Bong Hit?"
11:00 A.M. Saturday, May 17th, 1997
"Hey are you the Heep Guys?"
It's been 10 hours since I got home, battered,
tired, and feeling great from one of the best times I have had in years! Read
on , my friends...
Dave White May 18th, 1997 10:00 P.M.
...there we were screaming down the highway at 80 miles an hour, Heep on the stereo, the bass cranked, looking like the Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World, about four hours into our trip, and just truckin' along.
This guy pulls up next to us and starts banging on his window " HEY !", motioning us to roll the window down. I look at Stem and say what the hell is this guy doing?
Stem goes "I don't know , maybe there's radar up ahead..." So he hits the
button and the window comes down we hear this voice yelling, " HEY... Are you
the HEEP GUYS? "
Welcome to the PA Heepvention...Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania
...how it began for me...
On Friday.. May 16th. I was really happy to welcome Tim McGuinness and Jesse Lowe to my house for an evening of Heep, food, and getting to know each other. After that, the plan was to be up at 5:30, AM, and start the 5 hour ride to Mt. Holly springs ! Tim came over about 7:00 in the evening , and he and I went to the airport, to try and figure out which person getting off the plane was Jesse Lowe..I had told him that I would be wearing a GREEN hat...so I wore a black one !!!!
"Anyway", as Jesse would say, we kinda figured that Jesse would be the only one one standing there after everyone else had left the area....AND HE WAS !.
So, we hook up with Jesse, and shoot the shit on the way back to my house.....
The next four hours were taken up with meeting my family, crankin' out tunes in the basement, grabbing burgers, a few beers, and just all around having a great time !
Tim was on one guitar, I was on the other, Jesse was on the keys,....we had a ball....
I gotta tell ya, Stem is one damn good guitar player ! Knows a ton of Heep tunes, and writes some great music as well...you will be able to hear him on my "My Stuff" page in a few days !
And Jesse.....as you may know, he and I have been net recording for almost 2 years now, and he has a B3 and mini-moog at his place....but tonight, he was in MY basement, and we had those amps cranked to the MAX!
Scott Sanders , my best friend, and fellow Heepster had let us use his keyboard, that has a GREAT Hammond voice, and Jess was right at home.
We played about 2 hours non-stop, ate, and did it again !
About 3:00 AM, we figure.....woah!...Time to go to sleep....gotta be up in 3 hours......
Sunrise, and a new day breakin' through...
6:44 A.M. and WE ARE ON OUR WAY !!!
...toolin down the road, and this guy pulls up next to us and starts banging on his window " HEY !", motioning us to roll the window down. I look at Stem and say what the hell is this guy doing? Stem goes I don't know , maybe there's radar up ahead... So he hits the button and the window comes down we hear this voice yelling, " HEY... Are you the HEEP GUYS? "
We go NUTS !!!..."What the Hell??" It's Dave Crookham from Pittsburgh !!!!! He found us on the road !!! Man, that was really weird !!! So now, we have a Heep Caravan !!! ...Gypsy..yeah, that's the one, GYPSY !!!
Dave!!! DUDE!!! Let's GO !!!
At 12:00, we pull into the Mt. Holly Inn parking lot, and there's Bob Winward, and Barry Lombardo !
Oh, Man !!! This is GREAT !!!
I have met Stem before, and have been to his house, and he to mine, but no one else in our little convention has ever met !!!
Jesse and Barry have been corresponding, and trading Heep stuff for years !!
Bob and Stem, have been very eager to meet.....Dave and I have as well, and all of us are just glowing in this, parking lot meeting !!
After about 10 minutes, Barry goes, "Well, Dudes...let's go to my house !"
So we go to the home of Barry Lombardo, known world wide as the consument Heep collector!
On his porch is a Randall 1/2 stack, and a BC Rich guitar.....
I get the feeling this is gonna be great !
Inside we go, and........Wow!!! There was Heep stuff ALL OVER THE PLACE !!!
I mean, really great stuff....posters, pictures, things that no one has ever seen before...except Jesse maybe.....45's, LP's, signed stuff from the band, lots of video's from all kinds of sources; concerts, bootlegs, TV shows, gifts, trades....you name it, he's got it !!!
...knock on the door, and it's Barry's brother, Ben...very cool dude, very into Heep as well, and plays bass !
We all are really at home, now...a few beers, watchin videos, all of us in the same place, at the same time....and HEEP ON OUR MIND !!
I had brought some stuff with me to show, like some pics from Ken, lots of stuff sent to me from Alan Keetley and a picture book sent in from Moshe Lavi, and some other goodies...Moshe's book is amazing, years of accumulation of pictures from the band, with the band, and probably 25 articles about Heep, in German, Hebrew, and English....
These guys fell all over this book..it was a GREAT hit !! Thanks Moshe !!! (You can see some of the pics, and read his story of Dinner with Heep, on the "Real Stories from Real Heepsters" section on my site)
Alan's stuff blew them away as well....mag articles, documents from David, and other band members, rare CD's, and the 5 LP Heep Boxed set ! Read more about Alan's contributions also at the "Real Stories from Real Heepsters" section on my site)
This was exactly what the doormouse said.."Feed your head" !
It was just great, and I don't think it could have been ANY better....
Time to eat, so we truck into town, check in our motel rooms, and onload our baggage from the car.
Further into town we go to a steak joint, and settle in for a meal...the Heep table is alive and kickin' and diggin in for chow !
Now what, you say ???? The party's just beginning !
We all go back, and settle into our 2 adjoining rooms, and start Heepin' out ! The guitars come out...the picture books come out, the videos, and tapes come out.....we're takin' pictures, videos, and dunkin beers, all talkin at once, layin' around, chillin out, just relaxed as can be....
Bob Winward and I run out for chips, dip, cookies and soda
Man, it doesn't get ANY better than this !!!
...we're pretty loud in there, and there's a knock on the door......
It's Barry's friend, Mike, and his wife...so now there are 2 more total Heep fans with us..1st thing Mike says is "Hey...Dudes, like I'm the worlds biggest Heep fan!"...and in no time....he's in with the rest of us groovin to the atmosphere of it all....
Dave Crookham volunteers to go on another beer run !! THANK'S DAVE !!
About an hour later....a thunderous rumbling starts to creep up louder than the video tape ...louder than the tape recorder that's playing....louder than all the conversations happening...
It's Ben and his friend "Wolf"....they drive up on a real cool Harley, and Triumph Bonneville!
These guys are great...and it just so happened that the day before was the 1st day they had ever tried getting on the net...through WEB TV, mind you...and what do you think is the very 1st thing they look up????
Damn straight - Uriah Heep!!!
Barry's brother starts telling me about this great Heepsite he found through Yahoo....I'm beamin' cause I KNOW where he was...www.uriah-heep.com !!!
Dave Crookham volunteers to go on another beer run !! THANK'S AGAIN DAVE !!
This is like one of those magical days/nights where EVERYTHING goes just right.
We stopped for a few minutes to call Mac Steagall , just to say HI, and that we all missed him !
Well...I could go on and on and on......just let me say that for a while...there were Me, Stem, Jesse, Dave, Barry, Bob, Barry's brother and his friend, and Mike and his wife - 10 of us in this motel room...totally Heepin' out...becoming friends, remembering our past experiences, hoping for the future....and and enjoying the company of the greatest band in the world!
It truly was a Heep Convention.....when's the next one ???
Heep-On !!!
Stem's Review"41 Hours" |
If our little group of Heepsters at Saturday's get together is any indication then I would have to say that we have quite a unique group of individuals scattered throughout the internet.
It was a very nice time I had meeting everyone. I laughed most of the day and thoroughly enjoyed meeting all present. It struck me how quickly we all became friends and some type of bond grew between us.
Barry really had an extensive collection of Heep memorabilia and he was more than happy to share it with us.I liked most the old pictures of the band.
I can't seem to get enough of that type of thing. It was fun to see pictures and magazine articles about Heep that I never had seen before.It didn't matter what the line-up of the band was, This was HEEP!!! One constant through all the years represented by the photos was Mick's smile.It was always present.I also became somewhat soberly nostalgic at seeing the many images of David Byron and I became acutely aware of how happy I am that Ken and Mick are still with us and that even though apart we can still expect to hear future music from them both.
Dave White also shared a lot of memorabilia too. I liked seeing the current pics of Ken's studio in St. Louis.What a set up! Moshe sent Dave a book of his collection that was honestly captivating.Thanks Moshe!!!
My favorite time of all was our sing-along.I play a lot of Heep songs and to me it was a thrill to play them with other Heep lovers.That was the best way to share the bands music that I could imagine. So to Jesse and Dave , THANKS! Our little Heep jam Friday night was the most.( Dave's family is very nice and welcomed Jesse and myself into their home with open arms.A real great group of people are the Whites.Dave's wife Carol is a great cook too!)Our Saturday evening jam was pure pleasure and for me it was neat to be able to entertain the guys with some acoustic.
Barry and I also traded some guitar secrets there for a few minutes as I taught him how to play "Tales". That was fun. Then he showed me how to play the intro to "Magicians Birthday".( Barry's brother Ben was a real nice guy and rides a beautiful blue Harley Soft-tail.) Jesse and I got to share a quiet moment in the other room as we worked the song "Paradise" out between us.Then he and I did the only non-Heep song of the evening Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". That was a salute to all of you Heepsters that were not there in body. Your spirit was truely present.
I'm with Dave White when I say the funniest moment came while flying down the interstate at 80 mph, listening to "Salisbuy" at top volume and having Dave Crookham flag us down and recognize us as "The Heep Guys". How did he know? Then to later learn that he was stalking us for ten miles trying to get our attention.
The ride out was fun. Five hours of Heep music and each of us (Dave, Jesse and myself)reminiscing about our love of the band and the memories we held within us for so long.It was great!The ride home was one of gathering ourselves and sharing impressions of the weekend.Much more subdued!
It was a long weekend that lasted only 41 hours.(7pm Fri. to 12 noon Sun).By the time I got home to my house Sunday I was exhausted. With only 6 or 7 hours of sleep from 3:30 AM friday to noon Sunday I deserved the nap I took without any guilt.
I must say that as a group of people we really know how to pick a band worthy of all of our love and dedication. Through all the years they have brought us much pleasure and to be able to share that love with others was a true pleasure for me.
I can't wait to get my pictures developed and scanned so that I can share them with the rest of you.
God Bless you all, and
Happy Heeping!
Stem
Bob Winward's Review"Feelin' like I'm 18 again" |
Well folks here is my review of the historic PA HeepVention '97
Those in attendance:
Jesse Lowe
Dave White
Dave Crookham
Tim
McGuiness (a.k.a. Stem)
Barry Lombardo
Bob Winward
Various relatives
and friends of Barry also stopped by
We had a great time sitting around watching Heep Videos, listening to Heep Music.
Jesse, Tim and Dave did some incredible jamming on accoustic guitar. I guess you can say they were unplugged. I was also unplugged but that was only after taking exlax. We ate a killer dinner at a steakhouse called "Hoss".
This place came highly recommended by Dave Crookham. Guess what kind of steak we all had, yup, Salisbury. The place had an incredible salad bar too, with soup, all kinds of bread, desert etc. I think I may have eaten a little too much and Stem was the beneficiary of the after effects. I emmitted some nice bass riffs in my sleep.
Dave White: He reminded us of Howard Hesseman also known as Johnny Fever, the DJ on the tv show, WKRP in Cinncinnatti. Dave was the only one of us that still seemed to have contact with reality, in other words the sane one of the bunch. Great guitarist as well, sounds like the best of both Mick Box and Dave Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Tim McGuiness: He reminded us of Tom Arnold and even sounded like him. Roseanne was no where in sight though, thankfully. Tim is a great guy and a very genuine nice person. He can play a killer Blindeye on his guitar.
Jesse: He reminded us of the "You know you are a redneck when.." comedian Jeff Foxworthy, but only in appearance. He recently got a shave and a haircut. I told him his picture on Boris site looks like a bad Jesus. In person, Jesse was a very gentle easy going guy. A real giving person. He supplied the vocals during the jamming. We enjoyed him immensely.
Dave Crookham: A real nice guy, very quiet, but I am sure he enjoyed the adventure. I am speculating here, but I think he was in disbelief that the rest of us are allowed to run loose in public.
Barry Lombardo: He reminds me abit of Alex, appearance wise. Also I think the Burns guy on the Simpsons was type cast from Barry. Barry is a true Heepster. His living room walls are plastered with Heep photos, posters, lp covers. He has countless tapes and videos. I felt like we were at a Heep museum. If someone's collection could match his, I would like to meet them too. He has my vote for Heepster of the Year.
Bob Winward: Hard to be objective here, but I think the others found me to be entertaining. One of Barrys friends walked in and thought I was Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones Drummer.
We have plenty of pictures and I made a video. The pics will be available shortly. The video, well some of the members requested I not make it public. I guess it is a curse being a probing reporter. It will come in handy for extortion purposes. Every time I want a bootleg tape I can use Blackmail! :> Just kidding, I am not like that. I have to edit the video and look it over. It may not even be interesting, but we shall see.
In conclusion, it was a thrill for me to get to meet other Heep fans. I haven't seen many of them since my college days. I felt like I was 18 again this weekend! These people really do exist and do enjoy UH. Hopefully some day the group will come to the states and we can do a mass convention. In the meantime, we will keep on heeping on the list. The list is back up by the way, if you haven't resubscribed contact Mac for details rsteagall@nconline.com
Bob Winward
Jesse Lowe's Review"Until the Next Time" |
Hello everyone.
I want to say what a great time I had this weekend at the PA Heepvention. Getting together with heep friends, sharing a few laughs and beers, and heeping out with heep activities like the heepjam, was the ultimate. There was a feeling of comraderie, a common bond between us.... our interest in and love for uriah heep.
You can get the complete story on Dave's site, but a few memorable highlights for me included:
Cruising the 5 hours from Dave White's to Mt Holly Springs... ROLLIN ON down the highway, we met Dave Crookham, who saw a bunch of old guys rocking out in a black accord, head banging and all, and figured it was us, after numerous attempts to get our attention, he rolled down his window and yelled," Are you the Heep Guys?" What a coincidence!!! definitely AGAINST THE ODDS....
When we all got together at Barry Lombardos- you could feel the heep power building, as we looked at rare memorabilia, watched videos and listened to heep sounds. Talk about PARADISE! THE SPELL was working! ALL MY LIFE I wished I could meet with people who liked heep as much as me. I knew I'd get there ONE DAY.
There we got to talk to THE WIZARD himself, Ken Hensley, which was quite a thrill. We also called Mac Steagall on the phone to give him our regards and let him know he was missed. We thought about you guys, Hani, Dale, Richard, Roland, Darrell, Alex, and all of your names came up in our conversations. We wish you coulda been there.
Back at the hotel jammin with Stem and Dave, we did a few unplugged versions of some of our favorite heep tunes. sure we hit a few clunkers, but it was great fun! good heep musicians are hard to find, and these guys rock.
All in all, the best part was the FEELINGS of friendship being around these guys. I really felt in the company of some quality people, guys who'd do anything for ya, guys you'd be proud to count as friends.
As time passed, and all too fast, I just knew that it couldn't last. and I guess that the end had come at last... it was a special space in time... and it was sad to leave this great bunch of guys, but the solution is to make this a regular thing. This could be the start of something great.
Thanks to everyone who attended and those who didn't -know what you were missed.
until next time,
Take Care My Friends.
Jesse Lowe