Uriah Heep: The Wizard

Probably an example of the briefest tenure in any well known band would happen to be the short-lived tenure of Mark Clarke in Uriah Heep. His only output with the band was one song – “The Wizard.” Not only did he co-write the tune with Ken Hensley, he played bass and sang on the cut. This was the only song Clarke did with the band.

Released worldwide as a single from their 1972 “Demons & Wizards” album, this signature song from the band failed to chart in the UK and the US but did so in other European countries. The production uses an interesting reverb technique and I am not sure how they did this in 1972, other than they ran the wet signal through another tape deck and sped it up at the appropriate times.  Ken Hensley's organ parts with overdrive almost sound like a harmonica in the background.

“The Wizard” was played song was played in a dropped “C” tuning on the guitar (C-G-C-F-A-D) which gives it a very low texture. Now you know.