Ken Hensley Searches For Answers
I think collaborations can make for some of the most interesting music, especially when the collaborations are unlikely or happen by chance. How unlikely it should be then that an album collaboration be born out of a chance meeting by two strangers passing in an airport. One being Russian poet Vladimir Emelin Pavlovich, the other – British songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep fame.
Vladimir Emelin Pavlovich and Ken Hensley. Image Credit: Monica Hensley.
‘I was at the airport ready to fly to Moscow. I'd been booked to do a gig somewhere in Russia. I was at the check in desk for the flight, when this person in a wheelchair appears with a couple of helpers. He sees me and goes bonkers. He sent over one of the people with him to ask me if I would have a photo taken with him, which I was very happy to do. It turns out we were on the same plane. While we were en route, Vladimir sent over a note from the other side of the cabin asking for my email address, which I was fine to pass on to him. And we kept in touch that way.’ – Ken Hensley
Despite a very real language barrier (Hensley didn’t speak Russian, and Pavlovich didn’t speak English), the two were able to overcome this obstacle and became friends. Vladimir had a home in Spain, as did Ken Hensley, and it was in Spain where the two found mutual ground with friends of Vladimir’s able to translate to English. Not only was Vladimir Emelin a big Ken Hensley fan, he was also a great poet, and asked Hensley if he would be willing to set music to one or two of his poems.
‘The first step was to take the translations, which were actually quite good, and edit the English wording and phrasing. The second step was a bit more tricky! I needed to take a linear poem and develop verses, bridges and choruses as needed to build a song format for the lyrics. Okay… I figured out how to do that, and then there was the big challenge. Writing the music! I realised that I could do this, and I began to really enjoy both the challenges and the eventual achievements.’ – Ken Hensley
From a selection of 160 poems by Vladimir, Ken set nine of them to music, with Vladimir Emelin choosing the title ‘My Book Of Answers’ for the project. As well as being pressed to CD and Vinyl, videos for all nine of the tracks have been shot, and a small concert was performed. Since the album was recorded during lockdown - so was the performance, the crowd being a socially distanced one.
Finally, a book showcasing the lyrics of the album will be published. The book will contain Pavlovich’s original Russian poems, their English translations, Hensley’s annotations and alterations, and then the final release versions. Accompanying these will be illustrations from Olesya Vasileva. For now, the album release does contain all the finished lyrics in the liner notes, as well as essays from Ken Hensley and his manager and friend Steve Weltman.
‘Lost (My Guardian)’ is the first track on My Book Of Answers, a fade-in like Jeff Beck’s ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ soundtracks Ken’s count-in where the band join. The band is mostly the same across all of the tracks, with Ken providing guitars, piano and Hammond organ in addition to lead vocals, Tommy Lopez on drums and keyboards, Moises Cerezo on bass guitar and backing vocals and Izzy Cueto with additional guitars. Ken explains Tommy Lopez’s greater role in the making of the album:
‘I would sit down at the piano, play the songs and also do vocals. I'd record what I was doing onto my iPhone and then sent the file to Tommy. He would get in the musicians to record properly, send the results back to me and I would add my proper parts to this. So, it was all being done remotely. Tommy worked quickly and well, and did so much work on these recordings that I have given him a credit on the album as the assistant producer. Because he did more than just the engineering work on the album.’ – Ken Hensley
The bass is thumping, with slide guitar from Ken and great tom work from Lopez. The opening verse echoes the sentiment of the unknown; ‘Where is my me, where is my us, I lost my way, I missed the bus, no way to know, what’s gonna come, where has tomorrow gone, where is this coming from.’ Hensley’s voice has that old microphone distorted sound, and there’s a great guitar solo from Ken too, faithfully re-created in the music video directed and edited by Tommy Lopez. An image from the video is used in the album artwork - the band perform in the scorching sun while a lone traveller is trying to find his way to Neverland.
The same line-up performs ‘Right Here, Right Now’ with an interesting electronic introduction and an almost anthemic keyboard sound - it’s like the synth brass sounds of old. The verses are simpler, focusing more on the lyric. The first verse especially could’ve only been written by someone with wisdom; ‘I got no time for yesterday, for living in the past, too many things I didn’t say, questions I didn’t ask.’
There are some lovely vocal harmonies added in this track by Izzy Cueto, and the way the whole song lifts up during the breakdowns is my favourite part, like one of Jim Steinman’s epic compositional traits. This is sandwiched between a dual-lead guitar part, harmonised and set perfectly with a classic rock guitar tone that fits together like an Ikea Kallax shelf. Right Here, Right Now finishes with an excellent guitar solo, which is unfortunately faded out. I would love to see how the band finished that track in the concert version.
The video for ‘The Cold Sacrifice’ gives a glimpse into the studio sessions for My Book Of Answers. Ken Hensley performs his lead vocal at home while the rest of the band track in the studio. A special mention must go to Izzy Cueto’s lead guitar part in the song’s opening, which is foreboding and without a note out of place. It’s interesting to see Tommy Lopez playing an electronic kit. If indeed these drums were recorded on an electronic kit, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between sampled kits and specially recorded acoustic ones.
I love how The Cold Sacrifice builds during the chorus; ‘Oh, that cold day of spring, oh, those stone cold eyes, those cold lips (and) those cold hands, the cold sacrifice.’ In particular, it’s Ken Hensley’s Hammond organ chords added during the chorus that help to keep that level of intensity. The electronic backing with Cueto’s guitar during the ‘Hearts torn apart’ verse is different from the rest of The Cold Sacrifice, giving a brief reprieve from the staple parts of this track. Really, a brilliant contender for a single, full of passion and power.
“Vladimir wanted to do a video for the song called, ‘The Silent Scream’. So, I pulled a lot of favours and we managed to make the video very cheaply. Once we'd done that, he then wanted to take it a stage further and do videos for all nine tracks! Well, we succeeded in doing this, and at cost of only about £30,000.” – Ken Hensley
A drum fill from Lopez brings in ‘The Silent Scream’, the shortest track on My Book Of Answers which showcases some great lead guitar work in the introduction. The backing vocals are more prominent in this song, with both Tommy Lopez and Moises Cerezo lending their pipes for the cause. In terms of the mixing, a little bit of me wishes the Hammond organ was higher, sustaining chords like that are underrated in their effect. It’s difficult to make out, but I think there are acoustic guitars here too, a welcome addition to the rock band sound of this album.
Lyrically, The Silent Scream is one of my favourites on this album, and while it’s difficult to pick a favourite verse, the last truly stands out – ‘The black sphere’s still above you, the silent scream still touches you, no matter how you feel, it’s there… and it’s real.’ My own interpretation is that it’s a metaphor for depression, which has been given many names over the years. The Silent Scream is a new one on me.
‘Cover Girl’ is more melodic, with more keyboard being immediately evident than before. Piano here is played by Jacke Knights, the verses being just piano and Hensley’s vocal, Tommy Lopez backs the music up with added strings. It’s a heartbreak song, reflected in both the music and lyrics. It’s hard to say if the ‘song’ referred to is metaphorical or a literal interpretation of the concept: no matter what, I’ll always have music. For the first time on My Book Of Answers, there are no backing vocals, but right at the end you can hear a hint of a faux choir.
The slower mood continues with ‘Light The Fire (In My Heart)’, with verses that include a layering of strummed acoustic guitars, piano from David Gonzalez and more strings from Tommy Lopez. There are more vocal layers here, but I assume Ken Hensley recorded these. It would be interesting to see how the concert version of this track plays out, be it either with a bigger band to handle the multiple electric and acoustic guitar parts and keyboards, or a different arrangement entirely. Light My Fire is about a musician that inspires Vladimir Emelin, I wonder who the inspiration was?
To me, the backing vocals in ‘Stand (Chase The Beast Away)’ are something else. The track benefits from the talents of Ekaterina Nadaresihvili, Roberto Tiranti, Belinda Campbell and Rosie Doonan. The vocalists can be seen in the accompanying music video and clearly take the track to a place that the core band couldn’t have done on their own. This piece is still in the vein of a slower thread, but it’s powerful with a clear message of standing strong and standing together. I wish there was as much spirit in society as there is embodied in this song.
‘The Darkest Hour’ appears in two forms on My Book Of Answers, the original album version, and an alternative version as a bonus track on the CD. Here we’ll refer to the album version which begins with Hammond organ fading in, and a layering of strummed acoustic guitars, plus more beautiful dual-lead guitar work. Once again piano is by David Gonzalez, which can be heard during the verses, and the strings are played by Tommy Lopez. Oddly between the Hammond organ, piano and strings, none seem to step on the other’s toes, it’s very well arranged in that sense.
Vladimir Emelin’s lyrics on The Darkest Hour are the most dense out of the whole album, engaging in a story-telling aspect rather than the more straightforward lyricism on the rest of My Book Of Answers. My personal favourite lines are: “I know I’ll make it through this, my darkest hour, ‘cause my hungry spirit flies in the light of heaven’s power.”
‘Suddenly’ is the final track on My Book Of Answers, this time with Moises Cerezo opening the track up on piano, while Tommy Lopez’s string arrangements are more urgent than they have been previously. His drumming backs this up, though it would be nice to hear that a bit louder in the mix. As well as playing bass and piano, Cerezo also contributes the backing vocal layers heard in this long introduction, which rests for a moment before the pace picks up and Ken Hensley begins the first verse. The words on Suddenly are very poignant, and it’s hard to pick a part of this without reproducing the entire lyric, but I think the last verse would be the most suitable:
‘Suddenly, another voice, this one gentle and clear, when you’ve finished the task I have given you there, come on home, you are welcome here…’
On November 5th 2020, the following was posted on Ken Hensley’s Facebook page:
‘It is with great sadness that we announce Ken passed away peacefully on 4th November following a very short illness.
A very spiritual person, Ken became an inspiration to many and known for encouraging talented artists.
He leaves behind a wife Monica and 2 brothers Trevor, Mark and sister Dawn and his close friend and manager Steve Weltman.
We wish to express our deepest sympathies to Ken's family, friends and many associates from his musical career at this time.
The family ask fans for some space and time to come to terms with the tragic and unexpected loss.’
Many artists have left listeners with incredible final albums, but few have been created under the extraordinary circumstances the world finds itself in at this moment. Even fewer still were created because of such a fleeting occurrence. It’s fair to say that if Ken Hensley and Vladimir Emelin Pavlovich had never met in Alicante Airport in 2018, then My Book Of Answers wouldn’t exist. And if it didn’t exist, then Ken Hensley wouldn’t have left the world such a timeless piece of art that I’m sure his fans will treasure for years to come.
Image Credit: Trevor Hensley.
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Purchase a copy of ‘My Book Of Answers’ on CD and Vinyl from Cherry Red Records, as well as a selection of Ken Hensley’s back catalogue.
Find out more about Ken Hensley from his official website here.
Follow the Ken Hensley Facebook page @officialkenhensley.
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